Product Description

La magia y los secretos de un verano inolvidable . . .

Un misterioso fabricante de juguetes que vive recluido en una gigantesca mansión poblada de seres mecánicos y sombras del pasado . . . Un enigma en torno a extrañas luces que brillan entre la niebla que rodea el islote del faro. Una criatura de pesadilla que se oculta en lo más profundo del bosque . . . Estos y otros elementos tejen la trama del misterio que unirá a Irene e Ismael para siempre durante un mágico verano en Bahía Azul. Un misterio que los llevará a vivir la más emocionante de las aventuras en un laberíntico mundo de luces y sombras.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #42590 in Books
• Published on: 2008-09-01
• Released on: 2008-08-26
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780061724336
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

About the Author

Carlos Ruiz Zafon es uno de los novelistas europeos de mayor proyecciÓn en todo el mundo. Su carrera literaria debutÓ en 1993 con El PrÍncipe de la Niebla y posteriormente publicÓ otras tres novelas para el pÚblico juvenil: El Palacio de la Medianoche, Las Luces de Septiembre y Marina. En el aÑo 2001 dio el salto a la narrativa para adultos con la publicaciÓn de La Sombra del Viento, que se ha convertido en un bestseller a nivel internacional. Sus obras han sido traducidas a mÁs de cuarenta idiomas y publicadas en mÁs de cincuenta paÍses, obteniendo numerosos premios y conquistando a millones de lectores de todas las edades.

Customer Reviews

Vale la pena!
I found this novel enthralling enough to struggle with the Spanish. The author is a prize winning 42 year-old from Barcelona. The story opens in Paris in the 1930s. M. Sauvelle suddenly dies leaving his wife Mme Sauvelle and their two children Irene, a young teen, and Dorian, a pre-teen, with a mountain of debt. A mysterious stranger, Lazarus Jann becomes their salvation when he offers Mme Sauvelle a job running his estate on the southern coast of England. Jann is allegedly a widowed toy manufacturer. His "toys" are frightening mechanical contraptions that seem to take on a life of their own and his mansion is rife with intrigue. Irene falls in love with Ismael an orphaned teenage fisherman who lives with his relatives who also work for Jann.

Ruiz has spun his plot borrowing some elements from Carl Gustave Jung's shadow, which I'm pretty sure Jung borrowed from the Kabbalah, and the yetzer hara (the evil inclination), as well as Faust. This novel is geared towards a teenage audience. The illustrations are great.

If looking for La sombra del viento 2, look elsewhere
I bought this one along with the first 2 published novels. As he states, these are novels intended for a teenager public and as such are not as deep nor as complex as La sombra del viento. Character descriptions are not so developed and the book feels rushed into the closing chapters, but it's understandable because again, were written for teenagers. But yes, you can feel Zafón here from the first lines and for those who enjoy his writing skills as I do that's quite enough. By the way, for those of you who felt a little lost with El juego del Angel, reading his first novels will clarify some questions, as thematic resources used a lot on these works are the answer to the seemingly lost ends in that later book. All in all, very good works from the author considering the public they are intended to reach.

Las luces de septiembre
Although this novel by Carlos Ruiz Zafon was intended for a younger audience, the simple intrigue and characters can also interest older readers. The language is vivid and, although there is not much actual character development, the "personajes" are clear and fitting for the plot.