this book was fun …
for me, it felt like a i will try to wait a moment before comparing it to other stuff
set in barcelona, from the mid 40s to the early 60s, it follows the story of a young boy and a special book.
i could say more, but then, you could go somewhere else and read the book jacket blurb.
what is special about this book? it does a wonderful job of blending dusty, you-can-almost-taste it reality with sweeping fantasy. you also see the heart of normal everyday people in barcelona, and the fascist control they try to live through. modern spain has a dark past, and it isn`t so long ago.
its the tale of a boy becoming a man. and the character reads true to his age. as a teen, he is a lovestruck annoying little shit. like many teens. nobody ever feels like a cardboard cutout (i am looking at YOU matthew reilly).
you care about the characters. or at least, i did.
i didn`t feel that the author pulled off everything they wanted to do. there were some weak points in the narrative. but i love ambitious but flawed works much much more than polished works that don`t aim to be much.
and last, i liked the book so much, i bought a copy in japanese as well (so my girlfriend can read it too).
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