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The Shadow of the Wind

By Carlos Ruiz Zafon

(369)

| Paperback | 9780753820254

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Book Description

The international literary sensation-a runaway bestseller in Spain, rights sold in more than 20 countries-about a boy's quest through the secrets and shadows of postwar Barcelona for a mysterious author whose book has proved as dangerous to own as it is impossible to forget.

Barcelona, 1945-just after the war, a great world city lies in shadow, nursing its wounds, and a boy named Daniel awakes on his eleventh birthday to find that he can no longer remember his mother's face. To console his only child, Daniel's widowed father, an antiquarian book dealer, initiates him into the secret of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a library tended by Barcelona's guild of rare-book dealers as a repository for books forgotten by the world, waiting for someone who will care about them again. Daniel's father coaxes him to choose a volume from the spiraling labyrinth of shelves, one that, it is said, will have a special meaning for him. And Daniel so loves the novel he selects, The Shadow of the Wind by one Julian Carax, that he sets out to find the rest of Carax's work. To his shock, he discovers that someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book this author has written. In fact, he may have the last one in existence. Before Daniel knows it his seemingly innocent quest has opened a door into one of Barcelona's darkest secrets, an epic story of murder, magic, madness and doomed love. And before long he realizes that if he doesn't find out the truth about Julian Carax, he and those closest to him will suffer horribly.

As with all astounding novels, The Shadow of the Wind sends the mind groping for comparisons-The Crimson Petal and the White? The novels of Arturo Pérez-Reverte? Of Victor Hugo? Love in the Time of Cholera?-but in the end, as with all astounding novels, no comparison can suffice. As one leading Spanish reviewer wrote, "The originality of Ruiz Zafón's voice is bombproof and displays a diabolical talent. The Shadow of the Wind announces a phenomenon in Spanish literature." An uncannily absorbing historical mystery, a heart-piercing romance, and a moving homage to the mystical power of books, The Shadow of the Wind is a triumph of the storyteller's art.

Critics

Under the dictator

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, translated by Lucia Graves 416pp, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, £12.99 In an age of unrelenting austerity, any touch of luxury can stir the soul; a brandname has a poetry all its own. And when a society is, like ... (read full critics)

guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

Barça loner

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón Weidenfeld & Nicolson £12.99, pp403 Buried in the back streets of Barcelona lies the Cemetery of Lost Books - a mausoleum for out-of-print works, salvaged by the bibliophiles of the city. There, 10-year-old ... (read full critics)

guardian.co.uk published on Sat, 25 Sep 2010

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24 Reviews

2 people find this helpful

Much more than a thriller it appears to be.

Some compares it as a potboiler like the DaVinci Code, which is terribly unfair. I am not much tempted to know the ending - or, to be precise, the cause of all the strange incidents - rather than that, I just want to read the boy's heart. They say the story is invented but the sentiment must be true ... (continue)

Some compares it as a potboiler like the DaVinci Code, which is terribly unfair. I am not much tempted to know the ending - or, to be precise, the cause of all the strange incidents - rather than that, I just want to read the boy's heart. They say the story is invented but the sentiment must be true. I couldn't drop the book since Daniel, our hero, forgot his mother's face all in a sudden; how he encounters a beauty and spends several years just to adorn her; how he enters the lives of others to discover fate under the guise of coincidence. Sometimes the book makes me tremble and weep - the bittersweetness in life is just too powerful.
(a very impressive) official site:
http://www.lasombradelviento.net/
(click 'los escenarios' on the bar)

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fruit said on Apr 14, 2007 | Add your feedback

1 person find this helpful

A memorable plot, fantastic characters, excellent dialogues and a poetic setting make this one of the best books I've ever read.
All this decorated by a sublime and harmonious writing style.
You'll feel part of the story from the beginning and you will be unable to put the book down. And you'll fee ... (continue)

A memorable plot, fantastic characters, excellent dialogues and a poetic setting make this one of the best books I've ever read.
All this decorated by a sublime and harmonious writing style.
You'll feel part of the story from the beginning and you will be unable to put the book down. And you'll feel so attached to the characters that you will sadden or rejoice with them.
A supreme book.

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RickyV said on Jan 29, 2011 | Add your feedback

1 person find this helpful

I have owned this book since 2006 and I have absolutely no idea why it has taken so long for it to reach the top of Mt TBR. It is a very successful title of the last decade and has been mentioned in more than one top ten list. In fact reading one of these lists recently I realised that this was one ... (continue)

I have owned this book since 2006 and I have absolutely no idea why it has taken so long for it to reach the top of Mt TBR. It is a very successful title of the last decade and has been mentioned in more than one top ten list. In fact reading one of these lists recently I realised that this was one of only three titles on such a list that I had not read! Lovereading - Books of the Decade Two of the unread titles I already had in my possession of which this is one and the third I have now obtained, so I will very soon have read all ten titles which were voted as amongst the best of the decade.
I was rather surprised when I looked on Amazon to see that there are already 459 reviews published there, of which 299 are five star ones. There are a handful of reviews from readers that did not like the novel but they are insignificant when a novel is as popular as this one I imagine.
It certainly deserves its place amongst the top ten titles of the last decade as I think this is destined to become a classic of the future.
What can I possible say about it that is original and has not already been said so many times before. A truly brilliant novel covering several genres, romance, mystery and comedy with a really good story to get your self involved in. Carlos Ruis Zafon definitely knows the art of good story telling.
In brief then the protagonist is Daniel Sempre a young man who grows up feeling that, to quote from the text, 'Mysteries must be solved, one must find out what they hide.' Also quoting ' It is a story of love, of hatred and of dreams that live in the shadow of the wind.' The story starts in the summer of 1945, when ten year old Daniel ,whose mother has recently died is taken to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books by his father, where he is allowed to choose himself a special book to keep.
Daniel chooses 'The Shadow of the Wind' by Julian Carax, which he reads and enjoys, then as he is growing up he wants to learn more about this mysterious author. Mysterious because no one seems to know much about him! Unwittingly he has got involved in a mystery that he will not only become obsessed with solving, but will also lead him to the love of his life. As he begins to solve the mystery what started out as a young boys curiosity turns nasty, even murder as Daniels life becomes strangely interlinked with that of Julian Carax. Twists and turns all the way with a very satisfactory ending because the author brings us up to date with the characters lives after the mystery is solved.
A fact worth mentioning, if you do not already know it, is that this is the first novel Carlos Ruiz Zafron has had published. I can't wait to read the next one!
Another bonus for me of this novel is the setting in Barcelona which the author brings to life really well. Also included at the end of the edition I read was a supplement, A walk in the footsteps of 'The Shadow of the Wind' which is designed to tell the reader more about the setting of the novel in Barcelona.
All I need to do now then is to suggest to my husband that we take a weekend break to Barcelona sometime and highly recommend the novel to any of you that have not already read it.
For photos and author info please visit my main website
http://lindyloumacbookreviews.blogspot.com/
Thankyou

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Lindyloumac said on Jul 10, 2010 | Add your feedback

A fantastic book written in a beautiful style that is tainted only by a cliche ending.

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placidinferno said on Nov 25, 2011 | Add your feedback

Coming of age in pre-war Barcelona

Compelling thriller set in Barcelona in the early 1900, the search of the misterious author of a book drags young Daniel in a whirl of death, crime and misterious characters that will trigger his coming of age. All the characters depicted with humor and the locations of Barcelona described with poet ... (continue)

Compelling thriller set in Barcelona in the early 1900, the search of the misterious author of a book drags young Daniel in a whirl of death, crime and misterious characters that will trigger his coming of age. All the characters depicted with humor and the locations of Barcelona described with poetic accuracy! A must that anyone should read

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yellowred69 said on Jan 20, 2011 | Add your feedback

This is a well rounded story, mystery, romance,lots of twists..all in all a good read.

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Lgpitre said on Aug 26, 2010 | Add your feedback