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3.69 AVERAGE
3.69 AVERAGE
I'm surprised at myself that this isn't 5 stars but the ending knocked ot down.
This is an excellent book showing the reality of the Spanish civil war and its aftermath with a well written spy thriller thrown in there.
As someone who has visited a lot of Spain it was really cool to know most of the places the book is set in. I'm even from Surrey and laughed when one of the characters had to say its near London as that's what I do. I've been to cuenca burgos palencia madrid, so many of the places mentioned.
Barbara is a great character. Sandy a good villain. I was very much upset at the ending. I know or assume at least that the point is noone has a happy ending after war. Everyone at least loses someone. But I read 600 pages of book, not doing my uni work, and being heavily invested in the romance side of it and both of the main couples lost one of their partners. Bernies death did make sense I suppose but I wanted one shred of a happy ending. I feel almost cheated.
But again, that was probably the authors intention.
I feel a reading slump coming on now I'm not going to lie.
This is an excellent book showing the reality of the Spanish civil war and its aftermath with a well written spy thriller thrown in there.
As someone who has visited a lot of Spain it was really cool to know most of the places the book is set in. I'm even from Surrey and laughed when one of the characters had to say its near London as that's what I do. I've been to cuenca burgos palencia madrid, so many of the places mentioned.
Barbara is a great character. Sandy a good villain. I was very much upset at the ending. I know or assume at least that the point is noone has a happy ending after war. Everyone at least loses someone. But I read 600 pages of book, not doing my uni work, and being heavily invested in the romance side of it and both of the main couples lost one of their partners. Bernies death did make sense I suppose but I wanted one shred of a happy ending. I feel almost cheated.
But again, that was probably the authors intention.
I feel a reading slump coming on now I'm not going to lie.
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A gripping tale of deception set against the backdrop of the Spanish Civil War. I picked this book up on recommendation that if I like Zafon's work, I'd love this. I was not disappointed.
The story takes place from 3 different viewpoints, all of which lead to one devastating and powerful conclusion. We follow in the footsteps of English translator Harry, who suffers panic attacks in the aftermath of his service in the war, as he travels to Spain to work as a translator and undercover investigator. Barbara is an English nurse who is desperate to find news of her lover, missing presumed dead, whilst also balancing a relationship with the mysterious Sandy. Then there are the prisoners of war, whose plight provides the gruesome and tragic backdrop to the story.
The characters are incredibly well written and interlink seamlessly. Clearly Sansom knows his stuff as the history and politics of this period are sharp and well researched - I thoroughly enjoyed this novel as it is both haunting in its prose and historically interesting also.
The story takes place from 3 different viewpoints, all of which lead to one devastating and powerful conclusion. We follow in the footsteps of English translator Harry, who suffers panic attacks in the aftermath of his service in the war, as he travels to Spain to work as a translator and undercover investigator. Barbara is an English nurse who is desperate to find news of her lover, missing presumed dead, whilst also balancing a relationship with the mysterious Sandy. Then there are the prisoners of war, whose plight provides the gruesome and tragic backdrop to the story.
The characters are incredibly well written and interlink seamlessly. Clearly Sansom knows his stuff as the history and politics of this period are sharp and well researched - I thoroughly enjoyed this novel as it is both haunting in its prose and historically interesting also.
I found the depiction of life in WW2 era Spain, and the history of the civil war really interesting. Unfortunately I found the actual story quite hard to engage with. Harry Brett is sent to the British embassy in Madrid as a translator, but with the secret mission to spy on an old school friend, Sandy, who is working with the Spanish government. He then becomes caught up in a plan to rescue another friend who is being held as a POW having been captured fighting for the Communists during the civil war. I struggled to really like many of the characters, and found the ending very unsatisfying.
A page turner, right to the end. I learned about the Spanish Revolution from the perspective of those who lived it.
An enjoyable read and a very well researched piece of historical fiction. But full of cardboard characters (the overly idealistic communist, the insecure frizzy haired redhead, etc).
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
There are two main plot lines here, an extremely dull one about public schoolboys, shady business dealings, and espionage, and a fairly more rousing one about a prison break. However, Sansom's superb evocation of the periods before, during and after the Spanish Civil War, and its effect on those who lived through it, goes some way towards compensating for the plot's shortcomings, and I would recommend it purely on that basis (if you like that sort of thing) (which I do).
Lest for lenge siden. Treig start, ga opp etter 100 sider, som er regelen jeg har: "Ikke gi deg før hundre". Plukka den opp ei stund senere, og da slukte jeg den. Var nok en av disse bøkene som skriver seg vekk i persongallerier og detaljer de første sidene uten å vise fram spenningene, for så å løsne. Får litt William Boyd-vibber av denne, men mer avgrenset i tid enn de beste bøkene fra Boyd, slik som And Human Heart og The New Confessions.
3.5 stars. I wanted to like this more than I did. As others point out, nothing much happens for about 3/4 of the book...and then a bunch all at once. And while maybe that's how these sorts of things work, it didn't make for a satisfying read. The prose is good and the depiction of post-Civil War Spain is fascinating, but for whatever reason...this didn't resonate as much as I'd hoped