Book Impressions: The Cemetery of Forgotten Books Trilogy by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

The Shadow of the Wind, The Angel’s Game, and The Prisoner of Heaven

The books in The Cemetery of Forgotten Books trilogy by Carlos Ruiz Zafón are fabulous and stirring. Even in translation, the language is haunting and beautiful, and the story spanning all three books is captivating. I discovered the trilogy through a free copy of the interlude between book two and book three, The Rose of Fire. When I read this, I knew I had stumbled upon something enchanting. I wasn’t disappointed.

What an amazing book! This story leaves you breathless with its plot twists, story within a story, and a tale filled with intrigue, love, hate, revenge, hope, hopelessness, and redemption! This story is the epitome of that ineffable power of those wonderful unbreakable bonds of love, friendship, family, and books!

The ending is spectacular and perfect!

Here are a few of my favorite quotes:

“The female heart is a labyrinth of subtleties, too challenging for the uncouth mind of the male racketeer.”

“Memories are worse than bullets.”

“…the novel is dead and buried. A friend of mine who has just arrived from New York was telling me only the other day. Americans are inventing something called television, which will be like the cinema, only at home. There’ll be no more need for books, or churches, or anything.”

“…the art of reading is slowly dying, that it’s an intimate ritual, that a book is a mirror that offers us only what we already carry inside us, that when we read, we do it with all our heart and mind, and great readers are becoming more scarce by the day.”

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Clever and mysterious. Nothing is clear, and everything is a shadow. Breathtaking!
The ending chapters are quite melodramatic, but that tone fits in that old world, Gothic sort of way. Is that a vampiric theme I detect? Definitely not done in that typical, predictable way, but this story is neither typical nor predictable.

If you love and are loved, is the truth really that important?

Here are a few of my favorite quotes:

“I decided that my existence would be one of books and silence.” ~ Act I chapter 8

“You end up becoming what you see in the eyes of those you love.” ~ Act I chapter 11

“You don’t look well,” he pronounced.
“Indigestion,” I replied.
“From what?”
“Reality.”
“Join the queue.”
~ Act I chapter 19

“One is never conscious of the greed hidden in one’s heart until one hears the sweet sound of silver.” ~ Act II chapter 8

“Inspiration comes when you stick your elbows on the table and your bottom on the chair and start sweating. Choose a theme, an idea, and squeeze your brain until it hurts. That’s called inspiration.” ~ Act II 13

“I’m not sure whether to thank you or report you to the police.” ~ Act II 30

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Even in translation, Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s amazing language and style shines. Complex and riveting, these stories are all things beautiful and frightening. Allow yourself to be swept into Barcelona’s shadows.

Here are a few of my favorite quotes:

“A professional bookseller has few opportunities to acquire the fine art of following a suspect in the field without being spotted. Unless a substantial number of his customers are prominent defaulters, such opportunities are only granted to him vicariously by the collection of crime stories and penny dreadfuls on his bookshelves.” ~ part one, chapter 4

“If you ever find yourself in need of grammatical rescue, you’ll find me here.” ~ part one, chapter 4

“Everything can be forgiven in this world, save telling the truth.” ~ part two, chapter 6

“‘One mustn’t dream of one’s future; one must earn it.'” ~ part two, chapter 11

“There are times and places where not to be anyone is more honourable than to be someone.” ~ part three, chapter 2

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What do you think?

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