Carlos Ruiz Zafón's The Shadow of the Wind is the strangest kind of book in the most satisfying of ways, because it's many types of books, all rolled into one. It's a love story; it's historical fiction; it's a crime thriller; it's a mystery. And overall, I found it completely magical.
In Barcelona, 1945, wounds from the Spanish Civil War are still fresh. The city has a gothic fog hanging over it which creates the perfect aura of mystery and turmoil for Zafón's tale. Daniel is the son of an antique bookseller. His mother has passed away, and he finds solace in a mysterious book found on a trip with his father to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. The book in question is called The Shadow of the Wind by a little-known author named Julian Carax. As Daniel begins a quest to find other books by Carax, he stumbles upon a bit of a mystery—someone has been destroying every copy of every book by Carax.
I really can't conclude this summary in a more gripping manner than the back cover blurb:
"Soon Daniel's seemingly innocent quest opens a door into one of Barcelona's darkest secrets - an epic story of murder, madness, and doomed love."
The pacing of this story is slow...twisting and turning in a delightful, delectable manner. We're learning as Daniel learns, growing as Daniel grows, discovering as Daniel discovers. We're experiencing the story through Daniel's eyes, but we're also getting to know Daniel. That's what this book is so good at—creating an intimacy with all the characters that you're aching to know what happens next, how they end up. We have this main character, Daniel, whose life has become so entwined with Julian Carax, a character we (and Daniel) only know through stories. And as Daniel fords through adolescence and learns more about Julian, their lives begin to parallel until their stories reach the same moment of truth, asking a bigger question of all—will our next decision determine the outcome or is it only a matter of fate?
But on top of this character study, we also have this thriller, this gothic mystery, dragging us along and slowly unraveling. The mystery is never too convoluted to understand and the outcome never too outrageous to predict. You're not just following one story; as I said earlier, this isn't a straightforward novel, and the subplots engage while revealing clues to the main story.
I hesitate to go into too much depth about this story here, because I don't want to give any spoilers to those of you who haven't read it. Even I avoided my usual concurrent Google searches while reading, because I didn't want to spoil a thing. Therefore, you're just going to have to listen to my recommendation and take note of my enthusiasm. [However, if you've read and are itching to discuss, comment away!]
I don't want to recommend this as a "beach read" because it has much more substance that what that label generally denotes. But in reality, it is the perfect beach read, because it's easy and gratifying and you'll be hooked to the blanket long enough to get a sweet tan.
7 comments:
Oh, I have to admit, when I read this book a few years ago, I did not care for it at all. I thought the story was fine, but the writing drove me absolutely bananas. I thought it was so schlocky, and was willing to chalk it up to a bad translation, but then a bunch of people confirmed that they had found the writing to be atrocious in non-English versions as well. Maybe I just went in expecting too much, but this was a book I probably would have been better off not finishing, because I felt it just got worse and worse, the more I read!
Steph, your opinion doesn't surprise me. As much as I loved this book, I've heard polar opposite opinions from close bookish friends who have read it—some love, some hate, but never a 'so-so'.
I didn't take note of the language; it didn't really strike me as being one thing of another. Rather, it was the pacing that I most noticed and what I thought really added a lot to the story for me.
I thought the plot of this one was sort of complicated, but I agree it was really good!
I loved this book! The third in the series is coming out in July, I believe, and I'm very excited about it as it focuses more on Fermin, who was one of my favorite characters :-)
I adored this book. And the library...*swoon.* I had issues with the next one, though...it got pretty convoluted.
There are more?? I had no idea!
I love your descriptions of this book, and I felt much the same way about The Angel's Game. I don't know if it's part of the series that Aarti mentioned, but there are overlapping elements-Barcelona, The Cemetary of Forgotten Books-I definitely want to go back and read Shadow of the Wind now!
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