/lit/ - Literature

>>11555268
I read it back when I was 17 and thought it was a nice story. I remember being confused at the quality of speech and thought the supposed child protagonist displayed though. He basically ran around talking like an adult and not like a kid. Might remember that wrong tho.

>>11555369
yeah, it took place in early 1900s Barcelona. This book was translated from spanish. it might just be how they talked back then in Spain

>>11555268
It was a comfy book and I really liked it.

>>11555268
winds don't have shadows what the fuck

>>11555268
Read it to practice Spanish, which is not my native language. It was ok. But the whole villain thing was soooo predictable.

>>11556341
It's a metaphor.

>>11556578
True but it's more about the mystery and how everyone is connected.

>>11556292
Very comfy, read it when I was a junior and fell in love with it.

The most painful prose to read. This book angered me by how bad it was.

I read it near to when it was new. I don't remember it especially well. I remember it drew me in, the writing seemed good and the story was really exciting. But in the end, I was just kind of like "meh." It seemed a bit like a genre thriller story tailored to an audience that thought themselves "literary." I think it was an Oprah's book club book, wasn't it?

It was seemingly better written than trashy genre pulp, but the plot was basically that.

>>11558267
why anon? I read a translation (and, just like >>11555369, when I was 17), but I remember the prose as standard, bit flowery, easy to swallow.

>>11558835
Yeah the prose is elegant.

>>11558607
How did it tailor to said audience? At least provide some bases behind your statement.

>>11559334
>>11558835
The absolute state of /lit/.

The faggot uses ten adjectives and two metaphors for every single thing he describes.
>street?
>haha! no! It's ''The deep, dark, old scars of the city!'' :)
>Dad smiled?
>Haha! No! It's ''He smiled with a smile that was a ghost that has been haunting him all his life!'' :)

And like the other anon said, everyone speaks in the same way. You literally ccouldn't tell who's who if you took dialogue out of the context.

>>11560563
>some people read the book years back and saw nothing wrong with the use of metaphors
>the absolute state of /lit/!!!
well anon, again: Zafon isn't a top stylist of elite literary fiction, the sole fact that he decided to upgrade his prose from genre fic level babble to something probably more along the lines of some of his favourite writers is in itself an interesting choice.

Just saw there is a 4th book in the series. Anyone read "Labyrinth of souls" yet?

>>11560821
They saw nothing wrong because they were teenagers. Teenagers read YA trite.

Zafon wasn't self aware enough to realise he's not capable of writing along the lines of his favourite authors. He ended up writing purple.

>>11561451
Not yet. I can read spanish but I higher level spanish is still out of my grasp. I can only read simple stuff. Got to wait until it is translated to english.

>"One gorgeous read"
>Stephen King
I won't be reading this

>>11562929
I read both this and the sequel when I was ~15 and loved them, then read them again 5 years later and they seemed mediocre but fun

my Portuguese friend who's an absolute pleb who only likes anime and videogames recommended me this because he knows i like books