El Juego del Ángel (Vintage Espanol) (Spanish Edition) [Paperback]

Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Author)

Book Description

Release date: May 13, 2008 | Series: Vintage Espanol

En la turbulenta Barcelona de los años 20, un joven escritor obsesionado con un amor imposible recibe la oferta de un misterioso editor para escribir un libro como no ha existido nunca, a cambio de una fortuna y, tal vez, mucho más.

 

Con un estilo deslumbrante e impecable el autor de La Sombra del Viento, nos transporta de nuevo a la Barcelona del Cementerio de los Libros Olvidados para ofrecernos una gran aventura de intriga, romance y tragedia, a través de un laberinto de traición y secretos donde el embrujo de los libros, la pasión y la amistad se conjugan en un relato magistral.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Fans of Zafón’s The Shadow of the Wind and new readers alike will be delighted with this gothic semiprequel. In 1920s Barcelona, David Martin is born into poverty, but, aided by patron and friend Pedro Vidal, he rises to become a crime reporter and then a beloved pulp novelist. David’s creative pace is frenetic; holed up in his dream house—a decrepit mansion with a sinister history—he produces two great novels, one for Vidal to claim as his own, and one for himself. But Vidal’s book is celebrated while David’s is buried, and when Vidal marries David’s great love, David accepts a commission to write a story that leads him into danger. As he explores the past and his mysterious publisher, David becomes a suspect in a string of murders, and his race to uncover the truth is a delicious puzzle: is he beset by demons or a demon himself? Zafón’s novel is detailed and vivid, and David’s narration is charming and funny, but suspect. Villain or victim, he is the hero of and the guide to this dark labyrinth that, by masterful design, remains thrilling and bewildering. (June) -- Publishers Weekly, starred Review

Another delicious supernatural mystery from bestselling Catalan author Zafón (The Shadow of the Wind, 2005).Mix Edgar Allan Poe with Jorge Luis Borges, intellectual mysterian Arturo Pérez-Reverte, and maybe add a dash of Stephen King, and you have some of the makings of Zafón’s sensibility. Fans of his earlier book will be pleased to find themselves on patches of familiar ground, including a revisit to that wonderful conceit, the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. Indeed, this is a prequel–but only of a kind: Familiar figures turn up at points, only to seem less than familiar as the narrative twists and turns. The none-too-heroic hero, David Martín, is an aspiring journalist who bucks hackwork to turn in a crowd-pleasing series for a tough boss. This leads him into an onerous contract with the usual crooked publishers and, indirectly, into a rivalry with his former mentor–all of which, naturally, entails love triangles and smoldering egos. The picture is complicated by the arrival of another curious publisher, Andreas Corelli, who offers David piles of pesetas to write, well, a book of a different sort, involving research that yields piles of corpses and occasions ample cliffhangers. Zafón has a fine talent for inserting unexpected hitches into a story line already resistant to graphing, whose outcome is definitely not seen from afar. The plot resolves in a rush, for the author finds himself with many a loose end to tie up, but once it sinks in, the result is more than satisfying. Zafón delivers a warning about the dangers of obsession, mixed with an obvious passion for literature and the printed word; his book is also a song of love for Barcelona with all its creaking floorboards and hidden subbasements.A nice fit with the current craze for learned mysteries and for spooks of both the spying and the spectral kind. -- Kirkus Reviews


Praise for The Shadow of the Wind

“One gorgeous read”—Stephen King

“Diabolically good”—Elle magazine

“Superbly entertaining”—Washington Post

“Breathtaking”—New York Times

“Wondrous”—Entertainment Weekly

“Magic”—New York Times Book Review

“Absolutely marvelous”—Kirkus

“Infectious”—The Economist

“Outstanding”—Library Journal

“Lavish”—Booklist

“Gripping”—Philadelphia Inquirer


From the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Carlos Ruiz Zafón es uno de los autores más leídos y reconocidos en todo el mundo. Inicia su carrera literaria en 1993 con El Príncipe de la Niebla (Premio Edebé), a la que siguen El Palacio de la Medianoche, Las Luces de Septiembre (reunidos en el volumen La Trilogía de la Niebla) y Marina. En 2001 se publica su primera novela para adultos, La Sombra del Viento, que pronto se transforma en un fenómeno literario internacional. Sus obras han sido traducidas a más de cuarenta lenguas y han conquistado numerosos premios y millones de lectores en todo el mundo. www.eljuegodelangel.comwww.carlosruizzafon.com

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 672 pages
• Publisher: Vintage; 1st. edition (May 13, 2008)
• Language: Spanish
• ISBN-10: 0307455378
• ISBN-13: 978-0307455376
• Product Dimensions: 6.4 x 1.5 x 9.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (80 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #41,661 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #6 in Books > Libros en español > Romance > Suspenso Romántico
  • #9 in Books > Libros en español > Literatura y ficción > Género Ficción > Horror
  • #11 in Books > Libros en español > Literatura y ficción > Literatura Mundial

More About the Author

Carlos Ruiz Zafón is the author of six novels, including the international phenomenon The Shadow of the Wind. His work has been published in more than forty different languages, and honored with numerous international awards, including the Edebé Award, Spain's most prestigious prize for young adult fiction. He divides his time between Barcelona, Spain, and Los Angeles, California.

Amazon Author Rankbeta 

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#93 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Literary

#93 in Books > Literature & Fiction > Literary

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Muy disfrutable June 27, 2008

By Walter Landesman

Format:Hardcover

El nuevo libro de Ruiz Zafón - el Juego del Ángel, en verdad me cautivó. El final puede ser discutible, acelerado, con no todas las respuestas a todas las posibles preguntas, pero las primeras 640 páginas ( de las 666) son fascinantes, disfrutables de leer, de gran imaginación, y de alguna manera te hace sentir en una Barcelona de comienzos del siglo xx.
Intriga, misterios (más lineales que en La Sombra del Viento , donde uno llevaba a otro y era como un juego de damas chinas), una atmósfera mágica, extraña y de a momentos cuasi mística. Realmente muy interesante y de lectura muy recomendable.

26 of 29 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Let's discuss the contents and not so much the binding ... June 14, 2008

By LA Avid Reader

Format:Paperback

I read "La Sombra del Viento" (Shadow of the Wind) in one sitting, and thought it to be one of the best books I've read in the last 10 years. It took me just three days to finish this one, which is supposed to be a sequel, but you can perfectly read it independently of The Shadow. I don't want to be unfair with this one, cause I loved the other one so much. It is a good book, kept me going and interested, and found some parts very catching. I am not giving it 5 stars cause I was a bit dissapointed with the end, I felt the author had already written too many pages and some editor told him "that's it, you have to end it". Nevertheless, I strongly recommend it.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars ¡Me encantó! November 29, 2008

By Lubumba

Format:Paperback

Una vez empiezas esta novela, es difícil parar de leer. El libro está escrito en un lenguaje sencillo y de acción rápida - de una sorpresa a la otra. La descripción de Barcelona y sus alrededores pone al lector en el centro de la acción. El lector sigue el personaje principal a través de sus desventuras e intrigas para culminar en un final que, lejos de explicar el misterio, deja muchas de las historias sujetas a la interpretación del lector. Este libro lo deja pensando y atando sus propios cabos. Merece una segunda lectura.