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Changed line(s) 13 (click to see context) from:
* AmbiguousSituation: It's implied at several points that Martín is being framed, brainwashed, and/or gaslit, either by one or multiple [[GambitPileup different parties]]. Or maybe he's just going insane. [[UnreliableNarrator Because he's narrating the story]], though, it's impossible to get an objective perspective. Even taking Martín at his word, there's textual evidence for both insanity and gaslighting. The blood mark Martín finds on his shirt implies he bludgeoned the two would-be rapists instead of scaring them away as he remembers (but would a violent beatdown leave such a little blood stain?); Grandes claims that many events in Martín's life didn't happen as he remembers too (but it turns out [[spoiler:Grandes is an unreliable source himself]]); and Martín is later revealed to wear an angel-shaped pin like Corelli's (though again, [[spoiler:this is also informed by Grandes]] and nonetheless has little meaning by itself). When we put all of this together with Marlasca's claim that an evil spirit invaded his body, it's perfectly possible that [[spoiler:said spirit, Corelli, has chosen Martín as his new vessel and is warping his mind for his own reasons, maybe just for its twisted, demonic entertainment.]] The next two installments in the tetralogy, which admittedly carry a healthy dose of retcons, present the additional thesis that Martín was mentally ill and hallucinated everything while imprisoned, which, depending on the reader's perspective, might or might not be mutually incompatible with Corelli [[spoiler: being a demon]]. However, the short story ''Prince of Parnasus'', if canon, confirms that [[spoiler:Corelli is both real and a supernatural entity.]]
to:
* AmbiguousSituation: AmbiguousSituation:
** It's implied at several points that Martín is beingframed, brainwashed, framed and/or gaslit, either by one or multiple [[GambitPileup different parties]]. Or parties]], or maybe he's just going insane. [[UnreliableNarrator Because he's narrating the story]], though, it's impossible to get an objective perspective. Even taking Martín at his word, there's textual evidence for both insanity and gaslighting. is inconsistent among all the options. The blood mark Martín finds on his shirt implies he bludgeoned was who beat up the two would-be rapists instead of scaring them away as he remembers (but would a violent beatdown leave such a little blood stain?); Grandes claims that many events in Martín's life didn't happen as he remembers too (but it turns out [[spoiler:Grandes is an unreliable source himself]]); and Martín is later revealed to wear an angel-shaped pin like Corelli's (though again, [[spoiler:this is also informed by Grandes]] and nonetheless has little meaning by itself). When we put all of this together with Marlasca's claim that an evil spirit invaded his body, it's perfectly possible that [[spoiler:said spirit, Corelli, has chosen Martín as his new vessel and is warping his mind for his own reasons, maybe just for its twisted, demonic entertainment.]] ]]
** The next two installments in the tetralogy, which admittedly carry a healthy dose of retcons,present support the additional thesis that Martín was just mentally ill and hallucinated everything while imprisoned, everything, which, depending on the reader's perspective, might or might not be mutually incompatible with Corelli [[spoiler: being [[spoiler:being a demon]]. demon]], especially there is a mention that ''someone'' might have saved him from the cops in Corelli's house. However, the short story ''Prince of Parnasus'', if canon, confirms that [[spoiler:Corelli is both a real and a supernatural entity.]]
** It's implied at several points that Martín is being
** The next two installments in the tetralogy, which admittedly carry a healthy dose of retcons,
Changed line(s) 15 (click to see context) from:
** As part of his work for Corelli, Martín reads up a ton of religious research and builds theory over his discoveries. However, his conclusions about the supposed similarities between all religions seem to consist basically of extrapolating the history of Abrahamic faiths to all religions in the world and history. Indeed, many of the traits Martín considers universal (messianism, prophethood, divinely inspired laws, full dedication to afterlife, religious exclusivism) aren't found in many religions descending from Indo-European polytheism, as well as many African or Native American tribal religions. A few other traits (stone-set orthodoxy, bureaucratization, crusaderism) have only really applied to very politically organized movements. All of this is ultimately trivial, however, as a politically organized, violent religion is precisely what Corelli is banking on Martín's new religion being.
to:
** As part of his work for Corelli, Martín reads up a ton of religious research and builds theory over his discoveries. However, his conclusions about the supposed similarities between all religions seem to consist basically of extrapolating the history of Abrahamic faiths to all religions to all faiths in the world and history. Indeed, many of the traits Martín considers universal (messianism, prophethood, divinely inspired laws, full dedication to afterlife, religious exclusivism) aren't found in many religions descending from Indo-European polytheism, as well as many African or Native American tribal religions. A few other traits (stone-set orthodoxy, bureaucratization, crusaderism) have only really applied to very politically organized movements.movements, generally those of the Abrahamic kind again. All of this is ultimately trivial, however, as a politically organized, violent religion is precisely what Corelli is banking on Martín's new religion being.
Changed line(s) 17 (click to see context) from:
* CanonImmigrant: Sort of. A vaguely similar character also named Andreas Corelli, already appeared in an in-universe horror story told in Zafón's earlier novel ''The Watcher in the Shadows'' (1995). Considering that Zafon enjoys attributing his own novels to fictional characters and playing mind-games with the reader, it further adds a meta-element to the story that [[spoiler:all of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books series might be books within the ''Watcher'' universe.]]
to:
* CanonImmigrant: Sort of. A vaguely similar character also named Andreas Corelli, already appeared in an in-universe horror story told in Zafón's earlier novel ''The Watcher in the Shadows'' (1995). Considering that Zafon Zafón enjoys attributing his own novels to fictional characters and playing mind-games with the reader, it further adds a meta-element to the story that [[spoiler:all of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books series might be books within the ''Watcher'' universe.]]
Changed line(s) 23,26 (click to see context) from:
* OurDemonsAreDifferent: [[spoiler: Corelli]] is a strange example of a demon in that even though David sells his soul to him and then [[spoiler: burns him on their agreement, Corelli just... lets him go. Their final conversation implies that Corelli has gotten used to humans screwing him over, and now just lets people get away with things because he's become so jaded.]] Later books in the series indicate that even though David fears Corelli, [[spoiler:the two continue to have friendly conversations]].
* SelfAbuse: Martín notes twice that Isabella is performing cutting as a consequence of her troubled life, though this is never explicitly addressed.
* SeriesContinuityError: [[spoiler:In ''The Shadow of the Wind'', Daniel's full name was given as Daniel Sempere Martín. This book, whose unrelated protagonist is surnamed Martín himself, reveals Daniel's mother is Isabella Gispert, so his name should have been Daniel Sempere Gispert. This is later retconned in ''Literature/TheLabyrinthOfSpirits'', where he ''is'' referred as Sempere Gispert... with the bizarre twist that Martín is his biological father.]]
* SelfAbuse: Martín notes twice that Isabella is performing cutting as a consequence of her troubled life, though this is never explicitly addressed.
* SeriesContinuityError: [[spoiler:In ''The Shadow of the Wind'', Daniel's full name was given as Daniel Sempere Martín. This book, whose unrelated protagonist is surnamed Martín himself, reveals Daniel's mother is Isabella Gispert, so his name should have been Daniel Sempere Gispert. This is later retconned in ''Literature/TheLabyrinthOfSpirits'', where he ''is'' referred as Sempere Gispert... with the bizarre twist that Martín is his biological father.]]
to:
* OurDemonsAreDifferent: [[spoiler: Corelli]] is a strange example of a demon in that even though David sells his soul to him and then [[spoiler: burns [[spoiler:burns him on their agreement, Corelli just... lets him go. Their final conversation implies that Corelli has gotten used to humans screwing him over, and now just lets people get away with things because he's become so jaded.]] Later books in the series indicate that even though David fears Corelli, [[spoiler:the two continue to have friendly conversations]].
* SelfAbuse: Martín notes twice that Isabella isperforming cutting self-harming in her arms as a consequence of her troubled life, though although this is never explicitly addressed.
* SeriesContinuityError: [[spoiler:In ''The Shadow of the Wind'', Daniel's full name was given as Daniel Sempere Martín. This book, whose unrelated protagonist is surnamed Martín himself, reveals Daniel's mother is Isabella Gispert, so his name should have been Daniel Sempere Gispert. This is later retconned in ''Literature/TheLabyrinthOfSpirits'', where he ''is'' referred as Sempere Gispert... with the bizarre twist that Martín of all people is his biological father.]]
* SelfAbuse: Martín notes twice that Isabella is
* SeriesContinuityError: [[spoiler:In ''The Shadow of the Wind'', Daniel's full name was given as Daniel Sempere Martín. This book, whose unrelated protagonist is surnamed Martín himself, reveals Daniel's mother is Isabella Gispert, so his name should have been Daniel Sempere Gispert. This is later retconned in ''Literature/TheLabyrinthOfSpirits'', where he ''is'' referred as Sempere Gispert... with the bizarre twist that Martín of all people is his biological father.]]
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Changed line(s) 14,15 (click to see context) from:
** As part of his work for Corelli, Martín reads up a ton of religious research and builds theory over his discoveries. However, while his analysis of mass psychology in relation to religion is technically sound, his conclusions about the supposed similarities between all religions seem to consist basically of [[HijackedByJesus extrapolating the history of Abrahamic faiths to all religions in the world and history]]. Indeed, many of the traits Martín considers universal (messianism, prophethood, divinely inspired laws, full dedication to afterlife, religious exclusivism) aren't found in most religions, such they majority of those descending as Indo-European polytheism, as well as many African or Native American tribal religions. A few other traits (stone-set orthodoxy, bureaucratization, crusaderism) have only really applied to very politically organized movements like medieval UsefulNotes/{{Christianity}} and UsefulNotes/{{Islam}}. All of this is ultimately trivial, however, as a politically organized, violent religion is precisely what Corelli is banking on Martín's new religion being.
** Martín claims that reading about religions feels like reading the same crime novel storyline over and over, and concludes "the hundreds of religious beliefs catalogued through the history of the printed letter were all extraordinarily similar". There is some truth on this, as mythology and religion do operate on archetypes and moral consecutions that are roughly common to all humanity, not to mention that many of the creation myths he mentions have a common origin, like those of the Indo-European tree. However, again, Martín heavily overstates those common points. In real life, there's enough diversity in the theology of world religions religions to have generated an argument in favor of UsefulNotes/{{Atheism}}, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_inconsistent_revelations argument from inconsistent revelations]], which reasons that no pair of religions can be true at the same time being so different from each other as they tend to be.
** Martín claims that reading about religions feels like reading the same crime novel storyline over and over, and concludes "the hundreds of religious beliefs catalogued through the history of the printed letter were all extraordinarily similar". There is some truth on this, as mythology and religion do operate on archetypes and moral consecutions that are roughly common to all humanity, not to mention that many of the creation myths he mentions have a common origin, like those of the Indo-European tree. However, again, Martín heavily overstates those common points. In real life, there's enough diversity in the theology of world religions religions to have generated an argument in favor of UsefulNotes/{{Atheism}}, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_inconsistent_revelations argument from inconsistent revelations]], which reasons that no pair of religions can be true at the same time being so different from each other as they tend to be.
to:
** As part of his work for Corelli, Martín reads up a ton of religious research and builds theory over his discoveries. However, while his analysis of mass psychology in relation to religion is technically sound, his conclusions about the supposed similarities between all religions seem to consist basically of [[HijackedByJesus extrapolating the history of Abrahamic faiths to all religions in the world and history]]. history. Indeed, many of the traits Martín considers universal (messianism, prophethood, divinely inspired laws, full dedication to afterlife, religious exclusivism) aren't found in most religions, such they majority of those many religions descending as from Indo-European polytheism, as well as many African or Native American tribal religions. A few other traits (stone-set orthodoxy, bureaucratization, crusaderism) have only really applied to very politically organized movements like medieval UsefulNotes/{{Christianity}} and UsefulNotes/{{Islam}}.movements. All of this is ultimately trivial, however, as a politically organized, violent religion is precisely what Corelli is banking on Martín's new religion being.
** Martín claims that reading about religions feels like reading the same crime novel storyline over and over, and concludes "the hundreds of religious beliefs catalogued through the history of the printed letter were all extraordinarily similar". There is some truth on this, as mythology and religion do operate on archetypes and moral consecutions that are roughly common to all humanity, not to mention that many of the creation myths he mentions have a common origin, like those of the Indo-European tree. However, again, Martín heavily overstates those commonpoints. In real life, there's enough diversity in the theology of world religions religions to have generated an argument in favor of UsefulNotes/{{Atheism}}, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_inconsistent_revelations argument from inconsistent revelations]], which reasons that no pair of religions can be true at the same time being so different from each other as they tend to be.points, dismissing many uncommon and diverging points.
** Martín claims that reading about religions feels like reading the same crime novel storyline over and over, and concludes "the hundreds of religious beliefs catalogued through the history of the printed letter were all extraordinarily similar". There is some truth on this, as mythology and religion do operate on archetypes and moral consecutions that are roughly common to all humanity, not to mention that many of the creation myths he mentions have a common origin, like those of the Indo-European tree. However, again, Martín heavily overstates those common
Changed line(s) 19,20 (click to see context) from:
* HijackedByJesus: As mentioned above, Martin broadly applies very specific Abrahamic tenets to all religions. Some of them are generic enough to be plausible, but others are clear allusions to UsefulNotes/{{Judaism}}, Christianity and Islam (and maybe UsefulNotes/{{Zoroastrianism}}, which historically influenced them), and the final conclusion about transcendence goes in the same line as well.
-->"Pages abounding with stories of fathers and sons; of pure, saintly mothers; betrayals and conversions; prophets and martyrs; envoys from heaven; babies born to save the universe; evil creatures, horrifying to look at and usually taking the form of an animal; ethereal beings with racially acceptable features that acted as agents of good; and heroes subjected to terrible tests to prove their destiny. Earthly existence was always perceived as a temporary rite of passage which invited one to a docile acceptance of one's lot and the rules of the tribe, because the reward was always in the hereafter, a paradise brimming with all the things one had lacked during corporeal life."
-->"Pages abounding with stories of fathers and sons; of pure, saintly mothers; betrayals and conversions; prophets and martyrs; envoys from heaven; babies born to save the universe; evil creatures, horrifying to look at and usually taking the form of an animal; ethereal beings with racially acceptable features that acted as agents of good; and heroes subjected to terrible tests to prove their destiny. Earthly existence was always perceived as a temporary rite of passage which invited one to a docile acceptance of one's lot and the rules of the tribe, because the reward was always in the hereafter, a paradise brimming with all the things one had lacked during corporeal life."
to:
* HijackedByJesus: As mentioned above, Martin broadly applies very specific Abrahamic tenets to all religions. Some of them are generic enough to be plausible, but others are clear allusions to UsefulNotes/{{Judaism}}, Christianity and Islam (and maybe UsefulNotes/{{Zoroastrianism}}, which historically influenced them), and the final conclusion about transcendence goes in the same line as well.
-->"Pages abounding with stories of fathers and sons; of pure, saintly mothers; betrayals and conversions; prophets and martyrs; envoys from heaven; babies born to save the universe; evil creatures, horrifying to look at and usually taking the form of an animal; ethereal beings with racially acceptable features that acted as agents of good; and heroes subjected to terrible tests to prove their destiny. Earthly existence was always perceived as a temporary rite of passage which invited one to a docile acceptance of one's lot and the rules of the tribe, because the reward was always in the hereafter, a paradise brimming with all the things one had lacked during corporeal life."well.
-->"Pages abounding with stories of fathers and sons; of pure, saintly mothers; betrayals and conversions; prophets and martyrs; envoys from heaven; babies born to save the universe; evil creatures, horrifying to look at and usually taking the form of an animal; ethereal beings with racially acceptable features that acted as agents of good; and heroes subjected to terrible tests to prove their destiny. Earthly existence was always perceived as a temporary rite of passage which invited one to a docile acceptance of one's lot and the rules of the tribe, because the reward was always in the hereafter, a paradise brimming with all the things one had lacked during corporeal life."
Changed line(s) 25 (click to see context) from:
* SeriesContinuityError: [[spoiler:In ''The Shadow of the Wind'', Daniel's full name was given as Daniel Sempere Martín. This book, whose unrelated protagonist is surnamed Martín himself, reveals Daniel's mother is Isabella Gispert, so his name should have been Daniel Sempere Gispert. This is later retconned in ''Literature/TheLabyrinthOfSpirits'', where he ''is'' referred as Sempere Gispert... with the bizarre twist that Martín is his biological father.]]
to:
* SeriesContinuityError: [[spoiler:In ''The Shadow of the Wind'', Daniel's full name was given as Daniel Sempere Martín. This book, whose unrelated protagonist is surnamed Martín himself, reveals Daniel's mother is Isabella Gispert, so his name should have been Daniel Sempere Gispert. This is later retconned in ''Literature/TheLabyrinthOfSpirits'', where he ''is'' referred as Sempere Gispert... with the bizarre twist that Martín is his biological father.]]]]
----
----
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Changed line(s) 12 (click to see context) from:
* AmbiguousSituation: It's implied at several points that Martín is being framed, brainwashed, and/or gaslit, either by one or multiple [[GambitPileup different parties]]. Or maybe he's just going insane. [[UnreliableNarrator Because he's narrating the story]], though, it's impossible to get an objective perspective. Even taking Martín at his word, there's textual evidence for both insanity and gaslighting. The blood mark Martín finds on his shirt implies he bludgeoned the two would-be rapists instead of scaring them away as he remembers (but would a violent beatdown leave such a little blood stain?); Grandes claims that many events in Martín's life didn't happen as he remembers too (but it turns out [[spoiler:Grandes is an unreliable source himself]]), and Martín is later revealed to wear an angel-shaped pin like Corelli's (though again, [[spoiler:this is also informed by Grandes]] and nonetheless has little meaning by itself). When we put all of this together with Marlasca's claim that an evil spirit invaded his body, it's perfectly possible that [[spoiler:said spirit, Corelli, has chosen Martín as his new vessel and is warping his mind for his own reasons, maybe just for its twisted, demonic entertainment.]] The next two installments in the tetralogy, which admittedly carry a healthy dose of retcons, present the additional thesis that Martín was mentally ill and hallucinated everything while imprisoned, which, depending on the reader's perspective, might or might not be mutually incompatible with Corelli [[spoiler: being a demon]]. However, the short story ''Prince of Parnasus'', if canon, confirms that [[spoiler:Corelli is both real and a supernatural entity.]]
to:
* AmbiguousSituation: It's implied at several points that Martín is being framed, brainwashed, and/or gaslit, either by one or multiple [[GambitPileup different parties]]. Or maybe he's just going insane. [[UnreliableNarrator Because he's narrating the story]], though, it's impossible to get an objective perspective. Even taking Martín at his word, there's textual evidence for both insanity and gaslighting. The blood mark Martín finds on his shirt implies he bludgeoned the two would-be rapists instead of scaring them away as he remembers (but would a violent beatdown leave such a little blood stain?); Grandes claims that many events in Martín's life didn't happen as he remembers too (but it turns out [[spoiler:Grandes is an unreliable source himself]]), himself]]); and Martín is later revealed to wear an angel-shaped pin like Corelli's (though again, [[spoiler:this is also informed by Grandes]] and nonetheless has little meaning by itself). When we put all of this together with Marlasca's claim that an evil spirit invaded his body, it's perfectly possible that [[spoiler:said spirit, Corelli, has chosen Martín as his new vessel and is warping his mind for his own reasons, maybe just for its twisted, demonic entertainment.]] The next two installments in the tetralogy, which admittedly carry a healthy dose of retcons, present the additional thesis that Martín was mentally ill and hallucinated everything while imprisoned, which, depending on the reader's perspective, might or might not be mutually incompatible with Corelli [[spoiler: being a demon]]. However, the short story ''Prince of Parnasus'', if canon, confirms that [[spoiler:Corelli is both real and a supernatural entity.]]
Changed line(s) 14 (click to see context) from:
** As part of his work for Corelli, Martín reads up a ton of religious research and builds theory over his discoveries. However, while his analysis of mass psychology in relation to religion is technically sound, his conclusions about the supposed similarities between all religions seem to consist basically of [[HijackedByJesus extrapolating the history of Abrahamic faiths to all religions in the world and history]]. Indeed, many of the traits Martín considers universal (messianism, prophethood, divinely inspired laws, full dedication to afterlife, religious exclusivism) aren't found in religions such as Shintoism, Buddhism, or many African or Native American tribal religions. A few other traits (stone-set orthodoxy, bureaucratization, crusaderism) have only really applied to very politically organized movements like medieval UsefulNotes/{{Christianity}} and UsefulNotes/{{Islam}}. All of this is ultimately trivial, however, as a politically organized, violent religion is precisely what Corelli is banking on Martín's new religion being.
to:
** As part of his work for Corelli, Martín reads up a ton of religious research and builds theory over his discoveries. However, while his analysis of mass psychology in relation to religion is technically sound, his conclusions about the supposed similarities between all religions seem to consist basically of [[HijackedByJesus extrapolating the history of Abrahamic faiths to all religions in the world and history]]. Indeed, many of the traits Martín considers universal (messianism, prophethood, divinely inspired laws, full dedication to afterlife, religious exclusivism) aren't found in religions most religions, such they majority of those descending as Shintoism, Buddhism, or Indo-European polytheism, as well as many African or Native American tribal religions. A few other traits (stone-set orthodoxy, bureaucratization, crusaderism) have only really applied to very politically organized movements like medieval UsefulNotes/{{Christianity}} and UsefulNotes/{{Islam}}. All of this is ultimately trivial, however, as a politically organized, violent religion is precisely what Corelli is banking on Martín's new religion being.
Changed line(s) 16,17 (click to see context) from:
* CanonImmigrant: Sort of. A vaguely similar character also named Andreas Corelli, already appeared in an in-universe horror story told in Zafón's earlier novel ''The Watcher in the Shadows'' (1995). Considering that Zafon enjoys attributing his own novels to fictional characters and playing mind-games with the reader, it further adds a meta-element to the story that [[spoiler: all of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books series are books within the ''Watcher'' universe.]]
* DarkIsNotEvil: David Martin writes disturbingly violent and sexual pulp novels, lives in a creepy mansion, doesn't have many friends, and generally puts off an unsettling demeanor. He's also kindhearted, empathetic, and tries to do right by the people in his life, even if he ends up accidentally putting them in harm's way.
* DarkIsNotEvil: David Martin writes disturbingly violent and sexual pulp novels, lives in a creepy mansion, doesn't have many friends, and generally puts off an unsettling demeanor. He's also kindhearted, empathetic, and tries to do right by the people in his life, even if he ends up accidentally putting them in harm's way.
to:
* CanonImmigrant: Sort of. A vaguely similar character also named Andreas Corelli, already appeared in an in-universe horror story told in Zafón's earlier novel ''The Watcher in the Shadows'' (1995). Considering that Zafon enjoys attributing his own novels to fictional characters and playing mind-games with the reader, it further adds a meta-element to the story that [[spoiler: all [[spoiler:all of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books series are might be books within the ''Watcher'' universe.]]
* DarkIsNotEvil: David Martin writes disturbingly violent and sexual pulp novels, lives in a creepy mansion, doesn't have many friends, and generally puts off an unsettling demeanor.He's However, he's also kindhearted, empathetic, and tries to do right by the people in his life, even if he ends up accidentally putting them in harm's way.
* DarkIsNotEvil: David Martin writes disturbingly violent and sexual pulp novels, lives in a creepy mansion, doesn't have many friends, and generally puts off an unsettling demeanor.
Changed line(s) 22,23 (click to see context) from:
* NoNameGiven: This book carries on the tradition of only referring to the propietor of Sempere and Son Book Shop as "Sempere," which is initially confusing until it becomes apparent that Martin's friend is Daniel Sempere's ''grandfather'' and that the son in this book is Mr. Sempere from ''The Shadow of the Wind.'' It's implied that Daniel's father is a Junior, meaning based on the information given in ''The Labyrinth of Spirits'' their names are [[spoiler: Juan Sempere Sr. and Juan Sempere Jr.]]
* OurDemonsAreDifferent: [[spoiler: Corelli]] is a strange example of a demon in that even though David sells his soul to him and then [[spoiler: burns him on their agreement, Corelli just... lets him go. Their final conversation implies that Corelli has gotten used to humans screwing him over, and now just lets people get away with things because he's become so jaded.]] Later books in the series indicate that even though David fears Corelli, [[spoiler: the two continue to have friendly conversations]].
* OurDemonsAreDifferent: [[spoiler: Corelli]] is a strange example of a demon in that even though David sells his soul to him and then [[spoiler: burns him on their agreement, Corelli just... lets him go. Their final conversation implies that Corelli has gotten used to humans screwing him over, and now just lets people get away with things because he's become so jaded.]] Later books in the series indicate that even though David fears Corelli, [[spoiler: the two continue to have friendly conversations]].
to:
* NoNameGiven: This book carries on the tradition of only referring to the propietor of Sempere and Son Book Shop as "Sempere," which is initially confusing until it becomes apparent that Martin's friend is Daniel Sempere's ''grandfather'' and that the son in this book is Mr. Sempere from ''The Shadow of the Wind.'' It's implied that Daniel's father is a Junior, meaning based on the information given in ''The Labyrinth of Spirits'' their names are would [[spoiler: Juan Sempere Sr. and Juan Sempere Jr.]]
* OurDemonsAreDifferent: [[spoiler: Corelli]] is a strange example of a demon in that even though David sells his soul to him and then [[spoiler: burns him on their agreement, Corelli just... lets him go. Their final conversation implies that Corelli has gotten used to humans screwing him over, and now just lets people get away with things because he's become so jaded.]] Later books in the series indicate that even though David fears Corelli,[[spoiler: the [[spoiler:the two continue to have friendly conversations]].
* OurDemonsAreDifferent: [[spoiler: Corelli]] is a strange example of a demon in that even though David sells his soul to him and then [[spoiler: burns him on their agreement, Corelli just... lets him go. Their final conversation implies that Corelli has gotten used to humans screwing him over, and now just lets people get away with things because he's become so jaded.]] Later books in the series indicate that even though David fears Corelli,
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Changed line(s) 23 (click to see context) from:
* OurDemonsareDifferent: [[spoiler: Corelli]] is a strange example of a demon in that even though David sells his soul to him and then [[spoiler: burns him on their agreement, Corelli just... lets him go. Their final conversation implies that Corelli has gotten used to humans screwing him over, and now just lets people get away with things because he's become so jaded.]] Later books in the series indicate that even though David fears Corelli, [[spoiler: the two continue to have friendly conversations]].
to:
* OurDemonsareDifferent: OurDemonsAreDifferent: [[spoiler: Corelli]] is a strange example of a demon in that even though David sells his soul to him and then [[spoiler: burns him on their agreement, Corelli just... lets him go. Their final conversation implies that Corelli has gotten used to humans screwing him over, and now just lets people get away with things because he's become so jaded.]] Later books in the series indicate that even though David fears Corelli, [[spoiler: the two continue to have friendly conversations]].
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Changed line(s) 14,16 (click to see context) from:
** As part of his work for Corelli, Martín reads up a ton of religious research and builds theory over his discoveries. However, while his analysis of mass psychology in relation to religion is technically sound, his conclusions about the supposed similarities between all religions seem to consist basically of [[HijackedByJesus extrapolating the history of Abrahamic faiths to all religions in the world and history]], which hopefully goes without saying gives out a weak thesis by the standards of real life comparative religion. Indeed, many of the traits Martín considers universal (messianism, prophethood, divinely inspired laws, full dedication to afterlife, religious exclusivism) are not so common in the history of religions outside the aforementioned, and a few other traits (stone-set orthodoxy, bureaucratization, crusaderism) have only really applied to very politically organized movements like medieval UsefulNotes/{{Christianity}} and UsefulNotes/{{Islam}}. All of this is ultimately trivial for the story, however, as a strong movement like those two is precisely what Martín is aiming to, believing this format has proved to be the best to capture people's souls.
** Martín claims that reading about religions feels like reading the same crime novel storyline over and over, and concludes "the hundreds of religious beliefs catalogued through the history of the printed letter were all extraordinarily similar". There is some truth on this, as mythology and religion do operate on archetypes and moral consecutions that are roughly common to all humanity, not to mention that many of the creation myths he mentions have a common origin, like those of the Indo-European tree. However, again, Martín overstates heavily those common points; in real life, there's enough diversity in the world religions to have generated an argument in favor of UsefulNotes/{{Atheism}}, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_inconsistent_revelations argument from inconsistent revelations]], which reasons that no pair of religions can be true at the same time being so different from each other as they tend to be.
* CanonImmigrant: Sort of. A vaguely similar character, also named Andreas Corelli, already appeared in an in-universe horror story told in Zafón's earlier novel ''The Watcher in the Shadows'' (1995). Considering that Zafon enjoys attributing his own novels to fictional characters and playing mind-games with the reader, it further adds a meta-element to the story that [[spoiler: all of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books series are books within the ''Watcher'' universe.]]
** Martín claims that reading about religions feels like reading the same crime novel storyline over and over, and concludes "the hundreds of religious beliefs catalogued through the history of the printed letter were all extraordinarily similar". There is some truth on this, as mythology and religion do operate on archetypes and moral consecutions that are roughly common to all humanity, not to mention that many of the creation myths he mentions have a common origin, like those of the Indo-European tree. However, again, Martín overstates heavily those common points; in real life, there's enough diversity in the world religions to have generated an argument in favor of UsefulNotes/{{Atheism}}, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_inconsistent_revelations argument from inconsistent revelations]], which reasons that no pair of religions can be true at the same time being so different from each other as they tend to be.
* CanonImmigrant: Sort of. A vaguely similar character, also named Andreas Corelli, already appeared in an in-universe horror story told in Zafón's earlier novel ''The Watcher in the Shadows'' (1995). Considering that Zafon enjoys attributing his own novels to fictional characters and playing mind-games with the reader, it further adds a meta-element to the story that [[spoiler: all of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books series are books within the ''Watcher'' universe.]]
to:
** As part of his work for Corelli, Martín reads up a ton of religious research and builds theory over his discoveries. However, while his analysis of mass psychology in relation to religion is technically sound, his conclusions about the supposed similarities between all religions seem to consist basically of [[HijackedByJesus extrapolating the history of Abrahamic faiths to all religions in the world and history]], which hopefully goes without saying gives out a weak thesis by the standards of real life comparative religion. history]]. Indeed, many of the traits Martín considers universal (messianism, prophethood, divinely inspired laws, full dedication to afterlife, religious exclusivism) are not so common aren't found in the history of religions outside the aforementioned, and a such as Shintoism, Buddhism, or many African or Native American tribal religions. A few other traits (stone-set orthodoxy, bureaucratization, crusaderism) have only really applied to very politically organized movements like medieval UsefulNotes/{{Christianity}} and UsefulNotes/{{Islam}}. All of this is ultimately trivial for the story, trivial, however, as a strong movement like those two politically organized, violent religion is precisely what Martín Corelli is aiming to, believing this format has proved to be the best to capture people's souls.
banking on Martín's new religion being.
** Martín claims that reading about religions feels like reading the same crime novel storyline over and over, and concludes "the hundreds of religious beliefs catalogued through the history of the printed letter were all extraordinarily similar". There is some truth on this, as mythology and religion do operate on archetypes and moral consecutions that are roughly common to all humanity, not to mention that many of the creation myths he mentions have a common origin, like those of the Indo-European tree. However, again, Martín heavily overstatesheavily those common points; in points. In real life, there's enough diversity in the theology of world religions religions to have generated an argument in favor of UsefulNotes/{{Atheism}}, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_inconsistent_revelations argument from inconsistent revelations]], which reasons that no pair of religions can be true at the same time being so different from each other as they tend to be.
* CanonImmigrant: Sort of. A vaguely similarcharacter, character also named Andreas Corelli, already appeared in an in-universe horror story told in Zafón's earlier novel ''The Watcher in the Shadows'' (1995). Considering that Zafon enjoys attributing his own novels to fictional characters and playing mind-games with the reader, it further adds a meta-element to the story that [[spoiler: all of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books series are books within the ''Watcher'' universe.]]
** Martín claims that reading about religions feels like reading the same crime novel storyline over and over, and concludes "the hundreds of religious beliefs catalogued through the history of the printed letter were all extraordinarily similar". There is some truth on this, as mythology and religion do operate on archetypes and moral consecutions that are roughly common to all humanity, not to mention that many of the creation myths he mentions have a common origin, like those of the Indo-European tree. However, again, Martín heavily overstates
* CanonImmigrant: Sort of. A vaguely similar
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* GainaxEnding: Years after Martin decides to [[spoiler: betray Corelli and flee the city, Corelli tracks him down in a seaside village and forgives him for reneging on their deal, then presents him with a little girl and admonishes him to take care of her; Martin realizes the scene is the same one depicted in the photo he's been carrying for much of the book, implying some sort of time loop.]]
* HijackedByJesus: As mentioned above, Martín's research about religion gives out a variety of religious tropes that he supposedly finds in every faith. Some of them are generic enough to be plausible, but others are clear allusions to UsefulNotes/{{Judaism}}, Christianity and Islam (and maybe UsefulNotes/{{Zoroastrianism}}, which historically influenced them), and the final conclusion about transcendence goes in the same line as well.
* HijackedByJesus: As mentioned above, Martín's research about religion gives out a variety of religious tropes that he supposedly finds in every faith. Some of them are generic enough to be plausible, but others are clear allusions to UsefulNotes/{{Judaism}}, Christianity and Islam (and maybe UsefulNotes/{{Zoroastrianism}}, which historically influenced them), and the final conclusion about transcendence goes in the same line as well.
to:
* GainaxEnding: Years after Martin decides to [[spoiler: betray Corelli and flee the city, Corelli tracks him down in a seaside village and forgives him for reneging on their deal, then presents him with a little girl and admonishes him to take care of her; her. Martin realizes the scene is it's the same one depicted in the little girl from Christina's photo he's been carrying for much of album, and that ''he'' is the book, implying some sort of time loop.]]
unseen man holding her hand.]]
* HijackedByJesus: As mentioned above,Martín's research about religion gives out a variety of religious tropes that he supposedly finds in every faith.Martin broadly applies very specific Abrahamic tenets to all religions. Some of them are generic enough to be plausible, but others are clear allusions to UsefulNotes/{{Judaism}}, Christianity and Islam (and maybe UsefulNotes/{{Zoroastrianism}}, which historically influenced them), and the final conclusion about transcendence goes in the same line as well.
* HijackedByJesus: As mentioned above,
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* NoNameGiven: This book carries on the tradition of only referring to the propietor of Sempere and Son Book Shop as "Sempere," which is initially confusing until it becomes apparent that Martin's friend is Daniel Sempere's ''grandfather'' and that the son in this book is Mr. Sempere from ''The Shadow of the Wind.'' It's implied that Daniel's father is a Junior, meaning based on the information given in ''The Labyrinth of Spirits'' their names are [[spoiler: Juan Sempere Sr. and Juan Sempere Jr.]]
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* CanonImmigrant: A sort of. A vaguely similar character, also named Andreas Corelli, already appeared in an in-universe horror story told in Zafón's earlier novel ''The Watcher in the Shadows'' (1995).
to:
* CanonImmigrant: A sort Sort of. A vaguely similar character, also named Andreas Corelli, already appeared in an in-universe horror story told in Zafón's earlier novel ''The Watcher in the Shadows'' (1995). Considering that Zafon enjoys attributing his own novels to fictional characters and playing mind-games with the reader, it further adds a meta-element to the story that [[spoiler: all of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books series are books within the ''Watcher'' universe.]]
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* OurDemonsareDifferent: [[spoiler: Corelli]] is a strange example of a demon in that even though David sells his soul to him and then [[spoiler: burns him on their agreement, Corelli just... lets him go. Their final conversation implies that Corelli is perhaps used to humans screwing him over, as opposed to seeking revenge on him or dragging him to Hell.]]
to:
* OurDemonsareDifferent: [[spoiler: Corelli]] is a strange example of a demon in that even though David sells his soul to him and then [[spoiler: burns him on their agreement, Corelli just... lets him go. Their final conversation implies that Corelli is perhaps has gotten used to humans screwing him over, as opposed and now just lets people get away with things because he's become so jaded.]] Later books in the series indicate that even though David fears Corelli, [[spoiler: the two continue to seeking revenge on him or dragging him to Hell.]]have friendly conversations]].
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* AmbiguousSituation: It's implied at several points that Martín is being framed, brainwashed, gaslit or all of it at once, either by one or [[GambitPileup different parties]], or just going insane, but nothing of it can be ascertained because [[UnreliableNarrator he's the sole narrator of the story]]. Even at those points, there are opposing arguments for both insanity and gaslighting: the blood mark on his shirt implies Martín beat the crap out of the two rapists instead of scaring them away as he remembers (but would a violent beatdown leave such a little blood stain?), Grandes claims that many events in Martín's life didn't happen as he remembers too (but it turns out [[spoiler:Grandes was an unreliable source himself]]), and Martín is later revealed to wear usually an angel-shaped pin like Corelli's (though again, [[spoiler:this is also informed by Grandes]] and nonetheless has little meaning by itself). When we put all of this together with Marlasca's claim that an evil spirit invaded his body, it's perfectly possible that [[spoiler:said spirit, Corelli, has chosen Martín as his new vessel and is warping his mind for his own reasons, maybe for its twisted, demonic entertainment.]] The next two installments in the tetralogy, which admittedly carry a healthy dose of retcons, present the additional thesis that Martín was mentally ill and hallucinating with all of it, which might or might not be mutually incompatible with the previous. However, the short story ''Prince of Parnasus'', if canon, confirms that [[spoiler:Corelli is real and is really a supernatural spirit.]]
to:
* AmbiguousSituation: It's implied at several points that Martín is being framed, brainwashed, gaslit or all of it at once, and/or gaslit, either by one or multiple [[GambitPileup different parties]], or parties]]. Or maybe he's just going insane, but nothing of it can be ascertained because insane. [[UnreliableNarrator Because he's narrating the sole narrator of the story]]. story]], though, it's impossible to get an objective perspective. Even taking Martín at those points, there are opposing arguments his word, there's textual evidence for both insanity and gaslighting: the gaslighting. The blood mark Martín finds on his shirt implies Martín beat the crap out of he bludgeoned the two would-be rapists instead of scaring them away as he remembers (but would a violent beatdown leave such a little blood stain?), stain?); Grandes claims that many events in Martín's life didn't happen as he remembers too (but it turns out [[spoiler:Grandes was is an unreliable source himself]]), and Martín is later revealed to wear usually an angel-shaped pin like Corelli's (though again, [[spoiler:this is also informed by Grandes]] and nonetheless has little meaning by itself). When we put all of this together with Marlasca's claim that an evil spirit invaded his body, it's perfectly possible that [[spoiler:said spirit, Corelli, has chosen Martín as his new vessel and is warping his mind for his own reasons, maybe just for its twisted, demonic entertainment.]] The next two installments in the tetralogy, which admittedly carry a healthy dose of retcons, present the additional thesis that Martín was mentally ill and hallucinating with all of it, which hallucinated everything while imprisoned, which, depending on the reader's perspective, might or might not be mutually incompatible with the previous. Corelli [[spoiler: being a demon]]. However, the short story ''Prince of Parnasus'', if canon, confirms that [[spoiler:Corelli is both real and is really a supernatural spirit.entity.]]
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However, after being mistreated a bit too much by his greedy publishers, the hypocritical national press and the fickle Vidal, Martín decides to put an end to everything. It is then that he receives a mysterious offer by a suspiciously Mephistophelic publisher, Andreas Corelli, who seems to have known Martín for a long time. Martín soon meets a requirement that threatens to seep into his already troubled personal life: a book that will give birth to a new religion.
to:
However, after being mistreated a bit too much by his greedy publishers, the hypocritical national press and the fickle Vidal, Vidal- not to mention a brain cancer diagnosis- Martín decides to put an end to everything. It is It's then that he receives a mysterious offer by from a suspiciously Mephistophelic Mephistophelian publisher, Andreas Corelli, who seems to have known Martín for a long time. In exchange for rehabilitating his career- ''and'' curing his cancer- Corelli makes a seemingly small but strange demand of his new charge: Martín soon meets a requirement that threatens to seep into his already troubled personal life: must write him a book that will give birth to serve as the basis for a new religion.
religion.
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* OurDemonsareDifferent: [[spoiler: Corelli]] is a strange example of a demon in that even though David sells his soul to him and then [[spoiler: burns him on their agreement, Corelli just... lets him go. Their final conversation implies that Corelli is perhaps used to humans screwing him over and has just gotten used to it, as opposed to seeking revenge on him or dragging him to Hell.]]
to:
* OurDemonsareDifferent: [[spoiler: Corelli]] is a strange example of a demon in that even though David sells his soul to him and then [[spoiler: burns him on their agreement, Corelli just... lets him go. Their final conversation implies that Corelli is perhaps used to humans screwing him over and has just gotten used to it, over, as opposed to seeking revenge on him or dragging him to Hell.]]
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* GainaxEnding: Years after Martin decides to [[spoiler: betray Corelli and flee the city, Corelli tracks him down in a seaside village and forgives him for reneging on their deal, then presents him with a little girl and admonishes him to take care of her; Martin realizes the scene is the same one depicted in the photo he's been carrying for much of the book, implying some sort of time loop.]]
Added DiffLines:
* OurDemonsareDifferent: [[spoiler: Corelli]] is a strange example of a demon in that even though David sells his soul to him and then [[spoiler: burns him on their agreement, Corelli just... lets him go. Their final conversation implies that Corelli is perhaps used to humans screwing him over and has just gotten used to it, as opposed to seeking revenge on him or dragging him to Hell.]]
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* DarkIsNotEvil: David Martin writes disturbingly violent and sexual pulp novels, lives in a creepy mansion, doesn't have many friends, and generally puts off an unsettling demeanor. He's also kindhearted, empathetic, and tries to do right by the people in his life, even if he ends up accidentally putting them in harm's way.
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However, after being mistreated too much by his greedy publishers, the hypocritical national press and the fickle Vidal, Martín decides to put an end to everything. It is then that he receives a mysterious offer by a suspiciously Mephistophelic publisher, Andreas Corelli, who seems to have known Martín for a long time. Martín soon meets a requirement that threatens to seep into his already troubled personal life: a book that will give birth to a new religion.
to:
However, after being mistreated a bit too much by his greedy publishers, the hypocritical national press and the fickle Vidal, Martín decides to put an end to everything. It is then that he receives a mysterious offer by a suspiciously Mephistophelic publisher, Andreas Corelli, who seems to have known Martín for a long time. Martín soon meets a requirement that threatens to seep into his already troubled personal life: a book that will give birth to a new religion.
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* AmbiguousSituation: It's implied at several points that Martín is being framed, brainwashed, driven to insanity or all of it at once, either by one or [[GambitPileup different parties]], but nothing of it can be ascertained because [[UnreliableNarrator he's the sole narrator of the story]]. Even at those points, there are arguments on both directions: the blood mark implies Martín beat the crap out of the two rapists instead of scaring them away as he remembers (but would a violent beatdown leave such a little blood stain?), Grandes claims that many events in Martín's life didn't happen as he remembers too (but it turns out [[spoiler:Grandes was an unreliable source himself]]), and Martín is later revealed to wear usually an angel-shaped pin like Corelli's (though again, [[spoiler:this is also informed by Grandes]] and nonetheless has little meaning by itself). When we put all of this together with Marlasca's claim that an evil spirit invaded his body, it's perfectly possible that [[spoiler:said spirit, Corelli, has chosen Martín as his new vessel and is warping his mind for his own reasons, maybe for its twisted, demonic entertainment.]] The next two installments in the tetralogy, which admittedly carry a healthy dose of retcons, present the additional thesis that Martín was mentally ill and hallucinating with all of it, which might or might not be mutually incompatible with the previous. However, the short story ''Prince of Parnasus'', if canon, confirms that [[spoiler:Corelli is real and is really a supernatural spirit.]]
to:
* AmbiguousSituation: It's implied at several points that Martín is being framed, brainwashed, driven to insanity gaslit or all of it at once, either by one or [[GambitPileup different parties]], or just going insane, but nothing of it can be ascertained because [[UnreliableNarrator he's the sole narrator of the story]]. Even at those points, there are opposing arguments on for both directions: insanity and gaslighting: the blood mark on his shirt implies Martín beat the crap out of the two rapists instead of scaring them away as he remembers (but would a violent beatdown leave such a little blood stain?), Grandes claims that many events in Martín's life didn't happen as he remembers too (but it turns out [[spoiler:Grandes was an unreliable source himself]]), and Martín is later revealed to wear usually an angel-shaped pin like Corelli's (though again, [[spoiler:this is also informed by Grandes]] and nonetheless has little meaning by itself). When we put all of this together with Marlasca's claim that an evil spirit invaded his body, it's perfectly possible that [[spoiler:said spirit, Corelli, has chosen Martín as his new vessel and is warping his mind for his own reasons, maybe for its twisted, demonic entertainment.]] The next two installments in the tetralogy, which admittedly carry a healthy dose of retcons, present the additional thesis that Martín was mentally ill and hallucinating with all of it, which might or might not be mutually incompatible with the previous. However, the short story ''Prince of Parnasus'', if canon, confirms that [[spoiler:Corelli is real and is really a supernatural spirit.]]
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* AmbiguousSituation: It's implied at some points that Martín is being framed, brainwashed, driven to insanity or all of it at once, either by one or different parties, but nothing of it can be ascertained on the basis that he's the narrator of the story and gets caught in a GambitPileup. Even at those points, there are arguments on both directions: the blood mark implies Martín beat the crap out of the two rapists instead of scaring them away as he remembers (but would a violent beatdown leave such a little blood stain?), Grandes claims that many events in Martín's life didn't happen as he remembers too (but it turns out [[spoiler:Grandes was an unreliable source himself]]), and Martín is later revealed to wear usually an angel-shaped pin like Corelli's (though again, [[spoiler:this is also informed by Grandes]] and nonetheless has little meaning by itself). When we put all of this together with Marlasca's claim that an evil spirit invaded his body, it's perfectly possible that [[spoiler:said spirit, Corelli, has chosen Martín as his new vessel and is warping his mind for his own reasons, maybe for its twisted, demonic entertainment.]] The next two installments in the tetralogy, which admittedly carry a healthy dose of retcons, present the additional thesis that Martín was mentally ill and hallucinating with all of it, which might or might not be mutually incompatible with the previous. The short story ''Prince of Parnasus'', however, if canon, confirms that [[spoiler:Corelli is real and is really a supernatural spirit.]]
to:
* AmbiguousSituation: It's implied at some several points that Martín is being framed, brainwashed, driven to insanity or all of it at once, either by one or [[GambitPileup different parties, parties]], but nothing of it can be ascertained on the basis that because [[UnreliableNarrator he's the sole narrator of the story and gets caught in a GambitPileup.story]]. Even at those points, there are arguments on both directions: the blood mark implies Martín beat the crap out of the two rapists instead of scaring them away as he remembers (but would a violent beatdown leave such a little blood stain?), Grandes claims that many events in Martín's life didn't happen as he remembers too (but it turns out [[spoiler:Grandes was an unreliable source himself]]), and Martín is later revealed to wear usually an angel-shaped pin like Corelli's (though again, [[spoiler:this is also informed by Grandes]] and nonetheless has little meaning by itself). When we put all of this together with Marlasca's claim that an evil spirit invaded his body, it's perfectly possible that [[spoiler:said spirit, Corelli, has chosen Martín as his new vessel and is warping his mind for his own reasons, maybe for its twisted, demonic entertainment.]] The next two installments in the tetralogy, which admittedly carry a healthy dose of retcons, present the additional thesis that Martín was mentally ill and hallucinating with all of it, which might or might not be mutually incompatible with the previous. The However, the short story ''Prince of Parnasus'', however, if canon, confirms that [[spoiler:Corelli is real and is really a supernatural spirit.]]
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** As part of his work for Corelli, Martín reads up a ton of religious research and builds an argument over his discoveries. However, while his analysis of mass psychology in relation to religion is technically sound, his conclusions about the supposed similarities between all religions seem to consist basically of [[HijackedByJesus extrapolating the history of Abrahamic faiths to all religions in the world and history]], which hopefully goes without saying gives out a weak thesis by the standards of real life comparative religion. Indeed, many of the traits Martín considers universal (messianism, prophethood, divinely inspired laws, full dedication to afterlife, religious exclusivism) are actually not very recurrent in the history of religions outside the aforementioned, and a few others (stone-set orthodoxy, bureaucratization, xenophobic crusaderism) have only really applied to very politically organized movements like late UsefulNotes/{{Christianity}} and UsefulNotes/{{Islam}}. All of this is ultimately trivial for the story, however, as a strong movement like those two is precisely what Martín is aiming to, believing this format has proved to be the best to capture people's souls.
to:
** As part of his work for Corelli, Martín reads up a ton of religious research and builds an argument theory over his discoveries. However, while his analysis of mass psychology in relation to religion is technically sound, his conclusions about the supposed similarities between all religions seem to consist basically of [[HijackedByJesus extrapolating the history of Abrahamic faiths to all religions in the world and history]], which hopefully goes without saying gives out a weak thesis by the standards of real life comparative religion. Indeed, many of the traits Martín considers universal (messianism, prophethood, divinely inspired laws, full dedication to afterlife, religious exclusivism) are actually not very recurrent so common in the history of religions outside the aforementioned, and a few others other traits (stone-set orthodoxy, bureaucratization, xenophobic crusaderism) have only really applied to very politically organized movements like late medieval UsefulNotes/{{Christianity}} and UsefulNotes/{{Islam}}. All of this is ultimately trivial for the story, however, as a strong movement like those two is precisely what Martín is aiming to, believing this format has proved to be the best to capture people's souls.
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''The Angel's Game'' (originally ''El juego del ángel'') is a 2008 novel by late Spanish author Carlos Ruiz Zafón.
Barcelona during the Second Spanish Republic is not a nice place. Aspiring writer David Martín has to put up with a half-pauper life, product of an abusive childhood under a runaway mom and a Cuba War vet dad that ended up killed on the streets, while slowly climbing his way up mediocre newspapers and seedy publishers. Eventually, with the help of his mentor, millonaire heir dandy and fellow writer Pedro Vidal, Martín makes a name for himself writing pulp-ish ''grand guignol'' crime stories under the pseudonym Igantius B. Samson, and moves to an appropriately creepy old mansion in the romantic part of the city.
Barcelona during the Second Spanish Republic is not a nice place. Aspiring writer David Martín has to put up with a half-pauper life, product of an abusive childhood under a runaway mom and a Cuba War vet dad that ended up killed on the streets, while slowly climbing his way up mediocre newspapers and seedy publishers. Eventually, with the help of his mentor, millonaire heir dandy and fellow writer Pedro Vidal, Martín makes a name for himself writing pulp-ish ''grand guignol'' crime stories under the pseudonym Igantius B. Samson, and moves to an appropriately creepy old mansion in the romantic part of the city.
to:
''The Angel's Game'' (originally ''El juego del ángel'') is a 2008 novel by late Spanish author Carlos Ruiz Zafón.
Creator/CarlosRuizZafon.
Barcelona during the Second Spanish Republic is not a nice place. Aspiring writer David Martín has to put up with a half-pauper life, product of an abusive childhood under a runaway mom and a Cuba War vet dad that ended up killed on the streets, while slowly climbing his way up mediocre newspapers and seedy publishers. Eventually, with the help of his mentor, millonaire heir dandy and fellow writer Pedro Vidal, Martín makes a name for himself writing pulp-ish ''grand guignol'' crime stories under the pseudonymIgantius Ignatius B. Samson, and moves to an appropriately creepy old mansion in the romantic part of the city.
Barcelona during the Second Spanish Republic is not a nice place. Aspiring writer David Martín has to put up with a half-pauper life, product of an abusive childhood under a runaway mom and a Cuba War vet dad that ended up killed on the streets, while slowly climbing his way up mediocre newspapers and seedy publishers. Eventually, with the help of his mentor, millonaire heir dandy and fellow writer Pedro Vidal, Martín makes a name for himself writing pulp-ish ''grand guignol'' crime stories under the pseudonym
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[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/juegodelangel.jpg]]
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[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/juegodelangel.jpg]]
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The novel, Zafón's second work in the adult genre, serves as a [[StealthSequel Stealth]] {{Prequel}} of sorts to his previous novel ''Literature/TheShadowOfTheWind''. Both of them would be later tied together further in a tetralogy of [[{{Rewrite}} rather loose continuity]] named ''The Cemetery of Forgotten Books''.
to:
The novel, Zafón's second work in the adult genre, serves as a [[StealthSequel Stealth]] {{Prequel}} of sorts to his previous novel ''Literature/TheShadowOfTheWind''. Both of them would be later tied together further in a tetralogy of [[{{Rewrite}} rather loose continuity]] named ''The Cemetery of Forgotten Books''.
Books'', of which the next book would be ''Literature/ThePrisonerOfHeaven'' in 2011.
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''The Angel's Game'' (originally ''El juego del ángel'') is a 2008 novel by late Spanish author Carlos Ruiz Zafón.
Barcelona during the Second Spanish Republic is not a nice place. Aspiring writer David Martín has to put up with a half-pauper life, product of an abusive childhood under a runaway mom and a Cuba War vet dad that ended up killed on the streets, while slowly climbing his way up mediocre newspapers and seedy publishers. Eventually, with the help of his mentor, millonaire heir dandy and fellow writer Pedro Vidal, Martín makes a name for himself writing pulp-ish ''grand guignol'' crime stories under the pseudonym Igantius B. Samson, and moves to an appropriately creepy old mansion in the romantic part of the city.
However, after being mistreated too much by his greedy publishers, the hypocritical national press and the fickle Vidal, Martín decides to put an end to everything. It is then that he receives a mysterious offer by a suspiciously Mephistophelic publisher, Andreas Corelli, who seems to have known Martín for a long time. Martín soon meets a requirement that threatens to seep into his already troubled personal life: a book that will give birth to a new religion.
The novel, Zafón's second work in the adult genre, serves as a [[StealthSequel Stealth]] {{Prequel}} of sorts to his previous novel ''Literature/TheShadowOfTheWind''. Both of them would be later tied together further in a tetralogy of [[{{Rewrite}} rather loose continuity]] named ''The Cemetery of Forgotten Books''.
----
!!This work contains examples of:
* AmbiguousSituation: It's implied at some points that Martín is being framed, brainwashed, driven to insanity or all of it at once, either by one or different parties, but nothing of it can be ascertained on the basis that he's the narrator of the story and gets caught in a GambitPileup. Even at those points, there are arguments on both directions: the blood mark implies Martín beat the crap out of the two rapists instead of scaring them away as he remembers (but would a violent beatdown leave such a little blood stain?), Grandes claims that many events in Martín's life didn't happen as he remembers too (but it turns out [[spoiler:Grandes was an unreliable source himself]]), and Martín is later revealed to wear usually an angel-shaped pin like Corelli's (though again, [[spoiler:this is also informed by Grandes]] and nonetheless has little meaning by itself). When we put all of this together with Marlasca's claim that an evil spirit invaded his body, it's perfectly possible that [[spoiler:said spirit, Corelli, has chosen Martín as his new vessel and is warping his mind for his own reasons, maybe for its twisted, demonic entertainment.]] The next two installments in the tetralogy, which admittedly carry a healthy dose of retcons, present the additional thesis that Martín was mentally ill and hallucinating with all of it, which might or might not be mutually incompatible with the previous. The short story ''Prince of Parnasus'', however, if canon, confirms that [[spoiler:Corelli is real and is really a supernatural spirit.]]
* ArtisticLicenseReligion:
** As part of his work for Corelli, Martín reads up a ton of religious research and builds an argument over his discoveries. However, while his analysis of mass psychology in relation to religion is technically sound, his conclusions about the supposed similarities between all religions seem to consist basically of [[HijackedByJesus extrapolating the history of Abrahamic faiths to all religions in the world and history]], which hopefully goes without saying gives out a weak thesis by the standards of real life comparative religion. Indeed, many of the traits Martín considers universal (messianism, prophethood, divinely inspired laws, full dedication to afterlife, religious exclusivism) are actually not very recurrent in the history of religions outside the aforementioned, and a few others (stone-set orthodoxy, bureaucratization, xenophobic crusaderism) have only really applied to very politically organized movements like late UsefulNotes/{{Christianity}} and UsefulNotes/{{Islam}}. All of this is ultimately trivial for the story, however, as a strong movement like those two is precisely what Martín is aiming to, believing this format has proved to be the best to capture people's souls.
** Martín claims that reading about religions feels like reading the same crime novel storyline over and over, and concludes "the hundreds of religious beliefs catalogued through the history of the printed letter were all extraordinarily similar". There is some truth on this, as mythology and religion do operate on archetypes and moral consecutions that are roughly common to all humanity, not to mention that many of the creation myths he mentions have a common origin, like those of the Indo-European tree. However, again, Martín overstates heavily those common points; in real life, there's enough diversity in the world religions to have generated an argument in favor of UsefulNotes/{{Atheism}}, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_inconsistent_revelations argument from inconsistent revelations]], which reasons that no pair of religions can be true at the same time being so different from each other as they tend to be.
* CanonImmigrant: A sort of. A vaguely similar character, also named Andreas Corelli, already appeared in an in-universe horror story told in Zafón's earlier novel ''The Watcher in the Shadows'' (1995).
* HijackedByJesus: As mentioned above, Martín's research about religion gives out a variety of religious tropes that he supposedly finds in every faith. Some of them are generic enough to be plausible, but others are clear allusions to UsefulNotes/{{Judaism}}, Christianity and Islam (and maybe UsefulNotes/{{Zoroastrianism}}, which historically influenced them), and the final conclusion about transcendence goes in the same line as well.
-->"Pages abounding with stories of fathers and sons; of pure, saintly mothers; betrayals and conversions; prophets and martyrs; envoys from heaven; babies born to save the universe; evil creatures, horrifying to look at and usually taking the form of an animal; ethereal beings with racially acceptable features that acted as agents of good; and heroes subjected to terrible tests to prove their destiny. Earthly existence was always perceived as a temporary rite of passage which invited one to a docile acceptance of one's lot and the rules of the tribe, because the reward was always in the hereafter, a paradise brimming with all the things one had lacked during corporeal life."
* LawyerFriendlyCameo: One of the men brought by Martín to rebuild his house is a bumbling, voracious worker named Otilio, an obvious reference to the comic book character by Francisco Ibáñez of ''ComicBook/MortadeloYFilemon'' fame.
* SelfAbuse: Martín notes twice that Isabella is performing cutting as a consequence of her troubled life, though this is never explicitly addressed.
* SeriesContinuityError: [[spoiler:In ''The Shadow of the Wind'', Daniel's full name was given as Daniel Sempere Martín. This book, whose unrelated protagonist is surnamed Martín himself, reveals Daniel's mother is Isabella Gispert, so his name should have been Daniel Sempere Gispert. This is later retconned in ''Literature/TheLabyrinthOfSpirits'', where he ''is'' referred as Sempere Gispert... with the bizarre twist that Martín is his biological father.]]
Barcelona during the Second Spanish Republic is not a nice place. Aspiring writer David Martín has to put up with a half-pauper life, product of an abusive childhood under a runaway mom and a Cuba War vet dad that ended up killed on the streets, while slowly climbing his way up mediocre newspapers and seedy publishers. Eventually, with the help of his mentor, millonaire heir dandy and fellow writer Pedro Vidal, Martín makes a name for himself writing pulp-ish ''grand guignol'' crime stories under the pseudonym Igantius B. Samson, and moves to an appropriately creepy old mansion in the romantic part of the city.
However, after being mistreated too much by his greedy publishers, the hypocritical national press and the fickle Vidal, Martín decides to put an end to everything. It is then that he receives a mysterious offer by a suspiciously Mephistophelic publisher, Andreas Corelli, who seems to have known Martín for a long time. Martín soon meets a requirement that threatens to seep into his already troubled personal life: a book that will give birth to a new religion.
The novel, Zafón's second work in the adult genre, serves as a [[StealthSequel Stealth]] {{Prequel}} of sorts to his previous novel ''Literature/TheShadowOfTheWind''. Both of them would be later tied together further in a tetralogy of [[{{Rewrite}} rather loose continuity]] named ''The Cemetery of Forgotten Books''.
----
!!This work contains examples of:
* AmbiguousSituation: It's implied at some points that Martín is being framed, brainwashed, driven to insanity or all of it at once, either by one or different parties, but nothing of it can be ascertained on the basis that he's the narrator of the story and gets caught in a GambitPileup. Even at those points, there are arguments on both directions: the blood mark implies Martín beat the crap out of the two rapists instead of scaring them away as he remembers (but would a violent beatdown leave such a little blood stain?), Grandes claims that many events in Martín's life didn't happen as he remembers too (but it turns out [[spoiler:Grandes was an unreliable source himself]]), and Martín is later revealed to wear usually an angel-shaped pin like Corelli's (though again, [[spoiler:this is also informed by Grandes]] and nonetheless has little meaning by itself). When we put all of this together with Marlasca's claim that an evil spirit invaded his body, it's perfectly possible that [[spoiler:said spirit, Corelli, has chosen Martín as his new vessel and is warping his mind for his own reasons, maybe for its twisted, demonic entertainment.]] The next two installments in the tetralogy, which admittedly carry a healthy dose of retcons, present the additional thesis that Martín was mentally ill and hallucinating with all of it, which might or might not be mutually incompatible with the previous. The short story ''Prince of Parnasus'', however, if canon, confirms that [[spoiler:Corelli is real and is really a supernatural spirit.]]
* ArtisticLicenseReligion:
** As part of his work for Corelli, Martín reads up a ton of religious research and builds an argument over his discoveries. However, while his analysis of mass psychology in relation to religion is technically sound, his conclusions about the supposed similarities between all religions seem to consist basically of [[HijackedByJesus extrapolating the history of Abrahamic faiths to all religions in the world and history]], which hopefully goes without saying gives out a weak thesis by the standards of real life comparative religion. Indeed, many of the traits Martín considers universal (messianism, prophethood, divinely inspired laws, full dedication to afterlife, religious exclusivism) are actually not very recurrent in the history of religions outside the aforementioned, and a few others (stone-set orthodoxy, bureaucratization, xenophobic crusaderism) have only really applied to very politically organized movements like late UsefulNotes/{{Christianity}} and UsefulNotes/{{Islam}}. All of this is ultimately trivial for the story, however, as a strong movement like those two is precisely what Martín is aiming to, believing this format has proved to be the best to capture people's souls.
** Martín claims that reading about religions feels like reading the same crime novel storyline over and over, and concludes "the hundreds of religious beliefs catalogued through the history of the printed letter were all extraordinarily similar". There is some truth on this, as mythology and religion do operate on archetypes and moral consecutions that are roughly common to all humanity, not to mention that many of the creation myths he mentions have a common origin, like those of the Indo-European tree. However, again, Martín overstates heavily those common points; in real life, there's enough diversity in the world religions to have generated an argument in favor of UsefulNotes/{{Atheism}}, the [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Argument_from_inconsistent_revelations argument from inconsistent revelations]], which reasons that no pair of religions can be true at the same time being so different from each other as they tend to be.
* CanonImmigrant: A sort of. A vaguely similar character, also named Andreas Corelli, already appeared in an in-universe horror story told in Zafón's earlier novel ''The Watcher in the Shadows'' (1995).
* HijackedByJesus: As mentioned above, Martín's research about religion gives out a variety of religious tropes that he supposedly finds in every faith. Some of them are generic enough to be plausible, but others are clear allusions to UsefulNotes/{{Judaism}}, Christianity and Islam (and maybe UsefulNotes/{{Zoroastrianism}}, which historically influenced them), and the final conclusion about transcendence goes in the same line as well.
-->"Pages abounding with stories of fathers and sons; of pure, saintly mothers; betrayals and conversions; prophets and martyrs; envoys from heaven; babies born to save the universe; evil creatures, horrifying to look at and usually taking the form of an animal; ethereal beings with racially acceptable features that acted as agents of good; and heroes subjected to terrible tests to prove their destiny. Earthly existence was always perceived as a temporary rite of passage which invited one to a docile acceptance of one's lot and the rules of the tribe, because the reward was always in the hereafter, a paradise brimming with all the things one had lacked during corporeal life."
* LawyerFriendlyCameo: One of the men brought by Martín to rebuild his house is a bumbling, voracious worker named Otilio, an obvious reference to the comic book character by Francisco Ibáñez of ''ComicBook/MortadeloYFilemon'' fame.
* SelfAbuse: Martín notes twice that Isabella is performing cutting as a consequence of her troubled life, though this is never explicitly addressed.
* SeriesContinuityError: [[spoiler:In ''The Shadow of the Wind'', Daniel's full name was given as Daniel Sempere Martín. This book, whose unrelated protagonist is surnamed Martín himself, reveals Daniel's mother is Isabella Gispert, so his name should have been Daniel Sempere Gispert. This is later retconned in ''Literature/TheLabyrinthOfSpirits'', where he ''is'' referred as Sempere Gispert... with the bizarre twist that Martín is his biological father.]]
