Kaaren M. (Kaaren) - reviewed on 4/28/2012 + 6 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

A friend read this book in English and thought it was really good. She wondered aloud (a-text? On her blog) if the translation was a good one. The original was written in Spanish by Spaniard Carlos Ruiz Zafon. I thought to myself "Self, I can read that in Spanish and let her know," so I ordered the Spanish version from Amazon and began to read it. Into the book by about 4 chapters, I realized something. How exactly would I know if the translation was good if I was only reading it in Spanish? DOH! I got the English version from the library and read them side by side, chapter by chapter.

This book was a fantastic mystery novel full of colorful characters, suspense, twisting plots and beautiful prose. Mr. Zafon is a gifted author. His writing was descriptive, hysterical, creepy, mournful, exciting.

For a complete review of the differences I found between the Spanish and English, see my very-long blog post: http://kaarensblog.blogspot.com/2009/11/shadow-of-wind-la-sombra-del-viento.html

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