Tuesday 21 March 2023

Ruiz Zafón, Carlos "The City of Mist"

Ruiz Zafón, Carlos "The City of Mist" (Spanish: La Ciudad de Vapor) - 2020
(El cementerio de los libros olvidados #5)

Yes, we return to Barcelona, one last journey with a wonderful author who left a big hole in the literary world with his death. His fans can look forward to a last greeting. All stories that fit somewhere in his Cemetery of Forgotten Books. How it came about and what it has contributed to. One or the other story has already been read beforehand, e.g. "Gaudí in Manhattan" or "The Prince of Parnassus" (El Príncipe de Parnaso), but that doesn't detract from the joy of this book.

And if you haven't read the wonderful series yet, you should do so as soon as possible. These short stories are also good for getting in the mood. You can read all of his books in any order, they complement each other well.

From the back cover:

"Return to the mythical Barcelona library known as the Cemetery of Forgotten Books in this posthumous collection of stories from the New York Times bestselling author of The Shadow of the Wind and The Labyrinth of the Spirits.

Bestselling author Carlos Ruiz Zafón conceived of this collection of stories as an appreciation to the countless readers who joined him on the extraordinary journey that began with
The Shadow of the Wind. Comprising eleven stories, most of them never before published in English, The City of Mist offers the reader compelling characters, unique situations, and a gothic atmosphere reminiscent of his beloved Cemetery of Forgotten Books quartet.

The stories are mysterious, imbued with a sense of menace, and told with the warmth, wit, and humor of Zafón's inimitable voice. A boy decides to become a writer when he discovers that his creative gifts capture the attentions of an aloof young beauty who has stolen his heart. A labyrinth maker flees Constantinople to a plague-ridden Barcelona, with plans for building a library impervious to the destruction of time. A strange gentleman tempts Cervantes to write a book like no other, each page of which could prolong the life of the woman he loves. And a brilliant Catalan architect named Antoni Gaudí reluctantly agrees to cross the ocean to New York, a voyage that will determine the fate of an unfinished masterpiece.

Imaginative and beguiling, these and other stories in
The City of Mist summon up the mesmerizing magic of their brilliant creator and invite us to come dream along with him.

Blanca and the Departure
Nameless
A Young Lady from Barcelona
Rose of Fire
The Prince of Parnassus
A Christmas Tale
Alicia, at Dawn
Men in Grey
Kiss
Gaudí in Manhattan
Two-Minute Apocalypse"

10 comments:

  1. I didn't know about this one! And I love Caros Ruiz Zafon...especially his books centering around the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. Thanks for brightening my day. :D

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    1. It's one they published after his death, and they are short stories, probably not in the shops that much. But it is a nice collection with Cemetery stories, so really a nice booklet. Enjoy, Lark.

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  2. I have the Cemetery of Forgotten Books series, but haven't read them yet. I'm really intrigued by him now!

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    1. Oooooh, then you have some great books to look forward to, Gypsi.

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  3. The only Zafon I've read so far is 'The Watcher in the Shadows', which I thought was brilliant - especially for a YA book. I have several of his waiting to be read. I'll definitely get to one (or two!) later this year.

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    1. As I just said to Gypsi, you have some great books to look forward to, Kitten. All his books are thrilling, exciting, gripping, can't find enough words to describe what his stories were really all about. Just fantastic.

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  4. For once, our tastes diverge. I ended up DNFing book 1, after listening to 55% of it. It was getting into really bad vibes for me

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    1. Maybe because it wasn't narrated well? ;) No, it happens that you don't get into a certain author. For me, he belongs to my favourite ones, even though I'm neither into fantasy or mythical stories.

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  5. I love Ruiz Zafón but am not familiar with this book. A must read I think. Apart from the trilogy I have only read The Midnight Palace by him. It is more from young people I think, but I liked it. It has a wonderful opening line: "I'll never forget the night it snowed over Calcutta."

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    1. They published it after his death. He might have wanted to work on another book about it, who knows?
      A lot of his books are YA but they are still very interesting for adults.

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