The Prisoner of Heaven

Quick-paced and fun to read.
I have read The Shadow of The Wind, but haven't read The Angel's Game yet. All three novels are part of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books series, of which yet another installment is said to be coming.

I didn't know I had the third installment until I had brought it home with me from the library, but the back cover reassured me that the novels can be read out of order. Lucky me!

If you're interested in my review of The Shadow of the Wind you can read it when you follow the link below:
The Shadow of the Wind

The Prisoner of Heaven reintroduced me to Daniel again, the protagonist of The Cemetery of The Wind to which I hadn't the warmest feeling. I'm still lukewarm about him, but as this novel isn't so action-orientated as the first one, I could easily forget my judgment of him.

For those who have read The Shadow of the Wind a lot of characters mentioned in The Prisoner of Heaven are already known. As I remember the quick events from the first installment, this one took it more leisurely.
It starts of with a strange encounter followed by a pursuit. The story could've gone many directions from there, but was quickly sidetracked by Daniels insecurities. The stranger who was followed early on in the novel seems to be the catalyst in Fermin telling Daniel a story about his past, a story that brushes Daniel's own past ever so slightly but irrevocably changed it.

This novel was about connecting the dots. I think that a lot will be explained when I read the second installment (The Angel's Game) but despite its narrator-style the novel did please me. I like novels where most is explained, leaving just a trace to leave you wanting for the rest of the story. Daniel still isn't one of my favourite literary characters, Fermin still seems a bit larger than life, Daniel's father gives me the sense of a standing clock and Bea (Daniel's wife) must be the less cultivated character in the book. (None of the women are) But together is somehow works. They're a team that make this novel worth reading.

The Shadow of the Wind

Barcelona, a city like most grand cities. A little rundown, overpopulated with tourists and too many shops. A beautiful church smack in the middle and Gaudi influences everywhere.
That's my impression of Barcelona and apart from the very appetizing tapa I've eaten there, I wasn't awestruck.

That's not the Barcelona you'll come to meet when you read The Shadow of the Wind. Barcelona feels much grander and yet a lot smaller at the same time. While you walk the streets together with Daniel or Fermin, you feel the smog getting into your lungs, but you feel the spirit of its people as well.

This novel begins its journey in 1945, with a boy who has forgotten the face of this mother, who died while he was still a young child. His father, saddened but strong as well, takes him on a mysterious trip to The Cemetery of Forgotten Books which is guarded well and not well-known. Daniel may chose a book for his own, one he must cherish his entire life.
From all the books in that vast space, books about gardening or fishing, books with adventures, romances, crimes, he picks The Shadow of the Wind, a book written by Julian Carax.

Of course, he enjoys it very much, otherwise this novel would be short-lived. Amazed by this novel, he sets out to find out more about the author and that's when the premise for this novel truly begins. The search for Julian Carax.

I love books about books, maybe it's because I like to read about other people that like to read. It's like we're in some kind of secret society where only a good and steady number of turned pages can give entrance. The search for a particular unknown author in a country devastated by war and corruption is a formula that works well. It can be compared with The Book Thief which is another fine novel.

The Book Thief showed you a world from a girl's point of view, whereas Shadow of the Wind is remarkably male. That's the only thing that got in my way sometimes. Not that I'm discriminating, but this novel didn't come close to the emotional level of the The Book Thief. Liesel was an almost perfect protagonist, her entire family was what it needed to be in all the right places, to make it an unforgettable story. The Shadow of the Wind was an entertaining story, but it never connected with me emotionally. It's not going to be a story to reread.

 Another thing that bothered me was the mental capacity of the main character, Daniel. He wasn't too quick on the dial, in my opinion. It felt most often like he was surfing the tide and letting it take him wherever it wanted, instead of taking matters into his own hands and finding out what he needed to know. In the end the conclusion of the novel was rushed when he found the letter from Nuria. It's like the perfect ending and that doesn't exist, so even in a novel which is entirely fictional, it feels cheap. It's not a crime to leave readers with a few questions. In life we don't always get all the answers, so why should be in books?