This book is 75% characters, 25% settings, and another ten or so percent spookiness. It was rather confusing, due to the wide cast of characters, the way the narrative constantly jumped around in with reference to Julian Carax’s life, and the intentional parallels between the various characters. As a mystery it falls apart a bit, thanks to the numerous occasions when some character or other just fills us in on a missing part of the narrative; moreover, the ending turns out to be a little less thrilling than I had thought. Given the setting in post-war Barcelona, I was sure that we’d see all sorts of political intrigues, the fate of nations turning on the disappearance of a love letter or something like that; alas, I was wrong. There is something flat about many of the characters, the inspector and Daniel’s father especially; they are simply too predictable. All that being said - it’s a great deal of fun to watch the characters bounce around this grand old city during a sad and mournful time. The dimly-lit tone is cleverly drawn and really permeates every scene. That haunted house is a masterful setting and an apt symbol of all of the decadence and ruin that the story seeks to evoke. And the character parallels, while they don’t extend beyond the obvious ones - Julian and Daniel, Penelope and Beatriz, maybe Micquel and Fermin - are interesting to follow and all the more appropriate in a book about books.