DDR X 4 Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Having finished The Cemetery of Forgotten Books and the short story collection The City of Mist, I have only four Young Adult novels left to me in the Carlios Ruiz Zafón, Canon:

El príncipe de la niebla (1993), translated as The Prince of Mist (2010) Crescent Hill Library, Younger Teen Fiction, 214 pages

El palacio de la medianoche (1994), translated as The Midnight Palace (2011) Northeast Library, Older Teen Fiction, 298 pages

Las luces de septiembre (1995), translated as The Watcher in the Shadows (2013) Northeast Library, Younger Teen Fiction, 262 pages

Marina (1999), translated as Marina (2013) Remote Shelving - Shawnee, Younger Teen Fiction, 326 pages

So if the library information with respect to page counts is accurate, that means I have 1,100 pages of Carlos Ruiz Zafón left to me. 

A couple of weeks ought to do it, I think.

Day 1 (DDRD 2,396) May 23, 2024

El príncipe de la niebla (The Prince of Mist) 

Started reading an e-copy courtesy of hoopla, then switched to a real copy after SEE BELOW.

Read to page 87. The writing is more than a little bit clunky,  and there is some slipshod storytelling at times, but it still moves, for sure. At this rate this is only going to be a three day read. 

"Teenage girls, thought Max, were a mystery of evolution not even Copernicus himself could fathom." (18)

BELOW

Had to go to two different libraries for these books...and send a request to a third for Marina (which is On The Way)...but unless things take a nasty turn, I'm going to be finished reading all of CRZ's books in the near future. Woot!

Day 2 (DDRD 2,397) May 24, 2024

Read to page 214, The End. Had a lot of layover time. And even though the writing continued to be as clunky as sneakers in the dryer, it still worked in a Stephen King Light kind of way. And I need to keep in mind that this was CRZ's first book, so some clunkiness was inevitable. I'd definitely say that it was worth reading, though, and I've got high hopes for the rest of the so-called Mist Trilogy.

So on to the second book:

El palacio de la medianoche (The Midnight Palace)

Day 3 (DDRD 2,398) May 25, 2024

Read to page 66. Not sure that this really is a sequel to / part of a trilogy with The Prince of Mist. Nothing to connect them yet, anyway.

Almost immediately ran into one of the tired cliches which always makes me question a writer's worth:

"...[he] raised the tip of one forefinger to his lips and licked the dark, thick blood as if it were a drop of honey." (16)

The blood-licking shtick of the Bwa-ha-ha villain. 🤮 I really hate that shit.

Day 4 (DDRD 2,399) May 26, 2024

Read to page 116. Now in church for Jacqueline's choir practice. Let's see how many more $s I can put into the Reading 🏦.

Turns out quite a bit. With Waiting For Church time plus a little Other, I read to page 161. But while the reading is easy and not unpleasant, I still am not finding myself caught up in the story. I think it's the lack of good characters. On the other hand the writing itself is smoother than the previous book, so at least there's that. 137 pages to go.

Day 5 (DDRD 2,400) May 27, 2024

Read to page 241. 57 pages to go. The reading is getting a bit unpleasant now. Confusion reigns as amorphous characters stumble through overly complicated scenes which are quick cut with other scenes. Bleh. I'm ready for this to be over. Good news: tomorrow ought to do it.

"...there is nothing as terrible and difficult to believe as the stark reality of facts...." (213)

This (⇑) is (at least) the third time this idea has been stated in this book. Just sayin', sir. But...why?

Day 6 (DDRD 2,401) May 28, 2024

Read to page 298. The End.  This was a tiring read...and there's really no reason for you to attempt to wade through it. It has nothing to do with The Prince of Mist--even if it's (as I've seen) billed as a trilogy. And it's just not a good book. Part of the problem is that the narrative splits into three parts, and it becomes a confusing jumble. Part of it is that the characters are not well-defined, and you never really care about any of them. And then there's the Bwa-ha-ha villain. Nope.

Next up: Las luces de septiembre (The Watcher in the Shadows). Here's hoping that The Midnight Palace was a bit of sophomore slumping and that CRZ picks it up from there.

ADDENDUM: Wanted to find out if The Watcher in the Shadows was going to be any good, and ended up reading the first 40 pages. So hopefully that's a good sign.

Day 7 (DDRD 2,402) May 29, 2024

Read to page 200. Yep. In large part because I was babysitting and there was a rather long nap involved. But, of course, also because the story did pull me in completely.  So much so that I'll probably be finishing up tomorrow. Fortunately

And assuming that that goes well, it'll be the end of my Carlos Ruiz Zafón readings. (Or at least first readings.)

"...most of my friends were books. " (82)

"Loneliness created strange labyrinths in the mind." (87)

Things this book has in common with The Prince of Mist: brother and sister in new place, sister smitten with guy who lives on the island, sunken boat, snorkeling, mysterious and malevolent ghost or spirit.

On page 119, Andreas Corelli appeared. I'm not good with names, but I'm pretty sure that was the name of a character in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books series. Google?

Quoth the Google: Andreas Corelli appeared in The Angel's Game.  And someone suggested that he was also the character who appeared as The Prince of Mist in CRZ's first YA novel.

Day 8 (DDRD 2,403) May 30, 2024

Read to page 262, The End. 

This was definitely the best of the first three "YA" novels...though in some ways it almost read like a rewrite of the first one. The climax avoided the confusion of its predecessor, but left a big lake of lack of resolution to swim in. Why did Irene and Ismael lose touch? Dunno. Maybe I just missed something. After all, I did choke this thing down in just a tad over three days, and my first reads tend not to be too scrupulous.

On to Marina, then.

If nothing else, CRZ's first three books have done wonders for my per diem page rate.  I'm at 96.75 pages per day on these three. Yowza! 

Marina 

"That day, Gaudi's ghost had sculpted impossible clouds across the shimmering blue skies of Barcelona." (3)

And when I checked to make sure that Gaudí was the name I remembered from a previous CRZ book (The City of Mist)--it was--, I found this:

Which you can listen to here:

https://youtu.be/oxEKt1E_wN8?si=HfKnn8RlYcoCD8AC

It's also on Amazon Music if you are a Prime kind of brah or tah.

So thats pretty cool, ennit?

Also, there's a cat named Kafka and a reference to Delibes' Lakmé. What more could you want?

ANYway...I read to page 50. I have high hopes for this one.

Day 9 (DDRD 2,404) May 31, 2024

Read to page 167. Mmm-hmm.

"I could go on painting for a thousand years...but that wouldn't change men's folly, bigotry, and savagery in the slightest. Beauty is a breath of air that blows against the wind of reality...." (70)

"...the public will always choose a warmed-up lie over the cold truth." (93)

Yes they will, Carlos. Yes they will.

Well, we have underwear swimming with a pretty girl and puppets that move of their own accord again. Which is not necessarily a bad thing, it just interests me how all writers seem to have touchstones that they can't restrain themselves from throwing into their different rivers.

"Time does to the body what stupidity does to the soul...it rots it." (138)

🔥🔥🔥🔥!

Oscar and Marina find a book of photographs. The pictures are of deformed children. As I read, it hit me how lucky I am to have three physically sound children. Sometimes I get overwhelmed or even feel sorry for myself when I think about the "curse" of autism that has been visited upon my two youngest kids...but the truth is that I and they are blessed in so many ways. There are many people who have it much, much worse. And I had to stop and say a prayer of thanks...which made me cry a little bit. 

It also reminded me of a time when I went into my daughter's room and put my hands on her and prayed, "Please, God, let her be normal." It took me a few years to learn a different tune, and then I prayed, "Thank you, God, for this girl. She's perfect."

As to this prayer business...yes, I have gotten into the habit. Think of it as my soul reaching for the infinite...mostly just to say, "Thank you." I'm not at Wordsworth's "all which we behold / Is full of blessings" level, but I have become cognizant of the implicit ingratitude in NOT counting your blessings.

Day 10 (DDRD 2,405) June 1, 2024

Read to page 278.

In response to Marina's question about what he's going to do, Víctor Florián replies, "What all old people do: sit down and remember, and ask myself what would have happened if I'd done everything differently. " (183)

Well, I'm no Frank Sinatra: I've got more than a few regrets...more than enough to mention. But most of those regrets are inextricably tied to good things that I couldn't part with. For instance, I regret not accepting the scholarship I was offered to go to West Point. In retrospect, I see what an amazing opportunity that was for 19 year-old me. But if I'd done that, I'd probably never had come to live in Kentucky, and I certainly wouldn't have gone to Bellarmine College. Which means I'd never have met my first wife, Jo Ann. Which means that none of my kids would have existed. And I and the world we be poorer for the lack of them. 

As for that second marriage, though...I definitely could have done without that...and been a better man without it.

"The only reason he feared abandoning this wretched world was that he was going to leave the boy alone and helpless." (266)

I understand that all too well. A friend of mine who also has a special needs child once told me that he was initially stunned when his wife said that she hoped their daughter died before they did. But then he got it. You don't want to leave your defenseless kid to the cruelty of this world. 

😔

Hey, only 48 pages to go! I could probably do that tonight. 

Hmmm.

Day 11 (DDRD 2,406) June 2, 2024

Read to page 326, The End. Didn't make it last night, but got to it second thing this morning after watching the first episode of Season Three of The Mayor of Kingstown. Which is quite a kick ass show.

Marina ended on a very sad note, but this was a good book. Definitely the best of CRZ's YA books...and better than the book of short stories. Worth doing, for sure.

So there it is: The Complete Works of Carlios Ruiz Zafón now reside in my gullet. And you know what? I STILL have a hankering for that Folio edition of The Shadow of the Wind. Well...Father's Day is coming up, ennit it?

So I read the four YA books...1,100 pages...in eleven days. A nice, even, and imPRESSive average of 109 pages per day. Yowza. And the four A novels = 2,263 pages in 40 days, for a per diem average of 56.575. Not bad. And my total stats for Carlos Ruiz Zafón's oeuvre? 3,363 pages in 51 days, for an average of 65.94 pages per day. That has ggot to be my highest sustained reading rate, which tells you something about Carlos Ruiz Zafón's writing. 

Yes. Time well spent, indeed.

Now what?

DDR: La ciudad de vapor (The City of Mist) by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Well, this is it so far as (1) The Cemetery of Forgotten Books and (2) the Adult books of Carlos Ruiz Zafón goes. He has four Young Adult books which I'm planning to read, and then that's all. A shame that he died so young (55) with so many books left unwritten.

Day 1 (DDRD 2,394) May 21, 2024

Read to page 46. Which included the first three--

"Blanca and the Departure"

"Nameless"

"A Young Lady From Barcelona"

I'm sorry to say that none of them were very good. Part of the reason for that is brevity, which is not always the soul of wit. The stories were 15, 5 1/2, and 17 pages long...and that's just not enough room for CRZ to do more than give a basic summary of a story. So eight stories to go...and low expectations. 

ADDENDUM: Read another one, "Rose of Fire," 15 pages...which took me to page 64. And? Meh. Should have been interesting,  as it was about the creation of The Cemetery of Forgotten Books,  but it wasnt. Once again it read more like a summary of a story than an actual story. 

Mo' Better ADDENDUM: had a layover in Tom Sawyer Park, so I read some more.

"...it was his practice to firstly tell himself the things of the world in order to understand them and then tell them to others, draped in the music and light of literature, because he sensed that if life was not a dream it was at least a pantomime where the cruel absurdity of the narrative always ran behind the scenery, and there was no greater or more effective vengeance twixt heaven and earth than to sculpt beauty and wit by dint of words if one was to find sense in the nonsense of things." (73)

Read to page 81. 

Day 2 (DDRD 2,395) May 22, 2024

Read to page 162.

Read the 5th story, "The Prince of Parnassus," which was much more substantial (41 pages). It was also more interesting, as it was a story centered around Cervantes. (So of course it made me want to go back and read Don Quixote again.)

"A Christmas Tale" was very slight--just 3 1/2 pages--and pretty much a waste of time. I think it was the first story in this collection that didn't involve the Cemetery of Forgotten Books in any way.

"Alicia, at Dawn": almost 4 pages long. I suppose the titular Alicia is our very own Alicia Gris, but there's really no textual support for that. A shame, as she is a mist wonderful character and deserves much better than this for her final story.

"Men in Grey": 15 1/2 pages. A semi-interesting assassin story. 

At this point I'm thinking ill just go ahead and finish this book off tonight, since I've only got 22 pages to go...and some of them is blank as a-card tricks.

"Kiss": almost 3 pages. Not enough there to talk about...but I do wonder why so many of CRZ's sexy women are 19 years old.

"Gaudí in Manhatten": slightly over 11 pages. Whilst Googling Gaudí (to get that little accent mark) I found that he was a real oerson, an architect, who had proposed a skyscraper for Manhattan in 1908 which would have looked like this:

Public Domain

So that's kind of cool. And the story? It was kind of interesting. Made me want to know more about this Antoni Gaudí fellow,

" Two-Minute Apocalypse": slightly more than one page.

So there you have it. Some decent moments, but all in all not worth your time unless you're A compulsive completist...like You Know Who.

That's Four, Four Isaac Asimovs, ah ah ah.

I was reading a little this & a little that, and I came upon some rave reviews for this

 anthology of Old Timey science fiction...edited, of course, by Isaac Asimov. And the rave reviews were so rave-y that I had to seek out a copy. And when it arrived yesterday, I couldn't stop myself from reading the Autobiographical Introduction.

I finished said AI today, and couldn't stop myself from reading the first story, Edmond Hamilton's "The Man Who Evolved," first published in 1931. 

As in 93 years ago. 

And?

It was crude and a little silly...scientist bombards himself with cosmic rays and turns into...well, you'll just have to read it for yourself, won't you? *  But it certainly was a fun read. And I doubt very much that I'll stop nibbling at this book after the first story.

However...

I'm currently reading The Positronic Man by Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg. Finished that one. Replaced it with I, Robot. Finished that one. Replaced it with The Currents of Space. Finished that one. Replaced it with In the Beginnung.

And The Tyrannosaurus Prescription and 100 Other Essays by Isaac Asimov. Finished that one. Replaced it with The Tragedy of the Moon.

And I'm reading Norby's Other Secret by Janet and Isaac Asimov to Joe.

Not to mention some non-Asimov books.

So four Asimovs going.

And I did just get Asimov's Animals of the Bible and was thinking about starting that with Jacqueline.... Nope...finished that one, too.

Hmmm. I guess I do have an Asimov's problem.

But I like it like it yes I do.

🎢🥌

*  But I will say that it's easy to find online...and that the magazine that it first appeared in bore this cover:

5/16/24

Finished the second story, "The Jameson Satellite" (by Neil R. Jones.  In his afterward to the story, Asimov says it is "probably the least skillfully written story in this anthology."  (59) And then he credits it for inspiring his own robot stories and novels. So there's that.

At any rate,

it's another brain-focused story (as was the first story, as you probably supected from the cover illustration). 

Here's hoping for a change of venue in the third installment in this anthology. 

Plehn's Bakery, Shelbyville Road, Louisville, Kentucky: THIS is now, THAT was then.

 THIS

THAT

I don't know the date of the THAT picture, but the bakery was established at this site in 1924, and I'm betting--given the hitching post and the streetcar rails--that this was taken shortly thereafter. 

Speaking of Beneath the Trees Where Nobody Sees....

Issue #6 (the last, alas) just came out May 8th. And the collected edition is scheduled to appear September 17, 2024...for a mere $17.99 list price--which is substantially less than the separate issues, which cost $23.94. I might have to buy that collection, actually, as (1) I missed the first two issues and only read them on hoopla and (2) there are always extra bits in the collecteds. Oh, and (3) I want do to my part to encourage IDW to go another round with this story, as there is plenty of room for that.

But about this cover....

It's pretty clear that we're seeing a human face underneath that cartoon bear. Does that mean that this whole Funny Animal Serial Killer thing is just a kind of delusion, and that we are, in fact, reading about a serial killer who pictures herself as a cute animal? Or are we just seeing the comparison of the animal with the human? Or something else I haven't thought of?

Dunno. But this was a very interesting read...one of the best comic book reads I've had in a very long time. And Patrick Horvath (writer & artist) is an interesting fellow, and I'm looking forward to seeing some more work by him.

DDR: El laberinto de los espíritus (The Labyrinth of the Spirits) by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

 

This is a big one: 805 pages. I'm going to try to restrain myself a bit on this, as (1) I don't want the series to end and (2) I want to have a clearer view of the novel. When I gulp books down --as I have been doing with the previous three novels in this tetralogy, though more by compulsion than by will--I get a little blurry on details. 

Day 1 (DDRD 2,375) May 2, 2024

Read to page 54. Actually having a little trouble getting into this, but hopefully that's just a temporary thing.

Oh, also, this:

P

I sure hope Carlos got a cut of that Limited Edition pie.

Day 2 (DDRD 2,376) May 3, 2024

Read to page 94. Still kind of slow going...and I've still not been sucked into this the way I was with the previous three books.

Day 3 (DDRD 2,377) May 4, 2024

Read to page 125. Am I really tired, or is this book putting me to 😴💤?

Day 4 (DDRD 2,378) May 5, 2024

Read to page 166.

Day 5 (DDRD 2,379) May 6, 2024

Read to page 196.

Day 6 (DDRD 2,380) May 7, 2024

Read to page 226. Seems like MAYbe I felt a little more drawn into the book today. 

"In time, even bad memories dress up for the occasion." (198)

Yeah. Memory is kind of the dialysis of lived life.

Day 7 (DDRD 2,381) May 8, 2024

Read to page 260. Well, Alicia is an interesting character, at least. But thus far this book has very little to do with HR secret library or with the Sempere bookstore, which is more than a little bit disappointing.

Day 8 (DDRD 2,382) May 9, 2024

Read to page 290. Still just meandering through this one. In fact, this morning I thought, "What if I just quit and start something new?" I'm probably too OCD to do that, but it is a tempting thought as my wheels continue to churn the mud.

Day 9 (DDRD 2,383) May 10, 2024

Read to page 325. It hit me today that this book's the fourth and final novel in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books series--doesn't have much to do with books. And since that's what drew me to this thing, it's no wonder that I've been disappointed in this volume. In fact, at this point--close to the halfway point--I'd have to suggest just reading the first three novels and forgetting about thus one. Hopefully I'll change my mind somewhere in the next 475 pages.

Day 10 (DDRD 2,384) May 11, 2024

Read to page 358.

One of the characters says that when he retires, he wants to spend his time reading the plays of Lope de Vega. Which made me wonder how many plays this Lope de Vega (of whom I'd never heard) had written. Enter Wikipedia:

"The literary production of Lope de Vega includes 3,000 sonnets, three novels, four novellas, nine epic poems, and approximately 500 stageplays." 

(https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lope_de_Vega)

Great Googelly Moogelly! This guy makes Isaac Asimov look like a piker!

So let us pause to do him honor.

Public Domain

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

Found a picture of the cover of the first Spanish edition of this book (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Labyrinth_of_Spirits#/media/File%3AThe_Labyrinth_of_Spirits_bookcover.jpg). Funny how it centers on The Bookstore, which the novel itself does not (at least thus far...around the halfway point). Also found this  https://64.media.tumblr.com/9eefbc5626a5255a8fc7d9065314be15/tumblr_ojbro0oDyx1sf09u1o1_1280.jpg

interesting image. 

Day 11 (DDRD 2,385) May 12, 2024

Read to page 402. Pushed myself to read a little more today so I could make it past the halfway point. Woot! Woot!

"Truth is never perfect, never squares with all expectations. Truth always poses doubts and questions. Only lies are one hundred percent believeable, because they don't need to justify reality, they simply have to tell us what we want to hear." (399)

Day 12 (DDRD 2,386) May 13, 2024

Read to page 430.

Day 13 (DDRD 2,387) May 14, 2024

Read to page 470.

Day 14 (DDRD 2,388) May 15, 2024

Read to page 500.

On page 500:

Looks like the translator fell asleep at the switch. (Reflexión is Spanish for reflection.)

Day 15 (DDRD 2,389) May 16, 2024

Read to page 550. 

"When it comes to lying, what one must consider is not the plausibility of the fib, but the greed, fear, and stupidity of receiver. One never lies to people; they lie to themselves. A good liar gives fools what they want to hear and allows them to free themselves from the facts at hand and and choose the level of self-delusion that fits their foolishness and moral turpititude. That's the secret. Oldest trick in the world." (541)

Day 16 (DDRD 2,390) May 17, 2024

Read to page 611.

"...one is what one remembers." (559)

"...you never really know who you are until you learn to hate." (596)

Both of these statements of identity seem to be true. Which made me ask myself, What do I hate? And at the moment, I can't think of anything or anyone. We'll, Trump, I guess. And some other sleazy politicians. But is that really a defining hate? I don't hate any of my ex-s. In fact, I'd be friends with them if they weren't so fucking mean. 

Anyway....

Day 17 (DDRD 2,391) May 18, 2024

Read to page 650. So...I've been reading a little bit more than 30 pages for the past 3 days. Maybe that's a good sign. 5 days or less to go.

Day 18 (DDRD 2,392) May 19, 2024

Read to page 726. Early to church day.

"...the level of barbarism in a society is measured by the distance it tries to create between women and books." (663)

Day 19 (DDRD 2,393) May 20, 2024

Read to page 762.

"...confronting the words Was his way of discovering who he really was...." (753)

"I made some good friends, most of them books." (763)

ADDENDUM: Read to page 805, aka The End. 

Funny. I really just pushed through until page 430 (first 12 days, so an average of 45.83 pages per day)...but then I really picked up steam, reading the last 375 pages in 7 days (53.57 pages per day). Guess it just took awhile to get pulled in.

So now there's The City of Mists, which is very short, and then 3 Young Adults novels finishes off the entire Carlos Ruiz Zafón oeuvre.  I think I'm going to do that.