[i don't like titles] — 1 year ago
WORTH CONSUMING!
i’m not a big fan of mysteries, but this is a good book, although it’s one of those where the middle is supposed to build suspense but for me it was unnecessary. it wasn’t that it dragged on, but i thought the action could have been evened out throughout the story. instead, it was a bit mushed together near the end. also, it’s a bit sad to me that the main character didn’t have a bad ending. i guess i like those.
zafon is skilled at creating characters who [whom? i am an english major, i should know this. damn!] you feel for, but not so much at characters who you are supposed to despise. truly, i just felt confused, ambivalent about the villain.
Comments
wereldmuis
Waltham
Just to be pedantic, it’s “zafon is skilled at creating characters for whom you feel…” (I believe). It sounds awkward cause nobody uses that anymore.
I’m not a big fan of mysteries either. Does this book have literary value, an interesting style, or is it just standard pop fiction?
sylviasux
Thanks for the grammar correction. Much appreciated.
Zafon has a style that’s common among Spanish writers. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but it’s something they all have. Perhaps it’s the meticulous description? Luckily for me, I do like this style because I just plain enjoy it and because I eventually want to find out what that style exactly is [man I should take a course on contemporary Spanish lit if I really wanted to know!].
I wouldn’t call it pop fiction. But I’m not sure about the literary value. I don’t think you’d waste your time by reading it, though. Not a hard read at all; you can probably finish it in about a week.