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 …
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.
(front flap)
Uno de esos libros que van despacio, pero están escritos con un trazo inolvidable. Marcados quedarán por siempre muchos de estos personajes en mi memoria.
Es una historia auténtica, y creo que apta para cualquier amante de la literatura.
Si tenéis la oportunidad, el audiolibro de Jordi Boixaderas será un acompañante magnífico en vuestros diarios viajes al trabajo.
Beautifully written -- an intricate tale of love, passion, revenge, kindness, forgiveness -- the gamut of human emotions and reactions. this is a book to be savored.
This is a pretty good mystery and period novel set in post war Barcelona. I think I found this as a recommendation because I read The Club Dumas. This is different but if you liked that this is worth a try.
I read the author's other book, "The Angel's Game," before I read "The Shadow Of The Wind," and I'm glad I did, because, although "The Angel's Game" was published seven years later, it covers the events that chronologically happen before "The Shadow Of The Wind." So, when the story opens with a boy Daniel and his father mourning the death of their mother and wife, the character who was never more than a memory in the book, I felt like I knew her, having read the other book in which she features prominently. Reading out of order was a fortunate mistake, because it reacquainted me to Barcelona I left in "The Angel's Game" and some characters I was already familiar with.
Zafon masterfully waves his spider net of intrigue, mystery, and old secrets which are being dug out, one detail at a time, by Daniel, the bookseller's son. There's love, …
I read the author's other book, "The Angel's Game," before I read "The Shadow Of The Wind," and I'm glad I did, because, although "The Angel's Game" was published seven years later, it covers the events that chronologically happen before "The Shadow Of The Wind." So, when the story opens with a boy Daniel and his father mourning the death of their mother and wife, the character who was never more than a memory in the book, I felt like I knew her, having read the other book in which she features prominently. Reading out of order was a fortunate mistake, because it reacquainted me to Barcelona I left in "The Angel's Game" and some characters I was already familiar with.
Zafon masterfully waves his spider net of intrigue, mystery, and old secrets which are being dug out, one detail at a time, by Daniel, the bookseller's son. There's love, passion and crime, but although there are hints to supernatural, everything was at the end clearly explained. The narrative is engaging from the first sentence and the characters come alive. I felt like I knew them personally.
One thing that makes me like this book less than it's sequel-prequel is the detailed histories of certain buildings where the plot was unfolding. Although it was interesting to read how a certain villa came about, it slowed the plot somewhat, and I found myself wishing the author would hurry back to the present time and continue with the several threads of the story he dangled before my nose like a carrot.
Overall, a wonderful bittersweet story that makes you wish to read it all over the moment you turn the last page.
The Cemetary of Forgotten Books is one of the most romantic concepts I've come across in quite awhile, and it is in this fantastic place that a young Daniel Sempere finds a book written by Julien Carax called The Shadow of the Wind, and vows to protect it forever.
However, there is a mysterious man lurking about who is on a mission to burn every one of Carax's novels, and is trying to intimidate Daniel into giving up his copy. As Daniel becomes obsessed with learning more about the author, his life starts to parallel Carax's. What his research unearths about Carax's life, and the consequences it has for himself and others, unfolds beautifully in this nicely-paced, intriguing mystery.
I also enjoyed the smokey atmosphere of the book and the intrigue that surrounded the lives of the previous generation. The use of flashback, and the parallel stories of two generations …
The Cemetary of Forgotten Books is one of the most romantic concepts I've come across in quite awhile, and it is in this fantastic place that a young Daniel Sempere finds a book written by Julien Carax called The Shadow of the Wind, and vows to protect it forever.
However, there is a mysterious man lurking about who is on a mission to burn every one of Carax's novels, and is trying to intimidate Daniel into giving up his copy. As Daniel becomes obsessed with learning more about the author, his life starts to parallel Carax's. What his research unearths about Carax's life, and the consequences it has for himself and others, unfolds beautifully in this nicely-paced, intriguing mystery.
I also enjoyed the smokey atmosphere of the book and the intrigue that surrounded the lives of the previous generation. The use of flashback, and the parallel stories of two generations reminded me somewhat of Wuthering Heights; the previous generation was doomed, but the next generation...that's all I should say.
Some readers may find the ending a bit predictable, but the motivations behind the actions in this story are not predictable.
