Marina (novel)
Marina is a novel that belongs to young adult fiction by the Spanish writer Carlos Ruiz Zafón. It was published in 1999 by the publishing house Edebé and reprinted in February 2017 bringing the total to approximately thirteen editions. Perhaps, Marina is the most indefinable and impossible novel to be categorised among the books by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. And, according to the writer's words, probably it is the most personal of his works. Marina is a supernatural mystery history that takes place in Barcelona. The protagonists find many trails, discover mystery places, abandoned mansions and gardens, get  anonymous papers, conduct interviews. And finally, they come to confessions of the minor characters that became favourites tools of Carlos Ruiz Zafón to "unclog" the plot. The novel looks into self-investigation, just Bildungsroman, in the bloom of love and its difficult managing, and to melancholy caused by faithfulness. The Guardian called Zafón's narrative style "simply beautiful". Plot summary. The novel begins with Oscar's reasoning about the past. And the main events start at the end of September 1979 in Barcelona. The novel narrates two parallel stories. The principal one is the history of Marina and Oscar. It  is touching and emotional. The meeting of a mysterious girl called Marina completely changes the sentimental part of Oscar's life. One day she takes him to the cemetery of Sarriá where tells about the peculiar "lady in black" that comes here on the last Sunday of every month at ten o’clock in the morning. That Sunday was no exception. Eventually, they decide to follow the woman and find out more about her. This shadowing involves them into an entangled and dangerous adventure. Then, the novel focuses on an enigmatic Mijail Kolvenik's life and his company. Mijail is a  genius in creating of orthopaedic articles and medical prosthesis. He is motivated by an obsession to overcome the death and errors of human deformations. Tired of genetic degeneration that deforms and atrophies him, Kolvenik reconstructs his body before the illness entirely consumes him. "He’d turned into a hellish creature, stinking of the rotten flesh with which he had rebuilt himself..." Using the essence of "Teufel," –the black butterfly that habits the sewage system –he develops a serum that sustains his life. After 30 years of his official death, Mijail Kolvenik comes back looking for the essence that maintains him  alive. He has resurrected like the black butterfly from the sewages that "feeds on its young, and when it buries itself to die, it takes with it one of its larvae, which it devours when it comes back to life". Marina Blau and Oscar Drai penetrate this history hidden between suburbs and narrow streets of the dark and gloomy city. The scenery is decorated with rains, coldness, and with autumn colours that light the city of Barcelona that does not exist any more. There is the old orthopaedic prothesis plant of Velo-Granell. It is a sinister place that will  lead the protagonists to an adventure with grave consequences. Another outstanding mystery to be revealed to Oscar is Marina's secret. A secret of the girl whose life impacts her behaviour and changes Oscar's life forever. Critical reception. The Guardian: 'Marina is one of those books that are meant to be devoured in one sitting; feasted upon quickly, as it will truly curb any hunger you might have had for a good read. It is a story, and an excellent one at that.'. Publishers Weekly: 'Starred Review. Zafón is a master of both the subtle simile and the outrageous  image... Unlikely discoveries in mysterious, half-ruined mansions alternate with spine-tingling action sequences to create a grotesquerie that will delight horror fans. Ages 12 and up.'