Finalmente llegamos a la antesala del que será el Acto final del "Cementerio de los Libros Olvidados." Y creo que es acertado llamarlo antesala ya que esta tercera entrega, puede quedarse reducida simplemente a eso, un prólogo del final. Esto no significa que no me haya gustado mucho, (claro le concedí 4 estrellas, pero mi juicio quizás sea un poco subjetivo), ya que le tengo mucho cariño a estos libros, sobre todo a los personajes de "La Sombra del Viento." Y ahora, gracias a este libro, le tengo un mayor apego al personaje de David Martín.El libro con capítulos cortos se puede leer en un mismo día. Y está vez el protagonismo se lo lleva Fermín, quien finalmente le confiesa a Daniel, aquella historia llena de culpa que hubiera preferido dejar encerrada por siempre en las paredes de Montjuic. Hay un nuevo villano que visiblemente tendrá mayor protagonismo en el próximo libro. Y los guiños a obras clásicas siguen a la orden del día, el más claro por ejemplo "El Conde de Montecristo." Tal vez no quedó a la altura de sus antecesores pero sigue siendo disfrutable.Si bien, como han mencionado muchos, "El Prisionero del Cielo" puede ser un puente, o un parteaguas para el final, para mí este es uno de esos libros que te hacen sonreír, te reencuentra con personajes muy queridos que se recordarán por mucho tiempo entre una Barcelona que esconde y olvida sus propios secretos. Carlos Ruíz Zafón, para mí, siempre será recomendable.

I finish this book a bit confused. First of all, the discrepancies between this and The Angel's Game, specifically concerning the events and time frame of Isabella's death, left me scratching my head. Did CRZ do that specifically in order to confound the reader and then rescue his curiosity in the last book? I hope it is something like that, because there are only 2 other alternatives that are equally distasteful to me. The first is that I actually made the mistake in ordering all the events that happened in TAG and didn't reconcile them properly with The Prisoner of Heaven. Secondly, it could be CRZ just got lazy and just decided to ignore his epilogue in TAG. Either way, this is definitely a build-up to the fourth installment, and what a build-up it was. TPoH lacked the compelling storyline that was such a huge part of TSotW. All this did was plant the seeds that could blossom into a fucking fantastic final book. Or, his epilogue from TPoH could trap him again for this fourth book and he will either have to divulge in anachronistic and conflicting plot lines again (if my understanding is correct) or make up lies. So basically, and although this sounds weird and unorthodox, my rating of this book is not complete and hinges entirely on the last book, and god know's when that will come out. One thing that I did love about this book was the fact that people who have read The Count of Monte Cristo and Les Miserables get an extra layer of understanding for this book, and this makes the 3 months I put into the latter a little more rewarding. But, based on my high expectations, I can only give this book 3 stars. CRZ just better come through in that last book.

The Prisoner of Heaven is the third in Carlos Ruiz Zafons series that began with The Shadow of the Wind and continued with The Angels Game. The main character in this chapter of Ruiz Zafons multi-volume tale is Fermin Romero de Torres, friend to the Sempere family, the owners of a struggling bookshop, in 1957 Barcelona. While other characters get their time on stage, this is Fermins tale. And a compelling story it is, from the time he adopted his name, through his less than friendly encounters with Spanish fascists in 1939, including a stint in a top-of-the-hill prison that would have been at home in the mind of Kafka or Bram Stoker, to the present (1957) when a ghost from his time in prison comes calling. I confess that I found myself at loose ends a fair bit. As this is a continuation of the previous stories, or at the very least, is linked to them, I found myself, ironically, constantly straining to remember who this or that was, and what happened to them, or what it was that they had done. And even though I had read both prior books and kept notes on them, one of a thousand hard drive crashes had annihilated much of the information, and also, my note-taking was not quite so OCD as it is these days, so even the retained notes were of less than outstanding value. Maybe the best approach to Ruiz Zafon is to make a pile of all the books in the series and read them in a row, the better to keep things straight. Ruiz Zafon is trying to reconstruct the big novels of the 19th century. On his website, he specifically mentions Tolstoy, Dickens, and Wilkie Collins in discussing his aims. So there will be plenty of characters, plenty of sub-plots, and when spread over three (and eventually four) books it can be a bit much to keep track of, let alone recall from having read the prior volumes years before. The primary literary inspiration here is The Count of Monte Cristo, with both that novel and this one involving an undeserved imprisonment, a clever escape, fabulous treasure, and adventure. The mention is overt in the text and gives us a neon clue as to how a prison escape will be accomplished. While this is a page-turner to read, it is more than a mere action-adventure treat. There is content lurking in the shadows. Keep in mind that one of the central images of the entire series is a literal place called the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. It does not figure very largely in this episode, but it underlies. The need to remember, however, permeates. And it is not just the desire to keep alive the memory of loved ones, or even of literature, but of the reality of Fascism, lest the powers that be erase that memory.Christmas figures early in the story, an image of hopefulness in a time almost worth forgetting:In those days, Christmas still retained a certain aura of magic and mystery. The powdery light of winter, the hopeful expressions of people who lived among the shadows and silences, lent that setting a slight air of promise in which, at least children and those who had learned the art of forgetting, could still believe.Memory is erased as the corrupt surround themselves with their kind then intimidate speakers of truth into suppressing reality and promoting fiction. Although this is not at all referenced here I could not help but think of the McCarthy era in America, and today of those who claim a perfect knowledge of the American founders as a defense of their positions, and any and all political spinmeisters.I dont know where Ive read that deep down weve never been who we think we once were, and we only remember what never happenedLies find their way into common experienceIve seen a few cases and the patients often hear voices, or they see and remember people and events that have never taken placeThe mind slowly deteriorates and the patient can no longer distinguish between reality and fiction.like seventy percent of Spaniards. And a bow to the importance of historians, research and writing:cities have no memory and they need someone like me, a sage with his feet on the ground, to keep it aliveCemeteries of varying sorts pop up like mushrooms after a shower, Fermin has a close encounter with a particularly grisly one, there is the cemetery of forgotten books of course, and other visits take place as well. They seem to be locales where, ironically, truth is kept alive.Fire flames into the text many times, but I leave that for another reviewerAnd I take the title to refer nor only the Daniel Martins dubious mental state, but to the person of Spain itself, which, in a way, had to keep its own consciousness in the clouds in order to survive the horrors of fascism.While I may have concerns about ones ability to read this book solo, this is not to say that this was not an entertaining read. It was. It is not to say that the characters are not interesting. They are, at least the ones which are developed. And it is not to say that this book cannot be read as a stand-alone. It can, although it would be like reading with one eye tied behind your back. (Yes, I know) I do wish, though, that more ink had been applied to the female characters. They seem to serve here more as plot devices than as realized individuals. So, bottom line here is that The Prisoner of Heaven is an engaging and entertaining read, offering the perceptive reader plenty of content beneath the surface story, connections to literature from the past and an appreciation of the importance of keeping the truth alive in our memory. I would suggest, however, having the first two volumes in the series close at hand, or ideally, if you have not read them already, read all three at once for the best possible immersive reading experience. Forgetting is a terrible thing.PS - You might enjoy checking out the author's siteI wish there were half stars. I wanted to give this 3.5

Books like The Prisoner of Heaven by Carlos Ruiz Zafón make me love being not only a reader, but someone who loves the look, feel, and smell of books. Why? Because I get the feeling that Zafón has the same sort of reaction to picking up a book. There's this feeling of history, companionship, and shared experience I get when I handle something old and precious, and a sense of awakening hope for the future when I pick up something new. The Prisoner of Heaven is the third book centering around the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, but if you haven't read the other two novels, The Shadow of the Wind and The Angel's Game, don't let that stop you from picking this one up - because you see, Zafón has done something brilliant and perfectly fitting with these books. You can start with any book and read them in any order, and they all remain connected through this one, single, perfect place. In this book the story of Fermin Romero de Torres is detailed out piece by fascinating piece, and Daniel is given more information on the history of his parents. The relationship between Daniel and Bea is also in question - and references to both The Shadow of the Wind and The Angel's Game crop up throughout the book in, sometimes, the most surprising of places.And let's not forget the fantastic homage paid to The Count of Monte Cristo - because it's there and it's a beautiful thing. Zafón has this way of describing places that are detestable, filled with dirt and filth and corruption, and making it come to life in such a way that I was both fascinated and repulsed at the same time. But then to tie in the literary message - it was a thing of beauty and I cannot stop raving over how good this book was. I devoured The Prisoner of Heaven in about four hours. It is less than 300 pages, and more easily accessible, reading wise, than Zafón's previous books were. His prose is still beautiful - full of flowing lyricism that made me feel, at times, as if I were reading a piece of artwork, but it was more simple, less complicated somehow. Then again, it may just have been the fantastic story being told.If you haven't checked out Zafón's books, or are avoiding them because of the hype, don't. Please. I'm not one to brim with praises for hyped books, but I can say that these deserve every bit.

"Siempre he sabido que algún día volvería a estas calles para contar la historia del hombre que perdió el alma y el nombre entre las sombras de aquella Barcelona sumergida en el turbio sueño de un tiempo de cenizas y silencio. Son páginas escritas con fuego en el amparo de la ciudad de los malditos, palabras grabadas en la memoria de aquel que regresó de entre los muertos con una promesa clavada en el corazón y el precio de una maldición. El telón se alza, el público se silencia y, antes de que la sombra que habita sobre su destino descienda de la tramoya, un reparto de espíritus blancos entra en escena con una comedia en los labios y esa bendita inocencia de quien, creyendo que el tercer acto es el último, nos viene a narrar un cuento de Navidad sin saber que, al pasar la última página, la tinta de su aliento lo arrastrará lenta e inexorablemente al corazón de las tieneblas".¿Cómo no amar este libro cuando, en la primera página y a modo de nota de Julián Carax, el autor te advierte de todo lo que va a suceder? Pero, claro, todo lo entiendes una vez has leído la última palabra, cierras el libro y todo el peso de la historia cae sobre ti. ¿Cómo no amar este libro cuando en él se unen todas las líneas de historia de La Sombra del Viento y de El Prisionero del Cielo? ¿Cómo no amar este libro cuando su personaje principal es el más querido por nosotros los lectores: Fermín Romero de Torres? ¿Cómo no amar este libro si lo escribió Zafón y encima puedes leerlo con las canciones que él mismo compuso? Es imposible no adorar cada palabra de El Prisionero del Cielo.Este libro, que está situado temporalmente después de La Sombra del Viento empieza con Daniel, casado ya con Bea y con un hijo al que ha llamado Julián, trabajando junto a su padre en la librería de los Sempere. En un momento, llega un hombre misterioso pidiendo comprar el ejemplar más caro de El Conde de Montecristo sólo para dejar el ejemplar del libro con una nota dentro dirigida a Fermín e irse. Cuando Fermín vuelve y encuentra esa nota, todo su mundo se cae a pedacitos y empieza a recordar su pasado, un pasado que preferiría dejar enterrado, pero que es hora de revelar a su gran amigo Daniel. Lo increíble de toda la historia de Fermín, además de que estuvo preso en el Castillo de Montjuïc durante los peores años del régimen franquista en España, es que entendemos que él es la clave que une los destinos de todos y cada uno de los personajes que hemos conocido en El Cementerio de los Libros Olvidados. Esta truculenta historia de Fermín nos contará que las vidas de Daniel, David, Bea, Cristina, Julián y todos los demás no son tramas separadas, sino que todas estuvieron destinadas a cruzarse y unirse a lo largo de estos años de guerras, revoluciones y ciudades grises y llenas de ceniza. Quizá lo más impactante de El Prisionero del Cielo es ver el giro que está dando el personaje de Daniel. Del chico dulce y enamorado de antes queda poco y se está abriendo una grieta, gracias a la verdad que encontramos en la historia de Fermín sobre Isabella y la suerte de otros personajes, que se está llenando de ganas de venganza y de oscuridad. Sin embargo, esta sed de venganza aún deja espacio al gran sentido de amistad, lealtad y amor que une a Daniel y Fermín. Amistades así, que trasciendan problemas y el tiempo, hay pocas en los libros. El Prisionero del Cielo es una historia inquietante y diferente a las dos entregas anteriores, pero no por ello carece del mismo estilo narativo y la proeza de Zafón para introducirnos en una Barcelona que embruja y que te transporta a las Ramblas, a las frías celdas de Montjuïc o a los rincones más escondidos del Cementerio de los Libros Olvidados. Un libro a la misma altura de sus predecesores, cuyo final nos deja expectantes a lo que sucederá en El Laberinto de los Espíritus, que promete ser intenso, emocional y de tintes absolutamente desoladores y oscuros. "Intentar detener a Isabella es como intentar detener un tren de carga: una misión para tontos"."Yo en principio soy ateo informó el paciente. Aunque en realidad tengo mucha fe. Como mucha gente. Descanse ahora, amigo mío. Que el cielo puede esperar. Y el infierno le viene pequeño".