Marina Hardcover – July 22, 2014

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More than anything else, I love the tone, the sense of mystery and days long past that shrouds the books of Carlos Ruiz Zafón. The words of his stories surround the reader with sepia tones, slightly blurry while lovely images, and the faintest background music of sad, romantic waltzes. Just opening one of his books takes me to worlds I’ve never seen, worlds that may never have existed – except in the longings of his characters.“The Sarriá cemetery is in one of Barcelona’s best-hidden corners. If you look for it on the map, you won’t find it. If you ask locals or taxi drivers how to get there, they probably won’t know, although they’ve all heard about it. And if, by chance, you try to look for it on your own, you’re more likely than not to get lost. The lucky few who know the secret of its whereabouts suspect that this old graveyard is in fact an island lost in the ocean of the past, which appears and disappears at random.”In “Marina” – his main characters are younger than usual – but no less surrounded by mystery. In addition to the graveyard, there are majestic yet crumbling old mansions, an opera house lost in in tragedy, and family secrets that cling and nearly choke.Even after finishing the book, I know almost nothing about the main character, Oscar, and that is completely OK. I know his part of this gothic tale and through his eyes; I was able to escape again to a long ago and far away world that I love.This book was sad and glorious. Beautiful and horrific. A wonderful story and an unbelievable fairy tale. A great book and one I was sad to put down.

The writing was decent, like most of Carlos Ruiz Zafon's books, but this is definitely a homage to horror stories, as a character named Maria Shelley can attest to.Story: Oscar Drai, a 15 year-old student in Barcelona, meets 15 year-old Marina, and her father German. Oscar and Marina get involved in an old story, but the villain is still around, the evil Mijail Kolvenik, and they battle him.Lines I liked: "People tend to become wary of individuals like him because their brilliance reminds them of their own mediocrity.""In the background the murmur of a radio drifted through the air like the echo of our conversation."

How often does a love story not disappoint. Aaron who died recently named Marina as his family visits among his novels. It doesn't replace Shadow of the Wind for me,but I loved it and read it in one sitting. As is often the case with Zafon, the setting,his most frequent site, Barcelona, becomes a major character in the story. It's theater, a cemetary, an old mansion, a boy's school, a secluded cove outside the.city, a suburb posed on a mount reached by funicular, even the sewers are as memorable as Marina and Oscer . As he always does this author makes the magical as real as The settings and the people in those locales. The lonely school boy saved by a loving widowed father and his lovely daughter Marina will be part of me forever.

I love CRZ's writing style. It's hypnotizing. With most authors, I have a tendency to zone out of the story from time to time but not with CRZ books. I could read his stories all day, every day.Marina is a fast paced book with plenty of action/suspense to keep you interested. The characters are relatable, weaving their ways into your heart.I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone looking for a riveting, fast paced, quick read.

Haunting, exciting romantic and heartbreaking. I got to the end of the gorgeous novel and literally started at the beginning again. I can't say that I have done that with many other books. The author's gift for description in captivating and his characters are people I long to know. The structure of the story is fast pace and never ever boring. The ending was painful but in beautiful symmetry to the theme and the moral of the overall story. I am going to recommend this to my 15 year old son, who is a freshman at a Jesuit school and a avid fan of Poe and Kafka! I think he will enjoy it for obvious connections. I will recommend it to my daughter for the romantic, beautiful heart wrenching story. This novel has so much to offer and I only wish I could read it for the first time again.

I am a Zafon devotee and so I love almost everything he writes. My first experience of him was with, 'The Shadow of the Wind,' which, if I am ever asked, is the very best book I have ever read. If I understand correctly, all his titles are English translations so this is doubly amazing to me. It may matter to you that he describes 'Marina,' as one of the stories he wrote for young readers. I had already bought it when I saw this. However, so were the Hunger Games and Harry Potter books. I read it anyway and found that It didn't keep the story back- there was some pretty adult behavior presented as back story, etc. But the colors, the descriptions, the Gothic touches of 'Wind,' are all in evidence here, making it a great read. Enjoy.

Having first gone through "The Shadow of the Wind ", I was hooked by Carlos Ruis Zafon. Although this book is for younger readers, or young at heart. It is very well written. I read it in Spanish, the Author's language.This is a story about the first love of your life, and the tragic circumstances that followed, and what I would translate into a real life setting. Tragedy is around the corner, for all of us, we do not know when it will show up, hopefully, it never will. The pain of living is what we go through; on the bright side, the marvelous love of young adults, what we once experienced as "puppy love". Quoting Paul Anka . . ." Is it really Puppy Love". . .

Having seen an extract from the novel in a comprehension exercise, I bought the book. It is a strange and often gripping yarn, set in the darkened streets of Barcelona. It clunks along occasionally, as the ongoing back story is told by different characters, all of whom seem strangely willing to share the story with an unknown schoolboy and his pale, female, eponymous companion. The threads of the story are woven together an the final picture builds up to a crescendo which, while told with gusto and enthusiasm, does stretch the imagination somewhat. There is, at the end, a final, unexpected twist to a very entertaining and occasionally lyrical novel.

I've read a couple of Carlos Ruiz Zafon books now and approached this with delight because I love gothic literature and I find his prose incredible.Oscar is at boarding school, a lonely isolated boy who seems curiously disconnected with his surroundings until he goes walking amongst the old and derelict buildings in the once wealthy areas of Barcelona. Here he discovers and is befriended by the enigmatic and beautiful Marina and her father; and together they uncover the mystery of an old widow who visits the graveyard at the same time each month dressed in a hooded cape.The story is genuinely scary in places, but delightfully so; a mature younger reader would probably enjoy this as much as an adult. The prose is beautiful; there are times when Zafon writes an image that literally makes you stop in your tracks.This is one to be savoured and one of the few books that I will revisit!

Carlos Ruiz Zafon is one of my favourite authors but this was a disappointment compared to his other work. Normally his plot twists are gripping but this one is predictable. I also found it ultimately quite depressing. Although his books always contain some very dark themes, these usually add excitement/suspense and are balanced with lighter and more uplifting parts. Didn't find that here. With the 'Forgotten Books' series I didn't want to finish them because I didn't want the experience to end. This one I struggled to finish for the opposite reason.

I've had this book on my shelf since I pre-ordered it back last year. I'm an avid Carlos Ruiz Zafon fan and wanted to make sure that I had time to really enjoy it. To savour it until the next book is released.And this really didn't disappoint. The opening pages really spark your curiosity and begins with the ending. You don't really take on board the significance of the beginning until you come to the end, where it's a book that you feel like you have to reread.Again, it's set in Spain which to me now is a place where I think there are picturesque ruins in the daytime and at night time, darker forces are at work. There are twists and turns, we are taken through sewers, grave yards and meet death at it's worse, when it's resurrected. We are taken back in time and thrown forward again. It is a tale that until you reach the end, you don't unite realise how much of your breath you've been holding.There are many themes running through this book, keeping you on your toes and taking you through a range of emotions.The tag line "A Gothic tale for all ages," really does sum this book up. Any age will enjoy this. And I just can't wait to read it again.

Thoughts:1. The characterisation is so complex; not only are the protagonists Oscar and Marina developed in such intricate and unique ways, but the side characters each have complex back stories too. I really appreciated knowing about them in such depth and it really helped to piece together some of the mystery, and in such a short novel, I was able to connect with them all. I loved the friendship between Oscar and Marina in particular, and found Germán an incredibly interesting character to explore.2. Beautiful writing style! So much lyrical language, imagery and symbolism; I just can't fault Carlos Ruiz Zafón's writing style and it's so vivid that I felt I was transported back to 1980s Barcelona.3. I loved the Gothic-horror tone of the book, everything was brought to life and the atmosphere was very ominous!4. An intriguing plot from the start that kept me thinking and questioning, and then when certain pieces of information were revealed, I was shocked! But I felt that at times the plot started to feel a bit inconsistent and I didn't really know where things were going, particularly in the middle (though it still kept me thinking and I was still interested). This was probably due to the in-depth character development, where their stories were being told and the pace slowed down a bit, resulting in much less action.5. The ending was sad and tragic, but poignant and meaningful, allowing Zafón to come to the conclusion of his main messages about the hardships of life and the fate faced by us all.