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A review by donnawr1
The Labyrinth of the Spirits by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
4.0
It was with enjoyment with a tinge of sadness that I started reading this 4th and final book of the Cemetary of Forgotten Books Series. It is a massive tome that introduces new characters and plotlines, especially emphasizing the horrible, but true, torture, murders and kidnappings of the Franco regime. The time period makes the story Gothic, because it was such a difficult time where death was everywhere. The weather in Barcelona always seemed to be misty, raining, cold and uninviting. I never realized life was so bad during and after the civil war in Spain, so I appreciate learning more about that. Zafon wanted to wrap up every detail from all 4 books, so you really should read this book last, and not so far apart. I couldn't remember some of the details, especially from book 2, so spent some time while reading this trying to piece those details together again. Even though I enjoyed the writing, by the end, I just wanted it to be over. Please finish the book! At the same time, I am very sad that Zafon passed away during the Pandemic, although from cancer instead of Covid. He was a masterful writer and it was a pleasure to have spent hours of my life in his worlds.
Oddly, there was one point that I felt was really unsettled and I wonder if anyone else has some insights about it. Spoiler alert section below if you were also thinking about Leandro Montalvo toward the end.
I never got any sense from the story why this complicated man would want to do that. Was he really so upset that she wanted to leave him?
In the end, what reader can resist a complex novel about libraries, bookstores, scores of authors, forgotten books and information, forgotten people, and all kinds of wonderful little bits put in about writing:
A story is, after all, a conversation between the narrator and the reader, and just as the narrators can only relate as far at their ability will permit, so too readers can only read as far as what is already written in their souls.
A story has no beginning and no end, only points of entry.
"To write is to rewrite," he kept reminding me. "One writes for oneself and one rewrites for others."
Oddly, there was one point that I felt was really unsettled and I wonder if anyone else has some insights about it. Spoiler alert section below if you were also thinking about Leandro Montalvo toward the end.
Spoiler
Leandro must have wanted Alicia to kill him. He knew how to manipulate people, especially women, so well. He knew that what he spoke into the telephone, even without connecting to anyone, would be the only thing he could say that would make her shoot him.I never got any sense from the story why this complicated man would want to do that. Was he really so upset that she wanted to leave him?
In the end, what reader can resist a complex novel about libraries, bookstores, scores of authors, forgotten books and information, forgotten people, and all kinds of wonderful little bits put in about writing:
A story is, after all, a conversation between the narrator and the reader, and just as the narrators can only relate as far at their ability will permit, so too readers can only read as far as what is already written in their souls.
A story has no beginning and no end, only points of entry.
"To write is to rewrite," he kept reminding me. "One writes for oneself and one rewrites for others."