on
3.5/5
Non-Fiction
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Rating: 3.5/5
Pages: 487
Started: May 28
Finished: June 1
Summary:
A mysterious figure has been destroying all of Julian Carax's novels in 1930s Barcelona. When young Daniel is entrusted a copy of his final work, he is enamored not only with the writing, but also with the life of its author. As Daniel grows older, despite being met at every turn by reluctant witnesses and a doggedly violent and corrupt police officer, he slowly begins to untangle the web of mysteries, personas, and lies surrounding Carax's story.
Thoughts:
There were so many parts of this book that I loved. The writing, for one. It felt lyrical and just the right amount of verbose, and I felt that the translator did a lovely job of changing the language without changing the tone. The book felt decidedly Spanish, which was really cool, and I had a lot of fun connecting scenes to places I had visited while I was in Spain. The mystery of the book was also quite fun. There were so many versions of stories that slowly came together, and there were so many scenes that felt undercover and dramatic and very 1930s noir. The whole aesthetic of the book was quite impeccable.
But then there was the misogyny. I don't think I've ever read a book that made me more nauseated by the idea of men. I'm not entirely sure why--I've certainly read books where women have less autonomy and are more objectified--but something about the way women were described in the book was nearly intolerable to me. I think it had something to do with the intense sexualization of women that the male protagonists did in private, in contrast to the way I, in the womens' shoes, might react to the overall situation. The male protagonists didn't cross any lines in terms of how they treated the women they cared about, but the way they talked about their conquests was highly disturbing to me. It may be a while until I read a male author again; I do not want that language and perspective in my head.
My other complaints were significantly smaller. Zafón seemed a bit heavy-handed with some of his literary techniques. His evil characters felt a bit like caricatures, and some of his plot devices and symbols felt painfully obvious. However, on the other hand, he seemed to use the principal of Chekhov's Gun, where every character or object had a use. If at some point I decide I can stomach the misogyny, I think it would be very fun to read the book again and watch how all the hints to the end worked together.
I quite liked the structure of this book as well, with short chapters (so it feels exciting to read one more, instead of a slog to finish the one you're still on) and a combination of multiple perspectives and letters. It actually felt quite a lot like Elizabeth Kostov's The Swan Thieves in that regard. The most interesting part of the structure, though, was the change in tone after Daniel announces he dies the next day. He becomes passive about his own choices, passive about the army draft letter he receives, but stays fully invested in the Carax mystery. I thought that was a subtle yet interesting touch that fed very nicely in to the end (which I did predict correctly, for the record).
I desperately wish all the misogyny had not made me so uncomfortable, because otherwise this was a really cool book.
Words:
Cornices (n) a top course that crowns a wall
Lexicon (n) a book containing an alphabetical arrangement of the words in a language and their definitions; the vocabulary of a language or individual speaker or group of speakers
Ephemeral (adj) lasting a very short time
Coterie (n) an intimate and often exclusive group of persons with a unifying common interest or purpose
Protean (adj) of or resembling Proteus in having a varied nature or ability to assume different forms
Lugubrious (adj) mournful, dismal, or dreary, especially exaggeratedly or affectedly
Sumptuous (adj) extremely costly, rich, luxurious, or magnificent
Virulent (adj) marked by a rapid, severe, and destructive course; extremely poisonous or venomous
Nocturnes (n) a work of art dealing with evening or night
Polonaises (n) elaborate short-sleeved overdresses with a fitted waist and a draped cutaway overskirt
Salubrious (adj) favorable to or promoting health or well-being
Incunabula (n) a book printed before 1501
Diaphanous (adj) characterized by such fineness of texture as to permit seeing through; characterized by extreme delicacy of form; ethereal
Bagatelles (n) various games involving the rolling of balls into scoring areas
Pygmalion (n) a king of Cyprus who makes a female figure of ivory (Galatea) that is brought to life for him by Aphrodite
Pernicious (adj) highly injurious or destructive; wicked and deadly
Sibylline (adj) having qualities of a prophetess or fortune teller
Funicular (n) a cable railway ascending a mountain
Bombastic (adj) marked by or given to speech or writing that is given exaggerated importance by artificial or empty means; pompous or overblown
Impresario (n) the promoter, manager, or conductor of an opera or concert company
Methuselah (n) an ancestor of Noah held to have lived 969 years
Expiatory (adj) serving to make amends or extinguish the guilt incurred by an event or action
Seraglio (n) harem; a palace of a sultan
Perfidious (adj) of, relating to, or characterized by the qualities of faithlessness or treachery
Contritely (adv) characterized by the feeling or showing of sorrow and remorse for improper or objectionable behavior
Quotes:
"Sometimes we think people are lottery tickets, that they're there to make our most absurd dreams come true."