MARINA || CARLOS RUIZ ZAFÓN

For at least three instances when I was perusing the shelves of Easons, Marina by Carlos Ruiz Zafón kept screaming at me to buy it. Just look at that cover. Just look at it. Isn't it absolutely gorgeous? How did I manage to pass it up three times? Even now, I'm still finding something on the cover that I didn't notice before. It is beyond beautiful. The font instantly cried out to me. It was cover-love at first sight. Of course, I read the back of it and was instantly intrigued by it. Granted, I obviously wasn't intrigued enough to buy it on those first few instances but I gave in to it and finally bought it because 1980s Barcelona? Yes, please!

I want to talk about the translation first. Ruiz Zafón is Spanish and so Marina was translated from Spanish by Lucia Graves. I spent the majority of my A-Level Spanish classes translating texts into English and Spanish. It is difficult. Very difficult. It is easy to translate it straight from Spanish into English but more often than not, it doesn't sound like English. If you know me, my reading is very sensitive to sentence constructs and I genuinely stumble over sentences that don't make sense. I'm pretty sure that that sentence didn't even make sense.

Lucia Graves does an astounding job at translating Ruiz Zafón's words. From the very first sentence, this book was an absolute dream to read. The words were like the most luxurious cream ever. A weird analogy for words but every sentence was even more magnificent than the one before. It makes me want to read it in Spanish. I cannot wait to read more of Ruiz Zafón and Graves' work.

The synopsis of this book hooked me from the first sentence, 

In May 1980, fifteen-year-old Oscar Drai suddenly vanishes from his boarding school in the old quarter of Barcelona. For seven days and nights no one knows his whereabouts.... 

His story begins in the heart of old Barcelona, when he meets Marina and her father Germán Blau, a portrait painter. Marina takes Oscar to a cemetery to watch a macabre ritual that occurs on the fourth Sunday of each month. At 10 a.m. precisely a coach pulled by black horses appears. From it descends a woman dressed in black, her face shrouded, wearing gloves, holding a single rose. She walks over to a gravestone that bears no name, only the mysterious emblem of a black butterfly with open wings. 

When Oscar and Marina decide to follow her they begin a journey that will take them to the heights of a forgotten, post-war Barcelona, a world of aristocrats and actresses, inventors and tycoons; and a dark secret that lies waiting in the mysterious labyrinth beneath the city streets.

1980s Barcelona? Gothic tale? I instantly fell in love with this book. From the first chapter, I was under its spell. Oscar is a protagonist that you can root for and that you want to stick his nose where it doesn't belong. But he also has a conscience and a thirst for knowledge which I absolutely adored about Oscar. The enigmatic Marina is just as much a curiosity as Oscar. I was just as enthralled with her as Oscar was. I wanted her to be a real person so that I could be her friend. 

Together, they uncover a mystery that takes them around Barcelona. I have to admit that I was attached to my phone and Google Maps when reading this book just so I could visualise where they were and how far they had gone on their adventure. What I loved about Ruiz Zafón's writing was that it was impeccably vivid. I could easily see everywhere that Oscar and Marina went. Sometimes, a little too vividly. There were times where I would finish a rather spooky chapter right before going to sleep. Thankfully I didn't have any nightmares. Typically, the substance of Marina wouldn't be what I would reach for. Had I known what would happen, I probably would have passed on it but the way that Ruiz Zafón writes made it enticing and made me enjoy being uncomfortable and scared for the characters. I loved the atmosphere that he created across Barcelona. There was a masterful use of pathetic fallacy and as much as I don't want this review to turn into an English Literature student essay, I loved the use of weather throughout this book. 

I don't want to give away spoilers but I liken this book to a crossover between Frankenstein and The Phantom of the Opera. I was not expecting that crossover when I first started reading Marina. I was pleasantly surprised by it and absolutely loved it. I couldn't believe the twists and turns that this book took. I was strapped in and along for the ride. Wherever this book went, I was going too. Even now, thinking about it two months later, I'm still under its spell. The story that Ruiz Zafón created was dark, gothic, undeniably beautiful and heartbreaking. I felt for every single character that appeared. They were so wonderfully interconnected. I loved the stories that the characters told to Oscar and Marina. Usually, stories being told within a book don't appeal to me because at times I feel that they can distract from the plot if done incorrectly. Ruiz Zafón created the most enticing stories that I couldn't stop reading and that I wanted more from. I simply wouldn't put this book down. 

I cannot sing the praises of this book enough. It is beautiful, mysterious, enthralling, surprising and captivating. I was hooked from the very first page to the very last. The translation of it is impeccable. I would really love to read it in Spanish. I loved the characters. The whole plot was unlike anything that I have ever read before. I loved everything about this book and I hope to read more books by Ruiz Zafón in the future. If Marina is anything to go by, I have no doubt that I will love it.