The Prisoner of Heaven

by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
HarperCollins, 2012.

A mysterious man shows up at Sempere & Sons book store looking for Fermin, setting Daniel on a quest to find out about his friend's past.

This is the third in the connected stories in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books cycle. While it's not necessary to have read The Shadow of the Wind and The Angel's Game beforehand, I think I would not have been as emotionally connected to events and characters if I had not. Of the three, I think this book stands alone the least, though it still could, as the author intends, be the introduction to the cycle set in 1950s Barcelona. In fact (and I never thought I'd say this), it made me want to go back and reread The Angel's Game because I have the feeling I completely misunderstood it the first time around.

While it still doesn't hold a candle to The Shadow of the Wind which is one of my all-time favorites, I loved getting Fermin's back story and am truly looking forward to seeing where the next book takes these characters.

The Castle of Otranto

by Horace Walpole
Champaign, Ill. : Boulder, Colo. : Project Gutenberg, [199-?] (orig. pub. 1764)

This classic tells the story of Manfred, who is prince of Otranto, as his father and grandfather before him. An odd prophecy dogs him, and he is determined to marry his son to a young woman, Isabella. But mysterious forces appear to be working against Manfred, beginning with a giant helmet that falls out of the sky, killing his son.

I'm sure the story was supposed to have - and once upon a time did have - a creepy feel to it. Every now and then, I did get a bit of that delicious thrill down the spine that the supernatural elements were supposed to engender. Most of the time, however, I couldn't quite suspend my disbelief enough to really embrace the story, and I found myself laughing (only sometimes when I should have been). I enjoyed the story, and I enjoyed following the tutoring thread even more, but I enjoyed it more for the analysis as a predecessor of Gothic novels, never really sinking into the story enough to be fully invested in it, but observing it from the outside.

This was the second e-book I read, and the first I downloaded from Project Gutenberg. I have to say, the whole process of reading on my e-reader has been quite enjoyable. I loved being able to highlight passages and look up words right away in a built-in dictionary. While my e-reader doesn't replace the experience of reading a paper book, I really liked having its lightness in bed while I was sick last week.

Everything Austen: Northanger Abbey

Northanger Abbey
by Jane Austen
New York : Modern Library, 2002.

Seventeen-year-old Catherine Morland is not your typical heroine, as our narrator forewarns us. Her father is respectable, her mother is not of a sickly constitution. When Catherine is allowed to go to Bath with family friends, she is excited by the prospect of all the adventures that may befall her. But as readers, and Catherine herself, discover - she is not in a Gothic novel.

When I first attempted to read Northanger Abbey in my teens I was, I confess, much like Catherine myself. Much of the banter of characters and narrator was over my head. I didn't remember that there was sarcasm, much less humor, in conveying Catherine's story, and I daresay I must have taken much of it at face value and abandoned the book out of boredom (and the necessity of library due dates). But now a little older, more familiar with literature if not the exact Gothic novels which Jane Austen is skewering, and much more adept at picking up on when the narrator was laughing at our heroine, I found the story a much smoother read. At times, I laughed out loud over Catherine's propensity for viewing events in convoluted ways suggested by her novel reading. This is atypical of Austen's style. Though witty, the sarcasm is much more pointed than I remember her other novels, such as Pride and Prejudice. I was often laughing at the heroine instead of with her, though it was endearing to see how readily she believed the best of other people.

I am now pondering how I shall place it in the hierarchy of the five Austen novels I have read. Pride and Prejudice is first, followed by Emma. Mansfield Park is last in my book, though unlike some I didn't hate it, I just didn't love it either. I need to refresh my memory of Sense and Sensibility to determine whether I would rank Northanger Abbey above or below it, but from what I can remember now they're neck and neck for third place.

Revisiting Elizabeth von Arnim

Vera
by Elizabeth von Arnim

The day young Lucy Entwhistle's father died, she was only able to stand, staring, feeling nothing. Along came Wemyss, a man of about forty-five, who had just lost his wife. This shared bereavement brings he and Lucy together: Wemyss makes all the plans for Mr. Entwhistle's funeral, they spend much time together comforting each other, and they soon become engaged. Lucy's aunt, Mrs. Entwhistle, is rather perplexed by the whole turn of affairs, but she determines to like Wemyss for Lucy's sake, even though he shows all the character of a spoiled brat.

Vera was Wemyss's former wife, who died under somewhat mysterious circumstances, yet whose memory permeates much. At first, I thought the story was going to be headed in a similar direction as Rebecca, but even though I didn't particularly like Max de Winter, he had nothing on Wemyss. Everard Wemyss has made my top five list of most hated characters in literature. His behavior made me want to slap him, shake him, finally to punch him. I loved Miss Entwhistle's standing up to him, and wished Lucy was more able to assert herself. But like many in an unhealthy relationship, she's quick to forgive and forget. Reading about them as they progressed from engagement into marriage was like watching a car crash - you know it's going to be terrible, but can't help continuing.

I read this after reading and loving The Enchanted April, the book that was, incidentally, written directly after this one. Vera was much more sobering, though it did have moments of humor, such as when Miss Entwhistle thinks that Wemyss's courting is "not vegetarian," and the one-word pronouncements of the widow whom Miss Entwhistle takes as an oracle. I am thrilled to have met a new author this month, and look forward to reading more of Elizabeth von Arnim's books.