卡洛斯·鲁依斯·萨丰

卡洛斯·鲁依斯·萨丰（西班牙语：Carlos Ruiz Zafón，1964年9月25日—2020年6月19日），又译卡洛斯•路依兹•扎丰，西班牙小说家，生于巴塞罗那，原任职于广告界，后赴美定居，经常往返洛杉矶与巴塞罗那。代表作为《遗忘书之墓》首部曲《风之影》和二部曲《天使游戏》，让萨丰成为全球最多人阅读、最受读者喜爱的作者之一。他自1993年以来一直住在洛杉矶，曾花费了几年时间编写脚本。

写作生涯

他的第一部小说处女作《薄雾王子》（1993年）赢得了Edebé小说文学奖，接下来几部作品如《午夜皇宫》、《九月之光》和《玛丽娜》等，都是极受好评的青少年小说。

2001年出版《风之影》，随即席卷西班牙书市，热潮不退，销售逾百万册，并高居各国畅销书排行榜，魅力足以比拟《哈利波特》和《达芬奇密码》。2004年，《风之影》先获西班牙出版协会选为该年度最畅销小说，后在法国获颁“年度最佳外国小说”，曾获此殊荣的西语文学巨擘仅有加夫列尔·加西亚·马尔克斯和马里奥·巴尔加斯·略萨。德文版出版一个月即热卖十万册；英文版在英国成为有史以来第一本登上畅销榜冠军的西班牙小说，并荣登美国纽约时报畅销书排行榜；已译成多种语言在全球逾五十国出版。

《天使游戏》于2008年4月发行，是萨丰酝酿7年的巨著，在西班牙以首刷100万本之姿登场，迅速销售一空。萨丰说：“这个故事里有阴谋，有爱情，更穿插了许多惊喜。在书写《天使游戏》的时候我比较勇敢，这本书很有些狄更斯的味道，是向以狂热方式在文学中生活的十九世纪作家致敬。”

小说《风之影》是他首部“成人”小说，在全世界售出数百万部，仅在英国就超过一百万本。

其作品已译成多种语言在全球逾五十国出版，并囊括多项殊荣。

作品

《薄雾王子》

《午夜皇宫》

《九月之光》

《玛丽娜》

《风之影》

《天使游戏》

《天空的囚徒》

《灵魂迷宫》

Carlos Ruiz Zafón (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈkaɾlos rwiθ θaˈfon]; 25 September 1964 – 19 June 2020) was a Spanish novelist known for his 2001 novel La sombra del viento (The Shadow of the Wind). The novel sold 15 million copies and was winner of numerous awards; it was included in a list of the 100 best books in Spanish of the last 25 years, made in 2007 by 81 Spanish and Hispanic American writers and critics.

Biography

Ruiz Zafón was born in Barcelona. His grandparents had worked in a factory and his father sold insurance. Ruiz Zafón began his working life in advertising. In the 1990s he moved to Los Angeles where he worked briefly in screen writing. He was fluent in English.

Ruiz Zafón died of colorectal cancer in Los Angeles on 19 June 2020.

Literary career

Ruiz Zafón's first novel, El príncipe de la niebla 1993 (The Prince of Mist, published in English in 2010), earned the Edebé literary prize for young adult fiction. He was also the author of three additional young adult novels, El palacio de la medianoche (1994), Las luces de septiembre (1995) and Marina (1999).

In 2001 he published his first adult novel La sombra del viento (The Shadow of the Wind, Lucia Graves's English translation published in 2004), a Gothic mystery that involves Daniel Sempere's quest to track down the man responsible for destroying every book written by author Julian Carax. The novel has sold millions of copies worldwide, with more than a million copies sold in the UK. La sombra del viento garnered critical acclaim around the world.

Ruiz Zafón's next novel, El juego del ángel, was published in April 2008. The English edition, The Angel's Game, was also translated by Lucia Graves. It is a prequel to The Shadow of the Wind, also set in Barcelona, but during the 1920s and 1930s. It follows (and is narrated by) David Martín, a young writer who is approached by a mysterious figure to write a book. Ruiz Zafón intended it to be included in a four-book series along with The Shadow of the Wind.

The next book in the cycle, El prisionero del cielo, appeared in 2011. It returns to The Shadow of the Wind's Daniel Sempere and his travel back to the 1940s to resolve a buried secret. The novel was published in English in July 2012 as The Prisoner of Heaven.

The Labyrinth of Spirits (original title: El laberinto de los espíritus) is the fourth and final book in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books series. The novel was released on 17 November 2016 in Spain and Latin America by Spanish publisher Planeta. HarperCollins published the English translation by Lucia Graves, which was released on 18 September 2018.

Ruiz Zafón's works have been published in more than 45 countries and have been translated into more than 50 languages.

Influences

Influences on Ruiz Zafón's work have included 19th century classics, crime fiction, noir authors, and contemporary writers.

Apart from books, another large influence came in the form of films and screenwriting. He said in interviews that he found it easier to visualize scenes in his books in a cinematic way, which lends itself to the lush worlds and curious characters he created.

Works

Young adult

El príncipe de la niebla (1993), translated as The Prince of Mist (2010)

El palacio de la medianoche (1994), translated as The Midnight Palace (2011)

Las luces de septiembre (1995), translated as The Watcher in the Shadows (2013)

Marina (1999), translated as Marina (2013)

Novels

El cementerio de los libros olvidados series (The Cemetery of Forgotten Books)

La sombra del viento, 2001 (The Shadow of the Wind)

El juego del ángel, 2008 (The Angel's Game)

El prisionero del cielo, 2011 (The Prisoner of Heaven)

El laberinto de los espíritus, 2016 (The Labyrinth of Spirits)

La ciudad de vapor, 2021 (The City of Mist; stories, some connected to the novels)

Short stories

"Rosa de fuego", 2012 ("The Rose of Fire")

"Gaudí in Manhattan" (also known as La Mujer de Vapor), 2015

"Two-Minute Apocalypse", (2015)

Awards and honors

Edebé Award for Young Adult and Children's Literature 1993 for El príncipe de la niebla