I stumbled upon this book at my daughter’s school library thinking that it might be fun to read a magical, adventure story.

Yes there was magic and adventure, but it also had one of the scariest and horrific sounding ghost that truly frighten me. I felt sensations that I hadn’t felt in years. Reading this sent shivers up my spine, put goose pimples on my arms, and it had me screeching like a little girl.

The book starts at a nice steady pace when Max Carver’s father decides to move his wife and three children from the city to an abandoned seaside beach house to protect his family from the ongoing war. But as Max and his family arrive at their new town and home, he notices some peculiar things are starting to happen. Clocks that seem to move backward, that feeling of someone breathing on your face, voices only children can hear, and circus statues that change shape and positions. The house itself has a devastating history, and Max being a curious young boy starts snooping around. It almost felt like he had woken or disturbed something. As time goes by the pace does build as the Carver children and their new friend Roland struggle to defend themselves against payback from this dark sinister entity.

Like Mr Zafon’s previous books (Shadow of the Wind, and Angels Game) he has a knack of creating this eerie, gothic atmosphere, but at the same time is beautiful. At the beginning of the book Mr Zafon said it was aimed at young reader, but would also appeal to all ages. Well I think he has achieved it. I personally thought it was wonderful, and I would recommend it to ages from 12 years old onwards.

Lo siento, porqué me encanta en escritor, pero me he aburrido mucho y me a parecido previsible y la historia un poco sin sentido. Tiene alguna parte que doy por buena pero en general me a dejado indiferente, creo que porque es juvenil y yo a pesar de que soy adolecente se me quedan cortos.

Última lectura de 2018

“O Príncipe da Neblina roubara-lhe o melhor amigo de infância, a única mulher que amara e, por fim, furtava-lhe cada minuto da longa maturidade, transformando-o na sua sombra.”

Mais uma vez, Zafón brinda os seus leitores com uma história misteriosa, cheia de cinzentismo, e com algum terror à mistura.

Tudo começa quando a família do jovem Max se muda para uma pequena cidade à beira-mar, na tentativa de uma fuga de uma chamada para a Guerra que se avizinha. No entanto, outras guerras escondidas virão e poderão ser ainda mais perigosas para esta família...

Esta mudança drástica não é do agrado de Max, mas quando descobre um jardim de estátuas atrás da sua casa nova, sente que um grande mistério está por detrás delas. E começa a sua investigação. Tudo se adensa quando se descobre o que está por detrás de toda a história dos antigos proprietários da casa: o filho do anterior casal morreu afogado e nada voltou a ser como antes.

Procurando integrar-se com a população local Max e a sua irmã mais velha vão conhecer o jovem Roland que aumenta ainda mais o mistério do livro, porque é através desta personagem que vai surgir o Príncipe da Neblina.

Apesar de ser um livro virado para a camada mais jovem, gostei da narrativa simples, fluída e interessante que transporta os leitores menos jovens para essa altura das aventuras, dos primeiros amores, dos sonhos dos navios abandonados e dos tesouros escondidos.

Gostei.

I saw this on a library shelf and fell prey to their assertion that, having read n  The Shadow of the Windn, I should read this too. Blair’s review is spot-on when she says “the story begins promisingly” but then “the book soon begins to get quite silly and more and more plot holes and unanswered questions pop up”. The Prince of Mist suffers from being, ultimately, a story without a heart. Carlos Ruiz Zafón tries to create characters for the reader to care about, but the central conflict and antagonist are so nebulous and ill-defined that the story ultimately languishes in the liminal space between sinister childhood mystery and cautious fairy tale.

Max Carver’s family relocates to the oceanside to avoid the worst of the Second World War. They move into a house that stands out for its troubled history, and Max meets Roland, who likes to dive around a shipwreck with its own grisly story. Max finds nearby a garden of statues of circus performers—which would be creepy by itself, but the symbol on the gates of the garden is the same as the one on the sunken ship. Soon, Max and his sister and Roland find themselves in the middle of a fight against an old and powerful foe who is not willing to die.

It’s a terrifying, almost invigorating prospect. And Ruiz Zafón does almost nothing with it. Cain’s origins are never explored; he remains little more than a bogeyman with a good backstory. The end of the book, which involves a sacrifice so that everyone else can escape, passes so quickly, and without enough explanation, that the sacrifice lacks the significance it should have. I’m not averse to stories with dark or tragic endings, but they need to earn it.

Then there’s the incredibly contrived and unbelievable way in which Max’s parents leave him and Alicia alone for days on end. Max’s younger sister, Irina, falls down the stairs and enters a coma; so, his parents accompany her into town to the hospital, where they stay by her side, occasionally phoning Max and Alicia to check up on them. Um, what? Last time I checked, there are two of them. Couldn’t they take turns in shifts sitting by Irina and taking care of two thirds of their children? But no, instead they leave Max and Alicia alone to undergo this strange adventure all by themselves. Again, I’m not averse to the need to get the parents out of the way in this type of story so that the young protagonists can face evil on their own. But when it’s done in such an unbelievable manner, it pulls me out of the story.

The Prince of Mist is definitely more fantastical and magical in terms of content than either of Ruiz Zafón’s novels for adults that I’ve read. Yet those novels are by far superior and by far more magical works of literature. That this is Ruiz Zafón’s first published novel does not surprise me, but it doesn’t leave me inclined to be any more charitable to it.

Though its length precludes it wasting one’s time overly much, I still don’t recommend it. The Shadow of the Wind and others are definitely worth a try, but The Prince of Mist has very little to offer a reader, be they younger or older.

n  n

Krótka, ale szalenie wciągającą. Nie mogłam się od niej oderwać, czułam, że mrok i mgła otaczają mnie ze wszystkich stron, nie pozwalając, abym odłożyła książkę choć na chwilę. Ostatnie 50 stron przeciągałam przez dwa dni, bo czułam, że zbyt szybko rozstaję się z tą historią. Chciałabym, żeby zakończenie zaskoczyło mnie ciut bardziej, po dłuższym zastanowieniu stwierdzam, że jak dla mnie było zbyt urwane.

mocne 4

*PopSugar2021 Reto #50: Gratis de mi TBR*

"Ciertas imágenes de la infancia se quedan grabadas en el álbum de la mente como fotografías, como escenarios a los que, no importa el tiempo que pase, uno siempre vuelve y recuerda"

OMG! I love and can't out down Zafon's Shadow of the Wind, so I was excited when I finally found the English translation of his first published novel, Prince of Mist. Zafon's writing put me right into the character's soul, describing everything in such a way that I can almost feel and see what the characters are seeing and feeling.

The story starts out in a light note, though war was mentioned several time, the main character, Max, is a young teenager whose point of view is both innocent and positive. To avoid the problems or war, their father decided that the family should move to a beach house in the countryside. Max later found out that the house was built by a couple who left the house after their son drowned.

When Max found a strange walled garden behind the house, filled with eerie circus figures, the mystery started and we're treated to a cynical and SCARY tale of a legendary figure called the Prince of Mist or Dr. Kane.

I love the way Zafon describe the scenes, from the sound and smell of the beach, to the chill the characters felt when faced with terror.

MINI SPOILER CONTAINS COMMENT ABOUT ENDING:

I felt a little bit disappointed with the ending. This is of course personal, so it might not be the same for everyone. Prince of Mist ending felt a little bit too unfinished. After such a wonderful time identifying with the characters I felt abandoned and wanting to know more about these characters after their encounter with Dr. Zane! Zafon himself said that his publishers wanted him to make a sequel and he's thinking about it. Please do! I'm waiting with impatience ;)

آدمها همیشه دو دسته ن

آدمایی هستن که دوست دارن پله پله به ملاقات خدا برسن. برای چنین نُجبایی حرفم اینه که آفرین! درست تشخیص دادین. بهتره اول کارای دست گرمی یه نویسنده خفن رو بخونید و یواش یواش باهاش جلو برین تا برسید به خداش! به شاهکارش

_او صاف توی چشم جادوگر نگاه کرد و تفی به صورتش انداخت.
خشمش را مهار کرد و گفت: "برو به جهنم!"
بزاق دهانش طوری بخار شد که انگار به صفحه‌ی فلز داغی تف انداخته باشد.
"دختر عزیزم، این درست همون جاییه که من ازش اومده‌ام."

هم، کتاب جالبی بود، خوشمان آمد. منتظرم جلدهای بعدی‌ش رو هم گیر بیارم بخونم.
اصلا همون موقعی که داشتم خلاصه‌ش رو واسه رادیو ضبط می‌کردم هم به نظرم جالب اومد و دلم خواست بخونمش.
یه سری جاها حس می‌کردم نمی‌تونم زاویه‌دیدش رو تشخیص بدم. برای دانای کل کم می‌دونست و برای سوم‌شخص زیاد. دیگه خیلی ذهنم رو درگیرش نکردم.
شخصیت دکتر قابیل، خیلی من رو یاد ارباب معامله‌ی مجموعه بخشنده انداخت. خیلی!

Від цієї книжки я багато не очікувала, але вирішила прочитати щось у цього автора, але мені сподобалось, було цікаво, є таємниці, але такого кінця чомусь не чекала.