The Angel's Game discussion

Who thinks that the end of this book was less than what he imagines?

I agree, the ending was disappointing. This book did not live up to Shadow of the Wind.

Yeah I felt at the end like there was no end. I'm still wondering until now if it was my mistake or if I've skipped some pages, it seems to me that I wasn't able to figure out who was the BOSS. Maybe this was Carlos' idea to leave us choosing our end.
Yeah I agree with you nothing could be compared with The Shadow of the Wind. It's really one of the best books I've ever read.

Weird ending. Corelli leaves Cristina as a child for David to rear so that he can then refall back in love with her? Sounds incestuous.

Licha wrote: "Weird ending. Corelli leaves Cristina as a child for David to rear so that he can then refall back in love with her? Sounds incestuous."

yeah I agree. I didn't get the point. I thought The boss was no one else then the second face of David. BUT at the end I lost the track.

The characters and story seemed to have no resolution. The sense I tried making of this mess only helped to emphasize how much I just didn't care about the characters. One point I had forgotten until right now was when David got the first invitation from Corelli. He ended up in some high class bordello that didn't seem to exist. That never seemd to be explained later on in the book. What was that all about? What about the little girl that led him into the room? I sorta get that the woman in the room and the decoration of the room may have been based on one of his stories he wrote, but it never got explained. Just a lot of loose ends in this book for me. I didn't get the point.

Licha wrote: "The characters and story seemed to have no resolution. The sense I tried making of this mess only helped to emphasize how much I just didn't care about the characters. One point I had forgotten u..."
MMMMmm...it's an interesting point. I thought from the beginning that every thing about the boss was unreal and that David see unreal people. BUT the death of his lover changed every think. why she died if David is a sick and and the boss is only an imagination?.

Rihab wrote: "Licha wrote: "The characters and story seemed to have no resolution. The sense I tried making of this mess only helped to emphasize how much I just didn't care about the characters. One point I h..."

Did you ever buy that love story? David admired Cristina from afar and they never had any communication. Before you know the two sleep together and are professing everlasting love to each other. It was all so weird. I agree with you that it started off where the reader was wondering if it was all a figment of David's imagination. If the author had maybe taken that direction with this book it may have turned out differently.

I agree that it's weird, but in fact I really liked that way; since the boss Corelli was weird enought to drive crazy to David Martin, it is perfectly understandable that end.

I thought the ending was good. What's worst punishment for David, to know and see the love of your life grow by his side and know that she is going to die..again.

Is Corelli the devil?

Loved the book all the way through until the very end - very disappointing. Bit of a cop-out ending if you ask me, as if he didn't quite know how to end it!

I did not think the ending was all that bad. Corelli apparently granted David immortality while curing him of the brain tumor. David's usefulness to Corelli ended once he got the manuscript, but David caused him enough grief in the process to warrant a lasting nightmare in return. Corelli couldn't kill him because he delivered the goods, but he could certainly make him miserable.
Besides the ending epilogue was in 1945, I think what Corelli commissioned was the script for WWII (warrior messiah, setting up a race to take the hatred of an otherwise ambivalent following.). Corelli had to be quite pleased with David's work in 45.

Natalia wrote: "I thought the ending was good. What's worst punishment for David, to know and see the love of your life grow by his side and know that she is going to die..again."



That's what i didn't get - why would she die again?!!?

The sequel "The Prisoner of Heaven" kinda explains the ending but not completely. Waiting for the fourth book to clarify the rest of the stuff :)

i was totally messed up.even after reading the book i really didnt understand who actually is corelli.Was marlasca really dead? was that witch really dumb and how the hell if corelli is just david imagination he can bring cristina back that too as a child

Actually, I found the idea of that ending to be disgusting enough to mark down my rating of the book, because when you take what he says at the end, and the reason he gives for writing down his story, and the line to the child he sees as Cristina that she will remember eventually - it all runs down to a case of child grooming.


Licha wrote: "He ended up in some high class bordello that didn't seem to exist. That never seemd to be explained later on in the book. What was that all about?..."

I think when we add up the "facts",
the Bordello that once existed, but had burned down long ago,
the attack (by David no doubt) on the would be rapists (loved, loved, loved that part - their demise I mean),
and lastly when Grandes tells him essentially that he, David, himself is the man with the Angel broche,
that it all runs down to David simply loosing his mind, likely all of the supernatural elements are only figments of David's crazed mind.

The Bordello, as I see it, stands in his mind for his descent into the abyss, it marks the loss of his innocence.

But for all we can actually tell he ages like every other person and is in truth an old man at the end of the book when he takes that child, and only believes himself not to have aged.


D wrote: "I did not think the ending was all that bad. Corelli apparently granted David immortality while curing him of the brain tumor. David's usefulness to Corelli ended once he got the manuscript, but Da..."

I actually wondered if, if we assume that Corelli did exist, he didn't approach Hitler to write "Mein Kampf" - because Hitler, Marlasca, and Martín are so similar in character: failed would be artists suffering from delusions of grandeur. :)

Gerd wrote: "Actually, I found the idea of that ending to be disgusting enough to mark down my rating of the book, because when you take what he says at the end, and the reason he gives for writing down his sto..."

Thank you Gerd. Your explanation of the bordello was great. I was so disappointed with this book but I'm wondering if I should give it another try to see if it makes more sense based on what a lot of people have mentioned here.

I loved the book, and especially the ending. I found it hauntingly beautiful, but I think it only works if you don't take it too literally. I saw it as a metaphor for the artistic process, but also, there are some predestination themes here. Someone made the point that David and Cristina never got to know each other, and then they fell passionately in love, and that it didn't really make sense. I think this was by design. It was almost as if Cristina was one of David's characters. He defined many aspects of her life (or she mysteriously behaved just as he would have wanted, even when her motivation is opaque to the reader). However, when everything fell apart, he couldn't control her death. In her rebirth, Corelli allows David to rewrite the story. Will the result be the same?

Natalia wrote: "I thought the ending was good. What's worst punishment for David, to know and see the love of your life grow by his side and know that she is going to die..again.

Is Corelli the devil?"
I totally agree with this post. I thought Corelli was the devil all through the book and the ending seemed to confirm this idea.

Here's my interpretation. BIG spoilers warning.

It's very ambiguous, there are many possibilities that match/explain Corelli, but I think we can gather most in a few groups (Assuming knowledge from this book alone!).

If you prefer the paranormal/spiritual approach, Corelli is likely the devil or an evil spirit/fallen angel that influences people, making them choose life over morality. Backing this is, of course, all the paranormal descriptions of Corelli, him always being one step ahead and, obviously, being able to grant David immortality/cure his brain tumor. It is also mentioned a few times some of the "victims" (at least regarding Marlasca) of Corelly feel they have been invaded by a parasite. It's unlikely the house has anything to do with it since Corelli contacts him regarding his "gift" before he moves in. Corelli is therefore an evil entity which exists to influence writers to create books capable of starting wars.

If you prefer the more logical approach, David either has the brain tumor which messes him up, or never even had one and is just plain crazy/psychopath/mentally ill. The unealthy lifestyle just makes it worse, making him imagine/hallucinate many parts of the story (Corelli and everything related, the brain tumor, not remembering murdering people, etc). This fits since, assuming Grandes is not lying and Marlasca wasn't able to cover up everything, the doctor who diagnosed his brain tumor was dead long ago; there was no 100,000 bank account; David ordered his own gravestone; the witch was also dead long ago; Corelli's house has been unocuppied for a long time; the place where he goes to recieve his first gift from Corelli (Chloé) was destroyed in a fire long before; etc.

In both Corelli doesn't exist physically. In the "logical" approach, Corelli is just part of the excuse to not blame himself for the things he's been doing. Maybe sort of an Alter Ego.

In a different approach David has also lost it, but only after the main events. We find out, in the last few pages, that the book's story was written by him in the beach house. He lived most of the story without the paranormal/unlikely details, but added those to cover up (probably genuinely believing it happened that way) for his murders and morality flaws.


The book is so open in this part, it leaves lots of room for speculation and interpretation, and I think that's the point. After all, every book has a soul, the soul of the person who wrote it and the soul of those who read it, so it's very likely it is what you make of it :)