The Angel’s Game

I mentioned that the first part of 2666 reminded me of Shadow of the Wind.  The author,  Carlos Ruiz Zafon, wrote a new book, The Angel’s Game (Doubleday, 2009) that is somewhat of a prequel to Shadow of the Wind (Penguin, 2004).  Both books are an ode to the city of Barcelona, Spain (the new edition of the paperback Shadow of the Wind includes a walking tour of the city entitled A Walk in the Footsteps of The Shadow of the Wind )  I fell crazily in love with Shadow when I first read it – how could I not love a book that opens with the widowed bookseller taking his young son to the Cemetary of Forgotten Books!  The book opens in 1945, after the Spanish Civil War, and is mysterious, funny, and has multiple love stories.  I re-read it after reading The Angel’s Game, and it more than held up over time.  The Angel’s Game opens in 1917 and has many overlapping characters, including the bookseller’s son in this book, who is the widowed father in Shadow, and the Cemetery of Forgotten Books appears here too.  The reader will again enjoy Zafon’s sense of humor and multiple love stories.  This book has a more sinister tone – Andreas Corelli may in fact be the devil – and there are lengthy passages ruminating on the meaning of religion and faith –  it is again a wonderful read.