Pan's Labyrinth The Labyrinth of the Faun

Cornelia Funke, Guillermo del Toro — 2019

THE SUNDAY TIMES AND NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER This enthralling novel, inspired by the 2006 film, illustrates that fantasy is the sharpest tool to explore the terrors and miracles of the human heart You shouldn't come in here. You could get lost. It has happened before. I'll tell you the story one day, if you want to hear it. In fairy tales, there are men and there are wolves, there are beasts and dead parents, there are girls and forests. Ofelia knows all this, like any young woman with a head full of stories. And she sees right away what the Capitán is, in his immaculate uniform, boots and gloves, smiling: a wolf. But nothing can prepare her for the fevered reality of the Capitán's eerie house, in the midst of a dense forest which conceals many things: half-remembered stories of lost babies; renegade resistance fighters hiding from the army; a labyrinth; beasts and fairies. There is no one to keep Ofelia safe as the labyrinth beckons her into her own story, where the monstrous and the human are inextricable, where myths pulse with living blood ...

Reviews

Megan McMillan@angelgrove

Dec 17, 2021

✨ Book Review ✨ I simply HAVE to talk about this book, whilst I have been a huge fan of the movie for years I picked up this book being hesitant that it was a novelisation. However, I was proved SO wrong. The movie is a Spanish/Mexican movie, so I have always had to watch it with subtitles, and whilst I understood the basis of the movie, after reading the book I understand and appreciate it SO much more. The book delves into the history of the labyrinth and talks about the story behind the story of Ofelia, and the origins of the Faun. It’s so delicately written and is exciting and adventurous also! This is definitely a 10/10 for me, and I don’t have many of them.

Chaya Vervaecke@chaya_v

Oct 21, 2021

Beautiful, sad and unpredictable

Laura Springall@bookishlifeoflaura

Oct 18, 2021

I need to watch the film again ASAP! Pan's Labyrinth is one of my favourite movies of all time, so when I heard it was being adapted into a novel, words could not describe my excitement. Del Toro and Funke did not disappoint! The novel adaptation provides a wonderfully fresh take on the beloved film, filling in details and giving side character so much more depth by telling things from their perspective. I especially enjoyed the mini fairytales between the chapters that told the tales of the witch, the Faun, and the bookmaker. All of the stories were fantastic, but those three were my favourites. I listened to the audiobook while reading along with a physical copy, which I would definitely recommend. The illustrations are stunning and the narrator did an incredible job. I will definitely be going back to reread/listen to this for years to come.

Mark Anderson@markedasread

May 20, 2023

Micchi von Cross@micchisaurus

Dec 6, 2021