It makes more sense now that I know The Prince of Mist, a Young Adult novel by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, was translated into English. I am assuming that some of the oomph that made The Prince of Mist an award winning, Spanish novel was lost in translation. Zafón published The Prince of Mist, known as El Príncipe de la Niebla back in 1993. This is interesting because I was a young teen around this time and I found myself drawn more to this story than most YA books written today. I would have been the same age as the protagonist when this came out, which is probably why I can better appreciate the book, despite it’s flaws.
The Prince of Mist is set around WWII and though it never says where it takes place, one can deduce the Carver family lives in England. They escape the city in 1943, to get away from the war. There are also hints it is set in England, as the children call their mother, Mum. While I find the overall story quite good, the wording for The Prince of Mist is a bit off. Other works by Zafón have translated with better success, such as The Shadow of the Wind, which is why I am slightly disappointed with this. Some of the language is a bit stilted and the transitions aren’t quite as smooth as they should be.
The protagonist is 13 year old Max Carver. It is early summer and Max’s birthday, when his father, Maximilian Carver, tells his family that he is moving all of them out of the city to a small town by the sea. The move will happen the next day, and though everyone is initially shocked, the others quickly accept these changes. Max, on the other hand, worries about his friends, the life he knows and cannot sleep. He realizes quickly that the move is also hard on his father, an eccentric watchmaker, who does not sleep a wink that night either, as he worries about whether this is the right move for his family, or not.
Max is the middle child, and only boy. His younger sister, eight-year-old Irina and his older sister, sixteen-year-old Alicia, bicker constantly and things get worse as they arrive at their new home. Waiting for them at the station is a cat that Irina insists upon keeping. Max also notices something odd about the station. The clock there is moving backwards. Thus begins a strange journey of living in a sleepy little town with hidden, terrifying secrets.
Though Max makes a friend quickly in seventeen-year-old Roland, the adopted grandson of the lighthouse keeper, Victor Kray, who also hits it off with Alicia, bringing her out of a massive funk, their lives seem complicated by the mysteries hidden in the Carvers’ new house. The house was built by Dr. Benjamin Fleischmann for his wife, Eva. The two eventually had a son, Jacob, but he died by drowning at age 7. After that, Dr. Flesichmann died and nobody knows where Eva went.
Max is intrigued by a locked gate full of stone statues and home videos they find filmed by Jacob Fleishmann. These seem to be the key to unlocking the puzzle. It will be up to Victor Kray, who was the lone survivor of a shipwreck off the coast of the town, to help them put the pieces together. When The Orpheus sank in 1918, Victor Kray was lucky enough to escape. However, he holds many secrets about what happened, why it sank and how it relates to the strange happenings at Max’s house. He also happens to know about Cain. Cain is bad news. He’s the Prince of Mist, and he’s about to make his resurrection with his sights set on Max, Alicia and Roland.
The story moved at a fairly fast pace. I don’t recall much swearing or bad language, so parents squeamish about giving their pre-teens and teens books filled with nasty words can be rest assured this book is fairly clean. As for sexual content, it really is limited. There is some minor kissing and making out. Where the imagination goes from there is up to the reader, but nothing further is spelled out. It really wouldn’t have enhanced the story to go any further with it anyway. In all, there is mention of kissing on one or two pages.
Honestly, I enjoyed reading The Prince of Mist. The story kept me intrigued and wanting to know more. I don’t want to say it was predictable, but I did guess what could have potentially happened (and did happen) before the end of the book. I don’t think it is that obvious, but readers should have the thought of maybe this could happen by 1/2 to 3/4 of the way through the book. My big problem is the flow of the language. Again, I must stress that I believe some of this got lost in translation.
While adults can enjoy this as much as young adults, I feel that the problems with translation, which cause a lack of smooth transitions and stilted dialogue, will dissuade most adults from giving this book a chance. Still, it is worth the read for Zafón’s ideas alone.
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Technorati Tags: The Prince of Mist, Little Brown, Carlos Ruiz Zafón, Book Review, Reading, Young Adult, Fiction
Written by Dominick Evans – Visit Website
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Dominick is in his late 20s. He lives in Michigan with his life partner, Ashtyn, their 14 year old son Robert, and their Shih-Tzu, Oliver. Dominick is a writer and the head editor for both LI Kids and Literary Illusions. He enjoys composing music and is an aspiring director/screenwriter. In his free time he enjoys spending time with his family, playing and watching sports, playing video games, watching movies, and singing.
