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Javier Falcon #1
Meurtres à Séville
After trying his hand at spy fiction in The Company of Strangers, Robert Wilson returns to his detective-thriller roots with The Blind Man of Seville, a grimly bewitching and character-driven yarn about people confronting their most hidden horrors.
"It was only right that there should be at least one murder in Holy Week," muses Inspector Jefe Javier Falcón as he's called out during Spain's Semana Santa festivities to probe the death of a prosperous Seville restaurateur, Raúl Jiménez. The deceased was found strapped to a chair with his eyelids removed, facing a television on which had been showing a video of him entertaining prostitutes. Jiménez's heart had failed as he struggled to escape. This murder is "more extraordinary than any I have seen in my career," Falcón tells the businessman's widow, as he embarks on an investigation that will lead to the slayings of a hooker and an art dealer, and force the homicide cop into a game of wits against a killer obsessed with the contradictions between illusion and reality. Meanwhile, Falcón is himself obsessed with the long-secreted journals kept by his late father, a famous painter, whose brutal acts during the Spanish Civil War and subsequent hedonism in North Africa shaped Javier's life... and will make him the killer's next target.
Wilson's plot turns rather creakily on the coincidence of Falcón discovering a photograph of his father among Jiménez's things. And lengthy excerpts from the elder Falcón's diaries, while they reveal links between the book's secondary players, and are interesting for their portrayal of wartime Europe and postwar Tangier, nonetheless hobble this story's pace and distract from the modern crimes at its center. Still, there's a poetic edge to this author's prose that makes even his most gruesome or tragic scenes worthy of rereading, and in Javier Falcón--a lonely outsider who shadows his ex-wife and has a perplexing aversion to milk--he creates a police protagonist as satisfyingly and humanly flawed as any since Zé Coelho, from Wilson's outstanding A Small Death in Lisbon. --J. Kingston Pierce
723 pages, Paperback
First published January 3, 2003
About the author
Robert Wilson
302 books527 followersRobert Wilson has written thirteen novels including the Bruce Medway noir series set in West Africa and two Lisbon books with WW2 settings the first of which, A Small Death in Lisbon, won the CWA Gold Dagger in 1999 and the International Deutsche Krimi prize in 2003. He has written four psychological crime novels set in Seville, with his Spanish detective, Javier Falcón. Two of these books (The Blind Man of Seville and The Silent and the Damned) were filmed and broadcast on Sky Atlantic as ‘Falcón’ in 2012. A film of the fourth Falcón book was released in Spain in 2014 under the title La Ignorancia de la Sangre. Capital Punishment, the first novel in his latest series of pure thrillers set in London and featuring kidnap consultant, Charles Boxer, was published in 2013 and was nominated for the Ian Fleming Steel Dagger. This was followed by You Will Never Find Me in 2014. The third book in the series, Stealing People, will be published in 2015. Robert Wilson loves to cook food from all over the world but especially Spanish, Portuguese, Indian and Thai. He also loves to walk with dogs…and people, too.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 242 reviews
May 12, 2025
I first read a Javier Falcón thriller thirteen years ago. It was book three in the series – yes, I seldom seem to start at the beginning. I then read book four a few years later. I know I enjoyed them both (I can tell by the fact I rated them both four stars), but I can now recall very little about them. But I clearly decided it was worth going back to the beginning of the series as I ordered a copy of book one. It’s been sat on my bookshelf, still in its cellophane wrapping, for about ten years. It's about time I got to it then!
The first thing I noted is that it’s very Spanish. Set in the city of Seville, the text is peppered with words spoken in the local language – sometimes translated, sometimes not. I didn’t find this off-putting. It just seemed to me that it added a level of authenticity and local flavour to the tale. Falcon (a Chief Inspector) is called to attend the scene of a gruesome murder. At least, it looks like a murder except on closer inspection it seems that the man had been forced to witness a horror which had caused him to beat himself to death by repeatedly mashing his head against a protrusion on the tall backed chair he’d been strapped to. What on earth could have brought about such an extreme reaction?
Falcón himself is going through what seems to be the beginnings of a nervous breakdown. His exposure to the scene sets off a series of physical reactions he’s not experienced before, and it’s clear that there are things in his own personal life that are playing heavily on his mind. His split from his wife and the loss of his father, a famous painter who died two years ago, are bubbling away inside his head. All of this isn’t helped by the fact that he’s now living in the house his father left to him, complete with a locked room regarding which his father had left explicit instructions that everything inside should be destroyed. Falcón hasn’t plucked up the courage to enter this room yet.
And now there is an additional matter to consider. The man whose death he is investigating may have had a connection to his own father. They’d both lived in Tangier at the same time, years ago when Falcón was very young, and it’s quite likely that they knew each other. This in itself wouldn’t be such a significant discovery if it wasn’t for the fact that it's prompted a number of foggy memories relating to the loss of his mother at an early age. What a tangled web. As he rattles around in the sprawling, multi-roomed mansion that’s now his home, he finally plucks up the courage to enter ‘the room’. Inside, amongst other things, he finds a series of journals written by his father.
The journals tell of a life lived as a fighter who served with the Spanish Legion, then later as a painter in Tangier. Sections from the journals are then interspersed with the story of Falcon’s current life and the ongoing investigation. The entries from the journal are shocking and explicit for reasons I won't go into, but needless to say, they do little to settle Falcón’s dodgy mental state. It’s gripping stuff as the reader is now effectively teased through the passage of two separate stories, albeit stories that have linkages that are only slowly evolving.
The characters here are brilliantly drawn, and interaction and relationships are developed and explored with an expert’s touch. And as the story rocks along I’m trying to piece together the loose ends to see just how it all knits together. This is the type and calibre of book to take over my life from first page to last, an absolute tour de force. The mix of a compelling crime story together with writing that’s the equal of any literary experience I’ve had in the past few years make this book certain to be amongst the best I’ll read this year, or perhaps one of my favourite reads of all times. I’m now desperate to read book two and equally keen to re-explore books three and four. Superb.
Footnote
At the end of the book, the author explains that in developing the story, he spent three months writing the journals found by Falcón. At that time, he wasn’t sure quite how they’d be fed into the narrative, but it helped him in his development of the character of Falcón’s father. Ultimately, he used excerpts from these diaries in the book, but he’s made the full set available via the link I’ve supplied below. This most certainly shouldn’t be read in advance of reading the book but definitely makes fascinating reading thereafter.
http://www.robert-wilson.eu/falcon/Fa...
The first thing I noted is that it’s very Spanish. Set in the city of Seville, the text is peppered with words spoken in the local language – sometimes translated, sometimes not. I didn’t find this off-putting. It just seemed to me that it added a level of authenticity and local flavour to the tale. Falcon (a Chief Inspector) is called to attend the scene of a gruesome murder. At least, it looks like a murder except on closer inspection it seems that the man had been forced to witness a horror which had caused him to beat himself to death by repeatedly mashing his head against a protrusion on the tall backed chair he’d been strapped to. What on earth could have brought about such an extreme reaction?
Falcón himself is going through what seems to be the beginnings of a nervous breakdown. His exposure to the scene sets off a series of physical reactions he’s not experienced before, and it’s clear that there are things in his own personal life that are playing heavily on his mind. His split from his wife and the loss of his father, a famous painter who died two years ago, are bubbling away inside his head. All of this isn’t helped by the fact that he’s now living in the house his father left to him, complete with a locked room regarding which his father had left explicit instructions that everything inside should be destroyed. Falcón hasn’t plucked up the courage to enter this room yet.
And now there is an additional matter to consider. The man whose death he is investigating may have had a connection to his own father. They’d both lived in Tangier at the same time, years ago when Falcón was very young, and it’s quite likely that they knew each other. This in itself wouldn’t be such a significant discovery if it wasn’t for the fact that it's prompted a number of foggy memories relating to the loss of his mother at an early age. What a tangled web. As he rattles around in the sprawling, multi-roomed mansion that’s now his home, he finally plucks up the courage to enter ‘the room’. Inside, amongst other things, he finds a series of journals written by his father.
The journals tell of a life lived as a fighter who served with the Spanish Legion, then later as a painter in Tangier. Sections from the journals are then interspersed with the story of Falcon’s current life and the ongoing investigation. The entries from the journal are shocking and explicit for reasons I won't go into, but needless to say, they do little to settle Falcón’s dodgy mental state. It’s gripping stuff as the reader is now effectively teased through the passage of two separate stories, albeit stories that have linkages that are only slowly evolving.
The characters here are brilliantly drawn, and interaction and relationships are developed and explored with an expert’s touch. And as the story rocks along I’m trying to piece together the loose ends to see just how it all knits together. This is the type and calibre of book to take over my life from first page to last, an absolute tour de force. The mix of a compelling crime story together with writing that’s the equal of any literary experience I’ve had in the past few years make this book certain to be amongst the best I’ll read this year, or perhaps one of my favourite reads of all times. I’m now desperate to read book two and equally keen to re-explore books three and four. Superb.
Footnote
At the end of the book, the author explains that in developing the story, he spent three months writing the journals found by Falcón. At that time, he wasn’t sure quite how they’d be fed into the narrative, but it helped him in his development of the character of Falcón’s father. Ultimately, he used excerpts from these diaries in the book, but he’s made the full set available via the link I’ve supplied below. This most certainly shouldn’t be read in advance of reading the book but definitely makes fascinating reading thereafter.
http://www.robert-wilson.eu/falcon/Fa...
November 30, 2012
I must confess that, when I dove into the Blind Man of Seville, I did it primarily for the narrative setting and expected it to be an indulgent but superficial detective story of almost "pulp" quality. A few chapters in, and I quickly realized how wrong I was -- this is a rich, complex and intricately woven tale that brings the best of historical fiction, thriller and detective fiction together in delightful and delicious fashion. Many detective writers are adept, spinning text that is tightly bound and then rushes from page to page, pulling the reader along with it --- often just being along for the ride is fun and joy enough. Wilson is an adept writer in this vein, for sure, but is surprisingly poetic and vivid in his style. The Blind Man of Seville is refreshingly elaborate for a detective story; the pathways of discovery revolve not just around crime solving, but also a deep and personal psychological exploration of the protagonist and his historical father. Wilson crafts a compelling and seductive picture of Seville, conjuring images that blend Moorish mystery with the vibrant heat of a buzzing Spanish city. His treatment of post-WWI Tangiers and Morocco belong in a class of their own as excellent historical fiction. It is probably worthy of four stars, in reality, but it so pleasantly surprised me -- and spurned me to the next installment in the series -- that I gave it top rating.
January 13, 2024
Por pouco não levava só duas estrelas...
Apesar de estar bem escrito e de a história ser interessante, acho que tem maldade a mais, achei muito sórdido, daí que me custe dizer que gostei...
Continuo à espera de gostar tanto doutro livro deste autor como do "Último Acto em Lisboa".
Apesar de estar bem escrito e de a história ser interessante, acho que tem maldade a mais, achei muito sórdido, daí que me custe dizer que gostei...
Continuo à espera de gostar tanto doutro livro deste autor como do "Último Acto em Lisboa".
November 13, 2023
English version below
****************
Obwohl das Buch nicht immer leicht zu lesen ist, konnte es mich doch mühelos bis zum Ende bei der Stange halten.
Unser Protagonist, der Polizeiinspektor Javier Falcon, könnte auch mühelos der Protagonist eines skandinavischen Krimis ein, so psychisch verbogen wie er erscheint.
Javier Falcon, der sohn eines berühmten Malers, bekommt als neuesn Fall den gewaltsamen Tod eines Baulöwen und Gastronomen zugewiesen. Von anfang an lassen ihn seine aufwallenden Emotionen kaum einen klaren Gedanken fassen. Dass sein wichtigster Mitarbeiter Ramirez ihn nicht leiden kann, erleichtert die Situation keineswegs.
Richtig kompliziert wird es, als Javier klar wird, dass das Mordopfer offenbar in der Vergangenheit sehr gut mit seinem Vater bekannt war. Diese Tatsache zwingt ihn, sich mit der Geschichte seines Vaters auseinanderzusetzen, wodurch die Geschichte erheblich emotionaler verläuft als bei einm regulären Krimi.
Neben der aktuellen Mordermittlung in Sevilla tauen wir durch die Tagebücher des Vaters ind die weit zurückliuegende Vergangenheit in Tanger und sogar in Russland ein. Javier muss sich so manches mal fragen, ob er mit der Lektüre der Tagebücher nicht mehr abgebissen hat als er schlucken kann.
Ich hatte Schwierigkeiten mit den vielen spanischen Namen und Berufsbezeichnungen und der detaillierten Beschreibung und Benennung von Straßen, Orten und Gebäuden. Allerdings belegte das auch die gründliche Recherche des Autors.
Obwohl ich keinen der wichtigeren Charaktere im Buch wirklich leiden konnte, war der Spannungsbogen für mich hoch genug, dass ich unbedingt die Erklärung für alles erfahren wollte.
Außerdem ist der Schreibstil des Autors sehr anprechend.
Alles in allem hat mir der Roman wirklich gur gefallen und ich freue mich schon auf die beiden Folgeromane in der Reihe, die bereits bei mir im Regal stehen.
------------------
Although the book is not always easy to read, it managed to keep me hooked until the end.
Our protagonist, police inspector Javier Falcon, could easily be the protagonist of a Scandinavian crime thriller, as psychologically twisted as he appears.
Javier Falcon, the son of a famous painter, is assigned a new case involving the violent death of a building tycoon and restaurateur. From the very beginning, his surging emotions make it hard for him to think straight. The fact that his most important colleague Ramirez doesn't like him doesn't make the situation any easier.
Things get really complicated when Javier realises that the murder victim was apparently very well acquainted with his father in the past. This fact forces him to come to terms with his father's history, which makes the story considerably more emotional than a regular crime thriller.
In addition to the current murder investigation in Seville, we delve into the distant past in Tangier and even Russia through his father's diaries. Javier sometimes has to ask himself whether he has bitten off more than he can chew by reading the diaries.
I had difficulties with the many Spanish names and job titles and the detailed description and naming of streets, places and buildings. However, this was also a testament to the author's thorough research.
Although I didn't really like any of the more important characters in the book, the tension was high enough for me to want to know the explanation for everything.
The author's writing style is also very appealing.
All in all, I really enjoyed the novel and I'm already looking forward to the two follow-up novels in the series, which are already on my bookshelf.
****************
Obwohl das Buch nicht immer leicht zu lesen ist, konnte es mich doch mühelos bis zum Ende bei der Stange halten.
Unser Protagonist, der Polizeiinspektor Javier Falcon, könnte auch mühelos der Protagonist eines skandinavischen Krimis ein, so psychisch verbogen wie er erscheint.
Javier Falcon, der sohn eines berühmten Malers, bekommt als neuesn Fall den gewaltsamen Tod eines Baulöwen und Gastronomen zugewiesen. Von anfang an lassen ihn seine aufwallenden Emotionen kaum einen klaren Gedanken fassen. Dass sein wichtigster Mitarbeiter Ramirez ihn nicht leiden kann, erleichtert die Situation keineswegs.
Richtig kompliziert wird es, als Javier klar wird, dass das Mordopfer offenbar in der Vergangenheit sehr gut mit seinem Vater bekannt war. Diese Tatsache zwingt ihn, sich mit der Geschichte seines Vaters auseinanderzusetzen, wodurch die Geschichte erheblich emotionaler verläuft als bei einm regulären Krimi.
Neben der aktuellen Mordermittlung in Sevilla tauen wir durch die Tagebücher des Vaters ind die weit zurückliuegende Vergangenheit in Tanger und sogar in Russland ein. Javier muss sich so manches mal fragen, ob er mit der Lektüre der Tagebücher nicht mehr abgebissen hat als er schlucken kann.
Ich hatte Schwierigkeiten mit den vielen spanischen Namen und Berufsbezeichnungen und der detaillierten Beschreibung und Benennung von Straßen, Orten und Gebäuden. Allerdings belegte das auch die gründliche Recherche des Autors.
Obwohl ich keinen der wichtigeren Charaktere im Buch wirklich leiden konnte, war der Spannungsbogen für mich hoch genug, dass ich unbedingt die Erklärung für alles erfahren wollte.
Außerdem ist der Schreibstil des Autors sehr anprechend.
Alles in allem hat mir der Roman wirklich gur gefallen und ich freue mich schon auf die beiden Folgeromane in der Reihe, die bereits bei mir im Regal stehen.
------------------
Although the book is not always easy to read, it managed to keep me hooked until the end.
Our protagonist, police inspector Javier Falcon, could easily be the protagonist of a Scandinavian crime thriller, as psychologically twisted as he appears.
Javier Falcon, the son of a famous painter, is assigned a new case involving the violent death of a building tycoon and restaurateur. From the very beginning, his surging emotions make it hard for him to think straight. The fact that his most important colleague Ramirez doesn't like him doesn't make the situation any easier.
Things get really complicated when Javier realises that the murder victim was apparently very well acquainted with his father in the past. This fact forces him to come to terms with his father's history, which makes the story considerably more emotional than a regular crime thriller.
In addition to the current murder investigation in Seville, we delve into the distant past in Tangier and even Russia through his father's diaries. Javier sometimes has to ask himself whether he has bitten off more than he can chew by reading the diaries.
I had difficulties with the many Spanish names and job titles and the detailed description and naming of streets, places and buildings. However, this was also a testament to the author's thorough research.
Although I didn't really like any of the more important characters in the book, the tension was high enough for me to want to know the explanation for everything.
The author's writing style is also very appealing.
All in all, I really enjoyed the novel and I'm already looking forward to the two follow-up novels in the series, which are already on my bookshelf.
March 21, 2022
Un restaurador (dueño de varios restaurantes, nada que ver con el arte) aparece asesinado en su casa de Sevilla durante la Semana Santa. La historia comienza un Jueves Santo y termina con el primer día de la Feria de Abril. Muy oportuno, corrida de toros en medio incluida.
La ubicación en Sevilla es marcada con gran precisión: calles, barrios y edificios están perfectamente delimitados, no así la Semana Santa que para ser los días más señalados, apenas hay afluencia de gente y turistas por las calles del centro: sólo una Virgen que está procesionando y que hará temblar los sentimientos del inspector Falcón.
Tampoco es acertado el uso de los apellidos: el de soltera y el familiar, pues en España la mujer mantiene su apellido y no lo cambia al casarse ni pasa a ser "señora Jiménez", como ocurre en la novela.
Y la novela, bueno, entretenida a ratos. El asesinato da pie a una investigación y a un desarrollo de tramas y vidas paralelas que se retrotraen hasta la guerra civil y se van tejiendo hasta la actualidad, con todas las motivaciobes, causas y consecuencias en algún -ion sexual (atracción, pulsión, obsesión, aversión, vejación, aberración, repulsión...) sentimientos a flor del piel del inspector, que llora y solloza, necesita tratamiento psicológico e incluso en plena investigación decide que debe profundizar sus conocimientos de inglés y se apunta al Instituto Británico...
Creo que en este caso la máxima de "Menos es más " sería muy acertada: menos información, menos farragoso y menos vueltas y revueltas sería más entretenida, mucho más. Pero a mí por lo menos me sirve también al revés: un libro más, una serie menos.
La ubicación en Sevilla es marcada con gran precisión: calles, barrios y edificios están perfectamente delimitados, no así la Semana Santa que para ser los días más señalados, apenas hay afluencia de gente y turistas por las calles del centro: sólo una Virgen que está procesionando y que hará temblar los sentimientos del inspector Falcón.
Tampoco es acertado el uso de los apellidos: el de soltera y el familiar, pues en España la mujer mantiene su apellido y no lo cambia al casarse ni pasa a ser "señora Jiménez", como ocurre en la novela.
Y la novela, bueno, entretenida a ratos. El asesinato da pie a una investigación y a un desarrollo de tramas y vidas paralelas que se retrotraen hasta la guerra civil y se van tejiendo hasta la actualidad, con todas las motivaciobes, causas y consecuencias en algún -ion sexual (atracción, pulsión, obsesión, aversión, vejación, aberración, repulsión...) sentimientos a flor del piel del inspector, que llora y solloza, necesita tratamiento psicológico e incluso en plena investigación decide que debe profundizar sus conocimientos de inglés y se apunta al Instituto Británico...
Creo que en este caso la máxima de "Menos es más " sería muy acertada: menos información, menos farragoso y menos vueltas y revueltas sería más entretenida, mucho más. Pero a mí por lo menos me sirve también al revés: un libro más, una serie menos.
January 9, 2024
PT
Um bom thriller policial, em que a história e o protagonista são complexos e multifacetados. Uma leitura que me manteve cativada até ao fim. O único ponto negativo, que acaba por ser também o seu principal trunfo, é a sua complexidade. Para mim, foi um pouco excessiva, ultrapassando o limite da verosimilhança. No entanto, considero-o um livro que vale a pena experimentar.
ENG
A good crime thriller, with a complex and multifaceted story and protagonist. A read that kept me hooked until the end. The only negative point, which also happens to be its main strength, is its complexity. For me, it was a bit excessive, crossing the line of believability. However, I consider it a book worth experiencing.
Um bom thriller policial, em que a história e o protagonista são complexos e multifacetados. Uma leitura que me manteve cativada até ao fim. O único ponto negativo, que acaba por ser também o seu principal trunfo, é a sua complexidade. Para mim, foi um pouco excessiva, ultrapassando o limite da verosimilhança. No entanto, considero-o um livro que vale a pena experimentar.
ENG
A good crime thriller, with a complex and multifaceted story and protagonist. A read that kept me hooked until the end. The only negative point, which also happens to be its main strength, is its complexity. For me, it was a bit excessive, crossing the line of believability. However, I consider it a book worth experiencing.
March 8, 2016
En primer lugar, destacar que no es el típico thriller. En esta novela Robert Wilson nos describe a Javier Falcón, un detective que trabaja en Sevilla, en plena semana santa, investigando el brutal asesinato de un restaurador, al que le han sacado los ojos mientras le obligaban a ver un video que sin duda no quería ver. Pero aparte del crimen en sí mismo, y de todas las complejidades que de él se derivan, nos encontramos con la propia angustia del personaje protagonista. El detective no sólo tendrá que lidiar con la investigación. Tendrá que lidiar (Y ese verbo, hablando de Sevilla, creo que es bastante apropiado) también con los fantasmas de su propio pasado, especialmente con la relación con su padre fallecido, del que descubrirá que tenía secretos inconfesables que ahora vienen a atormentar a su propio hijo. Todo ello aderezado con un relato bastante crudo, pero en el que destaca la magnífica escritura del autor, que convierte una novela poco agradable en una lectura más que recomendable. Las descripciones de la ciudad son bastante realistas. También entiendo que el protagonista pueda llegar a despertar pocas simpatías entre los lectores, ya que se trata, sin duda, de un personaje muy complejo, con reacciones y comportamientos muy alejados del típico héroe al uso. En ese sentido, es quizás una novela demasiado introspectiva, lo que en mi caso me ayudó a identificarme más con la persona que con su trabajo de investigador.
Sin duda, seguiré los pasos del autor y del detective Falcón en su siguiente entrega, “Condenados al silencio”.
Sin duda, seguiré los pasos del autor y del detective Falcón en su siguiente entrega, “Condenados al silencio”.
December 1, 2015
I would like to remark on the male characters that Robert Wilson creates. They make this novel absorbing and a reason that I continued to the end. These are not really men who have much in the way of redeeming characteristics, are frighteningly misogynistic, violent and happy to kill and murder for the basest of motives. Probity and ethics elude them. Such are the characters of the murdered victim that Falcon encounters and as we learn later, his father. His father is pivotal to the entire premise of the novel and a solution to the murders that occur in Falcon's investigation. I recognise some of these male characteristics in men of a certain generation, which covers to some extent the time period which Wilson writes in and beyond. It is the need to see out the fates of the men in this novel that held me to the end. I am horrorstruck by them, but at the same time hoping that something brings some redress for the crimes perpetrated by them, this only comes to them near the very end of their lives. In conclusion, I would recommend this novel.
January 9, 2015
A short take:
Reading this book made me want to visit Seville to experience the crowds that drift from cafe to cafe well into the early morning hours. It was easy to feel bad for the protagonist, Falcon, as he sank into a "miserable PI" role while others embraced what they had in life.
More thoughts:
I loved Wilson's description of the setting and the people in it; I did not care as much for the book's mystery or its antagonist. I got the sense that Wilson combined his sentiments about Seville with some some intriguing Spanish Civil War-era history and then wrapped up the works in a flimsy, artificial mystery plot that adds little to the story other than dead bodies and forced philosophical asides. "What does a person fear more than anything?" Good question, that, too bad we don't get to an interesting possible answer. Also unfortunate is the fact that Falcon devolves from a competent, cool operator and to a strung-out mess because this transition is convenient to the plot. For that matter, Falcon doesn't even "solve" his case so much as reach the end of the tale concurrent with the reader.
Wilson wrote three more Falcon books, and though they have earned respectable reviews, I'm wary about continuing.
Reading this book made me want to visit Seville to experience the crowds that drift from cafe to cafe well into the early morning hours. It was easy to feel bad for the protagonist, Falcon, as he sank into a "miserable PI" role while others embraced what they had in life.
More thoughts:
I loved Wilson's description of the setting and the people in it; I did not care as much for the book's mystery or its antagonist. I got the sense that Wilson combined his sentiments about Seville with some some intriguing Spanish Civil War-era history and then wrapped up the works in a flimsy, artificial mystery plot that adds little to the story other than dead bodies and forced philosophical asides. "What does a person fear more than anything?" Good question, that, too bad we don't get to an interesting possible answer. Also unfortunate is the fact that Falcon devolves from a competent, cool operator and to a strung-out mess because this transition is convenient to the plot. For that matter, Falcon doesn't even "solve" his case so much as reach the end of the tale concurrent with the reader.
Wilson wrote three more Falcon books, and though they have earned respectable reviews, I'm wary about continuing.
December 6, 2022
Į The Blind Man Of Seville nėriau aklai (see what I did there), man tereikėjo žinoti, kad tai gerai įvertintas trileris, o veiksmas vyksta Sevilijoje, Ispanijoje.
Bauginausi storulės knygos, na ji yra per ilga, bet ji tokia gerai parašyta ir per ilga. Įtraukė nuo pirmo skyriaus ir puslapiai tirpo. Viskas prasidėjo kaip labai geras detektyvas/kriminalinis trileris, toks tamsus ir žiaurus. Labai daug detalių apie tyrimą, jo eigą, daug tokių profesinių niuansų, kas man labai patiko ir norėjau dar ir dar.
Galiausiai viskas išsivystė į labai stiprų psichologinį trilerį. Knyga labai daugiasluoksnė, kompleksiška ir vietomis gal net sviro į komplikuotą ir sunkiai išnarpliojamą pusę, bet galiausiai autorius padėdavo susirankioti užuominas.
Veiksmas nukelia į Ispaniją ir Maroką ir galima tikrai pajusti tų vietų atmosferą.
Ar atomazga pabaigoje buvo labai įtikinama ir realistiška? Nebūtinai. Bet argi ne tokios įtemptos, visiškai susuktos ir šiek tiek fantastiškos pabaigos, nėra pačios geriausios?
Jau užsisakiau ir antrą dalį knygos, viso Javier Falcon seriją sudaro keturios.
Bauginausi storulės knygos, na ji yra per ilga, bet ji tokia gerai parašyta ir per ilga. Įtraukė nuo pirmo skyriaus ir puslapiai tirpo. Viskas prasidėjo kaip labai geras detektyvas/kriminalinis trileris, toks tamsus ir žiaurus. Labai daug detalių apie tyrimą, jo eigą, daug tokių profesinių niuansų, kas man labai patiko ir norėjau dar ir dar.
Galiausiai viskas išsivystė į labai stiprų psichologinį trilerį. Knyga labai daugiasluoksnė, kompleksiška ir vietomis gal net sviro į komplikuotą ir sunkiai išnarpliojamą pusę, bet galiausiai autorius padėdavo susirankioti užuominas.
Veiksmas nukelia į Ispaniją ir Maroką ir galima tikrai pajusti tų vietų atmosferą.
Ar atomazga pabaigoje buvo labai įtikinama ir realistiška? Nebūtinai. Bet argi ne tokios įtemptos, visiškai susuktos ir šiek tiek fantastiškos pabaigos, nėra pačios geriausios?
Jau užsisakiau ir antrą dalį knygos, viso Javier Falcon seriją sudaro keturios.
March 23, 2018
A minha opinião em video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYDfD...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYDfD...
August 21, 2021
This is indeed a reread of a book of which I did read the whole series before my marriage, and has been a pleasurable experience since I had forgotten the story alltogether and any memory I had will probably turn out to be a part from one of the other books written about Javier Falcon.
Robert Wilson has been a favorite of mine and I recently read his stand alone novels which were very good. This is my return to his world of Seville in Spain.
The policeman Javier Falcon enters a crime scene which seems to alter his perception of his own being and the past of his father the famous Seville painter.
During the investigation he learns more about his father and his own history, the killer seems to know more than he does and which each new detail in the case Falcon gets confroted with himself. Which in the end leads to his almost burnout and confrontation with the killer who does again alter his personal history.
A very good thriller that is not thirteen in a dozen, it does show a deep understanding of the Spanish psyche, knowledge of Seville, history of north Africa especially Tangiers and casablanca. It is a very fascinating journey in history concerning Spain, Marocco and Russia.
The book remained a fascinating read from the beginning to the end and like in his stand alone books Robert Wilson does manage to keep his reader informed and yet in the dark. Well done especially as I read this novel before it once again caugth me by surprise. I guess it is time to reread the other three books and perhaps have a look at the mini-series made.
Robert Wilson has been a favorite of mine and I recently read his stand alone novels which were very good. This is my return to his world of Seville in Spain.
The policeman Javier Falcon enters a crime scene which seems to alter his perception of his own being and the past of his father the famous Seville painter.
During the investigation he learns more about his father and his own history, the killer seems to know more than he does and which each new detail in the case Falcon gets confroted with himself. Which in the end leads to his almost burnout and confrontation with the killer who does again alter his personal history.
A very good thriller that is not thirteen in a dozen, it does show a deep understanding of the Spanish psyche, knowledge of Seville, history of north Africa especially Tangiers and casablanca. It is a very fascinating journey in history concerning Spain, Marocco and Russia.
The book remained a fascinating read from the beginning to the end and like in his stand alone books Robert Wilson does manage to keep his reader informed and yet in the dark. Well done especially as I read this novel before it once again caugth me by surprise. I guess it is time to reread the other three books and perhaps have a look at the mini-series made.
June 27, 2011
How do you rate a book that's a tad too long but a well-written too long? I felt BMoS was long for a murder mystery and the pacing was...off. Consider that the first eight chapters in the book, roughly 20% of the book, comprised a single day. Don't get me wrong, the writing was good but the story definitely lagged in some spots.
I suppose Wilson was trying to flesh out his character but I felt he sacrificed the tension/buildup. There were several times where meaningless details that didn't add bubkus to the story dragged the story down:his interactions/stalking of his ex-wife, his anxiety, his battle with insomnia, panic attacks at seeing the Virgin Mary, his search for a psychologist. And possibly most odd of all, despite being in the middle of the most horrific case of his career and embroiled in a personal crisis, he finds the time to reenroll in an English class and take time out for a bullfight?!?!? I began to wonder if this was a murder mystery or a memoir. In fact, I count the passages of his father's journals more interesting than the murder itself.
And either procedural doctrines are very lax in Spain, or Falcon is a terrible detective. I'm not talking about his drug/alcohol use while on the job, I'm talking about him bringing a key piece of evidence, fragile and not easily recoverable evidence, to a suspect's home?!?!?
There was definitely a sense of place in this book though, the author mixed in enough Spanish words (mostly swear words) that I had to search the web for translations but not so much that I didn't know what was going on. I will likely give Wilson another try but if the next book is overly long and suffers from the same meandering plot as Blind Man, I'll probably not stick with it too long.
I suppose Wilson was trying to flesh out his character but I felt he sacrificed the tension/buildup. There were several times where meaningless details that didn't add bubkus to the story dragged the story down:his interactions/stalking of his ex-wife, his anxiety, his battle with insomnia, panic attacks at seeing the Virgin Mary, his search for a psychologist. And possibly most odd of all, despite being in the middle of the most horrific case of his career and embroiled in a personal crisis, he finds the time to reenroll in an English class and take time out for a bullfight?!?!? I began to wonder if this was a murder mystery or a memoir. In fact, I count the passages of his father's journals more interesting than the murder itself.
And either procedural doctrines are very lax in Spain, or Falcon is a terrible detective. I'm not talking about his drug/alcohol use while on the job, I'm talking about him bringing a key piece of evidence, fragile and not easily recoverable evidence, to a suspect's home?!?!?
There was definitely a sense of place in this book though, the author mixed in enough Spanish words (mostly swear words) that I had to search the web for translations but not so much that I didn't know what was going on. I will likely give Wilson another try but if the next book is overly long and suffers from the same meandering plot as Blind Man, I'll probably not stick with it too long.
September 17, 2010
A seemingly interesting story line which gets lost in a maze and emerges into very little - occasional good use of language spoilt by over complicated construction and, in the end, unbelievable plot. A Sunday Times recommendation gone wrong.
February 9, 2016
A crime novel set in Spain.
Unlike some crime novels set in non-English-speaking countries, this one was not written in Spanish and then translated, but appears to have been written in English from the start, though it has quite a lot of Spanish words and phrases in it. The author has an English name, but his bio says nothing about where he was born or where he lives, or whether he lives or has lived in Spain.
The story grows more interesting and compelling as one gets into it. Robert Wilson uses a technique used successfully by Robert Goddard, where the solution to a current mystery is to be found in the past, and that sort of thing always appeals to the historian in me.
About halfway through I began to wonder if this was going to be a book that went beyond the average whodunit, and might say something significant about the human condition, perhaps a 21st century version of Crime and punishment. They quote from Albert Camus's novel The outsider.
One of the historical characters writes in his diary, in 1952
The corruption in business and government is what we see every day, and the newspapers are full of it. It is life as we know it, and the art in the writing is to reveal it to us.
Unfortunately he goes and spoils it all on the very next page by using the word "parameters" in a way in which no one would have used it in 1952. Well, perhaps they might have used it in Spanish, though not in English. It is too late even to think about that. The cord suspending disbelief is broken and it comes crashing to the ground.
No, Dostoevsky it isn't, but it's still an above-average whodunit.
Unlike some crime novels set in non-English-speaking countries, this one was not written in Spanish and then translated, but appears to have been written in English from the start, though it has quite a lot of Spanish words and phrases in it. The author has an English name, but his bio says nothing about where he was born or where he lives, or whether he lives or has lived in Spain.
The story grows more interesting and compelling as one gets into it. Robert Wilson uses a technique used successfully by Robert Goddard, where the solution to a current mystery is to be found in the past, and that sort of thing always appeals to the historian in me.
About halfway through I began to wonder if this was going to be a book that went beyond the average whodunit, and might say something significant about the human condition, perhaps a 21st century version of Crime and punishment. They quote from Albert Camus's novel The outsider.
One of the historical characters writes in his diary, in 1952
It is an irony not lost on me that here we are in Tangier, captives of the International Zone of Morocco, in the cockpit of Africa, where a new kind of society is being created. A society in which there are no codes. The ruling committee of naturally suspicious European countries has created a permissible chaos in which a new grade of humanity is emerging. One that does not adhere to the usual laws of community but seeks only to satisfy the demands of self. The untaxed unruled business affairs of the International Zone are played out in its society's shunning of any form of morality. We are a microcosm of the future of the modern world, a culture in a Petri dish in the laboratory of human growth. Nobody will say, 'Oh, Tangier, those were the days,' because we will all be in our own Tangier. That is what we have been fighting like dogs for, all over the world, for the last four decades.
The corruption in business and government is what we see every day, and the newspapers are full of it. It is life as we know it, and the art in the writing is to reveal it to us.
Unfortunately he goes and spoils it all on the very next page by using the word "parameters" in a way in which no one would have used it in 1952. Well, perhaps they might have used it in Spanish, though not in English. It is too late even to think about that. The cord suspending disbelief is broken and it comes crashing to the ground.
No, Dostoevsky it isn't, but it's still an above-average whodunit.
September 3, 2023
I picked this up from a local library on my first-ever visit to Seville, I went into it "blindly", no pun intended, and picked it solely based on the title that had Seville in it.
After a couple of pages, I had to stop reading it since at that time I was still living alone, in a big apartment, in a foreign city.
Soon after my roommate finally arrived, I started reading it again but had to yet again give it up since I needed to return it to the library.
Finally, I got the Kindle version once I was home, and picked up where I left.
The book felt slow in so many parts, but overall contained some very fascinating historical details, although it had some errors, but mostly was accurate.
The detective's father was born in Tetuan, Morocco like me, which made me feel very close to the story.
The ending, despite being suspenseful and thrilling, was kind of anticlimactic.
After a couple of pages, I had to stop reading it since at that time I was still living alone, in a big apartment, in a foreign city.
Soon after my roommate finally arrived, I started reading it again but had to yet again give it up since I needed to return it to the library.
Finally, I got the Kindle version once I was home, and picked up where I left.
The book felt slow in so many parts, but overall contained some very fascinating historical details, although it had some errors, but mostly was accurate.
The detective's father was born in Tetuan, Morocco like me, which made me feel very close to the story.
The ending, despite being suspenseful and thrilling, was kind of anticlimactic.
May 19, 2012
I enjoyed the book immensely. It is like a Scandinavian crime novel set in Seville but with even more emphasis on the psychological state of the detective. The writing is beautiful, after a particular chapter I was so moved I could not continue to read on immediately - it just didn't seem right. There are lovely descriptions of life in Seville and Spain, such as the brothers setting up the ham leg for the big family lunch. The novel will not be to everyone's taste as it is not a simple straightforward crime story, but I loved its intricacy and I'm looking forward to getting the next Javier Falcon story.
April 30, 2019
The Blind Man of Seville is a crime novel in that it's a novel about crime. However, the crimes at its focus aren't those described on the wrapper -- a series of brutal murders in modern-day Seville -- but those depicted in what seems initially to be the novel's backstory. Again, although The Blind Man of Seville seems at the outset like a mystery/detective novel, taking the form of a police procedural, that isn't really what it's up to; in fact, the final resolution of the "mystery" strand of the tale, the revelation of the murderer's identity, seems almost perfunctory in plotting terms (although not in the actual telling).
As you'll have guessed, my views on this novel are a bit mixed.
Inspector Jefe Javier Falcón is called in when a prominent if somewhat shady Seville restaurateur and businessman is found murdered, his eyelids cut off antemortem in a clear effort to force him to watch something he most violently didn't want to see. Although Falcón is a cop of considerable experience, hardened by the many horrible experiences his job has entailed, this particular case knocks him sideways.
Falcón is the son of a celebrated artist, Francisco (or sometimes Fransisco) Falcón, who died a few years back, and the son still lives in the enormous family home, Francisco's studio left locked and untouched as a sort of shrine to the father Javier loved. But now, on discovering that the murdered man and his widow, Consuelo Jiménez, were acquainted with his father, Falcón begins to read the extensive personal journals that Francisco left behind in a box in the studio. Slowly we and Falcón discover through the reading of the journals that Francisco, who seemed no worse than a sort of diamond in the rough, was in fact a monster, a man who killed readily not just during the Spanish Civil War and the Russian campaign of World War II but also afterwards, in peacetime. Falcón is, he realizes, not just connected to what becomes a series of modern-day murders; he's slap-bang in the middle of the case.
At very nearly 450 close-packed pages, this is a long novel, and I confess it sure felt like it as I was reading it. Francisco's journals take up far more of the novel's wordage than you might expect, but by comparison with the rest of the text they're far more tautly told, as befits what are, after all, supposed to be diary entries. Elsewhere, though, the writing is cumbersome to the point sometimes almost of self-parody. Every now and then there's something rather wonderful in the prose, such as this:
But such moments come at the expense of others:
One great oddity about the novel -- and again a contributor to the prodigious length -- is that for the first 150 or so pages, before we're first introduced to those journals, the narrative is shaping up to be the police procedural we initially assumed it to be. The cops' #1 suspect for the first murder -- even though Falcón himself is convinced she's not guilty -- is the dead man's widow, Consuelo Jiménez. There are all sorts of superficial reasons for suspecting her, including an extensive subplot about her somewhat checkered history before she met her much older husband. All standard police-procedural stuff. Yet this part of the tale, including an obvious if reluctant attraction that springs up between her and the recently divorced Falcón, is never resolved. Similarly left unresolved are various elements of the supplementary investigations that follow the further murders.
I've mentioned that the writing is cumbersome. After a while, I should add, this ponderousness begins to work to the narrative's advantage: as with a slow-moving river coming closer to the sea, after a point the current becomes irresistible. I was definitely gripped by the book's later stages, once the author had (it seemed to me) decided where he was going with all this, that what he wanted to create was a novel about dark revelation, about the impact of past events and the actions of the dead-and-gone upon the minds of people still living, rather than an investigation of murder. Perhaps Wilson was trying to convey that this is how real life works, that what we think is going to be one story often turns out to be another. But the effect in a novel is one of disjuncture, a sense that the two components don't properly belong together.
Others have had different reactions to The Blind Man of Seville, mostly far more favorable than mine. It may be that I read this almost straight off the back of Iain Pears's Stone's Fall, another long novel that starts out as a mystery but then goes off in different directions, but one that worked for me far better. Read The Blind Man of Seville and judge for yourself.
As you'll have guessed, my views on this novel are a bit mixed.
Inspector Jefe Javier Falcón is called in when a prominent if somewhat shady Seville restaurateur and businessman is found murdered, his eyelids cut off antemortem in a clear effort to force him to watch something he most violently didn't want to see. Although Falcón is a cop of considerable experience, hardened by the many horrible experiences his job has entailed, this particular case knocks him sideways.
Falcón is the son of a celebrated artist, Francisco (or sometimes Fransisco) Falcón, who died a few years back, and the son still lives in the enormous family home, Francisco's studio left locked and untouched as a sort of shrine to the father Javier loved. But now, on discovering that the murdered man and his widow, Consuelo Jiménez, were acquainted with his father, Falcón begins to read the extensive personal journals that Francisco left behind in a box in the studio. Slowly we and Falcón discover through the reading of the journals that Francisco, who seemed no worse than a sort of diamond in the rough, was in fact a monster, a man who killed readily not just during the Spanish Civil War and the Russian campaign of World War II but also afterwards, in peacetime. Falcón is, he realizes, not just connected to what becomes a series of modern-day murders; he's slap-bang in the middle of the case.
At very nearly 450 close-packed pages, this is a long novel, and I confess it sure felt like it as I was reading it. Francisco's journals take up far more of the novel's wordage than you might expect, but by comparison with the rest of the text they're far more tautly told, as befits what are, after all, supposed to be diary entries. Elsewhere, though, the writing is cumbersome to the point sometimes almost of self-parody. Every now and then there's something rather wonderful in the prose, such as this:
Four o'clock brought him round into a permanent dark wakefulness [in which] the wooden beams in his vast house groaned like other less fortunate inmates in a distant part of the asylum. [pp106-107]
But such moments come at the expense of others:
. . . legs and buttocks raw from sitting in his uncontrollable urine. [p1]
He walked straight into Falcón's eyes and caught the blue flash of his lover's. [p52]
As he spoke his eyes darted about under cover of some heavy, dark eyebrows, which his wife was not keeping under control. [p90]
. . . he lowered himself into a chair in front of his doctor, hesitant as a man with elephant haemorrhoids that ran from nose to tail. [p177]
The sound of sizzling nylon reached him as she sawed her legs together. [p258]
He searched the inside of his head, reached for a cigarette, lit it and inhaled deeply. [p264]
One great oddity about the novel -- and again a contributor to the prodigious length -- is that for the first 150 or so pages, before we're first introduced to those journals, the narrative is shaping up to be the police procedural we initially assumed it to be. The cops' #1 suspect for the first murder -- even though Falcón himself is convinced she's not guilty -- is the dead man's widow, Consuelo Jiménez. There are all sorts of superficial reasons for suspecting her, including an extensive subplot about her somewhat checkered history before she met her much older husband. All standard police-procedural stuff. Yet this part of the tale, including an obvious if reluctant attraction that springs up between her and the recently divorced Falcón, is never resolved. Similarly left unresolved are various elements of the supplementary investigations that follow the further murders.
I've mentioned that the writing is cumbersome. After a while, I should add, this ponderousness begins to work to the narrative's advantage: as with a slow-moving river coming closer to the sea, after a point the current becomes irresistible. I was definitely gripped by the book's later stages, once the author had (it seemed to me) decided where he was going with all this, that what he wanted to create was a novel about dark revelation, about the impact of past events and the actions of the dead-and-gone upon the minds of people still living, rather than an investigation of murder. Perhaps Wilson was trying to convey that this is how real life works, that what we think is going to be one story often turns out to be another. But the effect in a novel is one of disjuncture, a sense that the two components don't properly belong together.
Others have had different reactions to The Blind Man of Seville, mostly far more favorable than mine. It may be that I read this almost straight off the back of Iain Pears's Stone's Fall, another long novel that starts out as a mystery but then goes off in different directions, but one that worked for me far better. Read The Blind Man of Seville and judge for yourself.
February 19, 2014
I started this book because I'll be going to Seville and Morocco (the story is set largely in these places) later this year. Also, as some or all of this series of books had been made into a TV series I figured it couldn't be that bad (I missed the shows).
Well, for the first part of the book it was that bad. OK, we'd had a yucky death but after that it seemed to plod interminably with new plot lines leading seemingly nowhere. Javier Falcon (the main detective character) seemed beset by the demons of his past and couldn't get his head straight and I usually find interminable descriptions of inner turmoil blah blah totalling nauseating.
Then, magic happened. I got enthralled with the back story (no, wait, is that actually the main story?) based in Tangier during and after WWII. It was an interesting insight into that time and place. It became apparent that the past and present plots were going to collide.
This is not an action thriller. It is, however, a beautifully written novel with plenty of mystery and twists and turns. Actions and consequences, and how people can become trapped in situations through being blase and taking the course of least resistance.
Well, for the first part of the book it was that bad. OK, we'd had a yucky death but after that it seemed to plod interminably with new plot lines leading seemingly nowhere. Javier Falcon (the main detective character) seemed beset by the demons of his past and couldn't get his head straight and I usually find interminable descriptions of inner turmoil blah blah totalling nauseating.
Then, magic happened. I got enthralled with the back story (no, wait, is that actually the main story?) based in Tangier during and after WWII. It was an interesting insight into that time and place. It became apparent that the past and present plots were going to collide.
This is not an action thriller. It is, however, a beautifully written novel with plenty of mystery and twists and turns. Actions and consequences, and how people can become trapped in situations through being blase and taking the course of least resistance.
March 12, 2011
One of the best books I've read in a long, long time. Inspector Jefe Javier Falcon works a bizarre case with his homicide team in Seville, Spain, that hits extremely close to home. As he uncovers the twisted past of his famous-artist father, he slowly experiences a series of epiphanies that leave him emotionally brittle yet compelled to discover the relationship between his own past and the killer at large. After finding his father's diaries ... it begins to come together. Author Robert Wilson keeps my full attention throughout, leading up to a twisted ending that is well worth the wait.
September 10, 2019
Strange, violent and downright macabre in parts. Does paint a fascinating picture of Spanish history through WW2 and the upheavals of Franco. Interesting read.
August 20, 2013
“The Blind Man of Seville” is a well written, competent thriller that almost reaches greatness but never quite gets there. The book has two flaws. The first is Javier Falcon, the protagonist. He´s a homicide cop in Seville, a quiet, stoic man, always in control and emotionless in his job. This all changes when he reaches the scene of a horrific homicide and looks at the disfigured face of the tortured victim, Raul Jimenez, an elderly man who was tied and forced to watch something so horrible to his psyche that his body could not endure the shock. Something about this scene touches Falcon, shakes his inner self, destroys his world and the worst of all is that he doesn't even understand why he suddenly feels this way! When he discovers the diaries of his late father, a famous painter and sees that he was a former associate of Jimenez in Tangier after WW2, Falcon must accept that he is connected to this homicide and delve into his father´s past life to find the truth about himself and what is happening in the present.
The problem is that Javier Falcon is never really very likable or able to achieve much sympathy from the reader. When he is “himself” he is cold and detached, even dry and dare I say, dull and uninteresting. There´s a subplot about his failed marriage that´s never really developed past being a tool to show he´s afraid of intimacy. Another subplot deals with Raul Jimenez´s trophy wife that underneath her “mask” is smart and ruthless and there´s an attraction between her and Falcon with a bit of suspicion going on between the flirting but all of a sudden the writer just completely forgets about the whole thing and nothing ever comes of it. There´s a bit about his sister and brother but again Falcon is always distant and cold and when a character shows up, a young bull fighter to whom Falcon is a sort of spiritual guide nothing is again developed apart from the writer spending a line saying Falcon really liked the kid instead of showing some sort of friendship between them to humanize him. Instead of that we get page after page of Falcon´s mental breakdown in painful detail. From his anxiety and stress, to bouts of panic and problems sleeping and all that cheery stuff! For pages and pages, almost whole chapters of it. Wilson really goes all out, so much that in the end, Falcon is just a complete wreck and just a broken and sad man on the verge of insanity. This is constantly hammered in, instead of developing the character past being a heartless, detached cop with anxiety attacks! Falcon´s afflictions even taint the investigation part of the story. He´s in front of the investigation but is hardly focused or even mildly competent in his job. He spends his days trying to figure out if he´s going insane while trying to hide it from everyone else. Quite frankly he´s a really lousy cop and botches the investigation badly from the start. Even Falcon himself is aware of that!
The other flaw in the book is Robert Wilson´s writing style. He´s a bit pretentious, far too “wordy” and his sense of pace could use some improvement! The book drags in many places, especially at the start and sometimes nothing much seems to happen for lots of pages, except Falcon having one of his tantrums or reviewing the case with his team in which besides Ramirez, the second in command and a caricature of a sexist pig so extreme its almost laughable, none of its members has any personality besides a name on the page.
The plot is almost too complicated to the point of being just convoluted, relying on coincidences and almost desperate in its effort to shock. Yes, shock. The amount of depravity and evil depicted here is staggering. Every character is despicable or should I say, every male character, except Javier Falcon, is loathsome, sordid and abhorrent. After a while I could almost picture the characters with an evil laugh while twirling their mustaches! After a while it just loses its impact.
Still, Robert Wilson pulls it off. If you stick with it, the book does provide you with some thought provoking moments and a highly compelling character that is never actually in the book. I'm talking about Javier´s father, Francisco Falcon. As Javier reads his diaries we go through his most inner thoughts, through his life in the Foreign Legion, the fighting in the Spanish civil war, in WW2, the atrocities, the pain and suffering and the sordid life of Tangier with its forbidden pleasures. Its a fascinating journey and the book´s main asset. We get to know this man, far better than Javier, even bond with him, in his struggles as an artist, father and husband and we see as his personality changes over time, as his urges take over, the depravity, hate, in essence life, shapes him into the man behind “the mask” of the famous painter. Its fascinating and here, in the diaries excerpts, Robert Wilson really shines in his writing. Its a triumph and I would say the book is worth if only for these pages. Seville is also wonderfully brought to life, the city itself a character and a pleasure to experience through Wilson´s glorious descriptions.
The ending of the book is also magnificent. Its powerful and heart-breaking and hits you hard in the stomach. Its a fabulous climax that ends the book on a high and makes you wonder if with a few touches, “The Blind Man of Seville” could have been something truly special. As it stands, its an average thriller with a good story underneath it and a sublime look into a character and his life journey. Its a cruel and harsh insight at the darker side of man, the depths of depravity and evil and how in the end... we´re all just animals after all and you never truly know anyone, even your own father. It takes perseverance by the reader but there´s a really good book here, if you dig deep enough.
The problem is that Javier Falcon is never really very likable or able to achieve much sympathy from the reader. When he is “himself” he is cold and detached, even dry and dare I say, dull and uninteresting. There´s a subplot about his failed marriage that´s never really developed past being a tool to show he´s afraid of intimacy. Another subplot deals with Raul Jimenez´s trophy wife that underneath her “mask” is smart and ruthless and there´s an attraction between her and Falcon with a bit of suspicion going on between the flirting but all of a sudden the writer just completely forgets about the whole thing and nothing ever comes of it. There´s a bit about his sister and brother but again Falcon is always distant and cold and when a character shows up, a young bull fighter to whom Falcon is a sort of spiritual guide nothing is again developed apart from the writer spending a line saying Falcon really liked the kid instead of showing some sort of friendship between them to humanize him. Instead of that we get page after page of Falcon´s mental breakdown in painful detail. From his anxiety and stress, to bouts of panic and problems sleeping and all that cheery stuff! For pages and pages, almost whole chapters of it. Wilson really goes all out, so much that in the end, Falcon is just a complete wreck and just a broken and sad man on the verge of insanity. This is constantly hammered in, instead of developing the character past being a heartless, detached cop with anxiety attacks! Falcon´s afflictions even taint the investigation part of the story. He´s in front of the investigation but is hardly focused or even mildly competent in his job. He spends his days trying to figure out if he´s going insane while trying to hide it from everyone else. Quite frankly he´s a really lousy cop and botches the investigation badly from the start. Even Falcon himself is aware of that!
The other flaw in the book is Robert Wilson´s writing style. He´s a bit pretentious, far too “wordy” and his sense of pace could use some improvement! The book drags in many places, especially at the start and sometimes nothing much seems to happen for lots of pages, except Falcon having one of his tantrums or reviewing the case with his team in which besides Ramirez, the second in command and a caricature of a sexist pig so extreme its almost laughable, none of its members has any personality besides a name on the page.
The plot is almost too complicated to the point of being just convoluted, relying on coincidences and almost desperate in its effort to shock. Yes, shock. The amount of depravity and evil depicted here is staggering. Every character is despicable or should I say, every male character, except Javier Falcon, is loathsome, sordid and abhorrent. After a while I could almost picture the characters with an evil laugh while twirling their mustaches! After a while it just loses its impact.
Still, Robert Wilson pulls it off. If you stick with it, the book does provide you with some thought provoking moments and a highly compelling character that is never actually in the book. I'm talking about Javier´s father, Francisco Falcon. As Javier reads his diaries we go through his most inner thoughts, through his life in the Foreign Legion, the fighting in the Spanish civil war, in WW2, the atrocities, the pain and suffering and the sordid life of Tangier with its forbidden pleasures. Its a fascinating journey and the book´s main asset. We get to know this man, far better than Javier, even bond with him, in his struggles as an artist, father and husband and we see as his personality changes over time, as his urges take over, the depravity, hate, in essence life, shapes him into the man behind “the mask” of the famous painter. Its fascinating and here, in the diaries excerpts, Robert Wilson really shines in his writing. Its a triumph and I would say the book is worth if only for these pages. Seville is also wonderfully brought to life, the city itself a character and a pleasure to experience through Wilson´s glorious descriptions.
The ending of the book is also magnificent. Its powerful and heart-breaking and hits you hard in the stomach. Its a fabulous climax that ends the book on a high and makes you wonder if with a few touches, “The Blind Man of Seville” could have been something truly special. As it stands, its an average thriller with a good story underneath it and a sublime look into a character and his life journey. Its a cruel and harsh insight at the darker side of man, the depths of depravity and evil and how in the end... we´re all just animals after all and you never truly know anyone, even your own father. It takes perseverance by the reader but there´s a really good book here, if you dig deep enough.
August 3, 2016
Robert Wilson’s intricate noir thriller ‘The Blind Man of Seville’ constantly reminded me of the classic detective novels of the 1940’s with their subtle complexities, solid storylines and in-depth characters. This is not the sort of read you can expect to finish in a few sittings. Its phrases and protagonists incite a need to bite deep into the scenes author Wilson creates, to taste the flavours of Seville in the early twenty-first century and Tangier in the ‘fifties, along with the fino and tapas that form an important part of his detective’s diet.
Rather than being just a police procedural, as we follow Homicide Chief Javier Falcón’s investigation of a particularly gruesome murder, we will quickly discover the tale is more about solving the mystery in the detective’s mind. The lagoons in his memory, consequences of the strife and trauma that underscores his hidden history, impose a challenging profundity to the tale. They do, in fact, assume greater importance than the police investigation, as the bodies start to pile up and a highly original serial killer closes the distance to the murder investigator.
The novel evidences an enormous amount of research and a familiarity with places and themes that permeate every page, kudos to Wilson’s skill as a writer. This is an outstanding novel I thoroughly recommend.
Rather than being just a police procedural, as we follow Homicide Chief Javier Falcón’s investigation of a particularly gruesome murder, we will quickly discover the tale is more about solving the mystery in the detective’s mind. The lagoons in his memory, consequences of the strife and trauma that underscores his hidden history, impose a challenging profundity to the tale. They do, in fact, assume greater importance than the police investigation, as the bodies start to pile up and a highly original serial killer closes the distance to the murder investigator.
The novel evidences an enormous amount of research and a familiarity with places and themes that permeate every page, kudos to Wilson’s skill as a writer. This is an outstanding novel I thoroughly recommend.
August 15, 2013
3.5 stars.
Totally Unputtable thriller, a bit too dark, a bit too long, but overall quit enjoyable in a way the good thrillers are. The author is the master of creating the atmosphere of the place. In this novel it is Modern Sevile and Spanish morocco straight after the war. It attempts to deal with quite profound themes like courage facing unknowns in your past and taking responsibility for your actions, but I more enjoyed it on the level of the plot and atmosphere.
It is my second novel by this author and I think that the third one would be already a bit too familiar in style. Still good read if you have time to spare.
Totally Unputtable thriller, a bit too dark, a bit too long, but overall quit enjoyable in a way the good thrillers are. The author is the master of creating the atmosphere of the place. In this novel it is Modern Sevile and Spanish morocco straight after the war. It attempts to deal with quite profound themes like courage facing unknowns in your past and taking responsibility for your actions, but I more enjoyed it on the level of the plot and atmosphere.
It is my second novel by this author and I think that the third one would be already a bit too familiar in style. Still good read if you have time to spare.
May 21, 2014
Bom... o que dizer deste livro?
Gostei bastante mas nao tanto como "O Ultimo acto em Lx".
Acho que o livro é muito extenso, apesar de estar mto bem escrito. A inclusao dos diarios do pai pelo meio da trama está mto bem conseguida.
Como detective nao posso dizer que tenha gostado muito do Javier Falcon, o gajo por vezes torna-se um bocado deprimente :(
Nao tenho o 2º livro da Saga, pode ser que encontre pela feira do livro. Os livros do RW sao um bocado carotes...
Gostei bastante mas nao tanto como "O Ultimo acto em Lx".
Acho que o livro é muito extenso, apesar de estar mto bem escrito. A inclusao dos diarios do pai pelo meio da trama está mto bem conseguida.
Como detective nao posso dizer que tenha gostado muito do Javier Falcon, o gajo por vezes torna-se um bocado deprimente :(
Nao tenho o 2º livro da Saga, pode ser que encontre pela feira do livro. Os livros do RW sao um bocado carotes...
March 1, 2019
I got into the reading of this book, especially because I live in Seville. I think that Wilson tries to pack too much information about the city in a superficial way. Naming streets and celebrations without getting in depth. Nonetheless I found it engaging and somber. It's not an uplifting book. I have mix feelings with this book, since I couldn't stop reading it but I can't say I "enjoyed" it.
May 2, 2018
Um bom policial/thriller. Violento, a 2 ritmos, já que o autor tem de recuar no tempo algumas vezes para construir história de modo à personagem principal poder juntar as peças. Absorvente.
July 25, 2021
Violent, at times macabre, and depressing in its portrayal of Seville as a city in the grip of hysteria.
The Franco era and WW2 background in Tangier was interesting but I found it too long over-all.
The Franco era and WW2 background in Tangier was interesting but I found it too long over-all.
January 21, 2020
Ao melhor estilo de Robert Wilson; vai-nos prendendo com o suspense, as personagens intrigantes, as descrições de locais enigmáticos, como Sevilha e Tânger.
Daqueles que nos atraem para descobrir os segredos por trás de cada persona e o desenlace final a ser absorvido a cada linha.
Daqueles que nos atraem para descobrir os segredos por trás de cada persona e o desenlace final a ser absorvido a cada linha.
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