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.
This book almost lost me at times when its melodramatic soap opera feel was at peak levels, but characters like Fermin Romero de Torres helped keep things satisfying. Fermin forever :).
MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD Normally I give books that others have reviewed well but are clearly not the right kind of book for me at least three stars because they at least accomplish what they set out to do, even if I question the point of doing it. The book, however…. I can’t. First, I don’t know what it wants to do. Second, it feels like trauma/misery porn, mostly not in a way that’s useful. Third, the unrelenting sexism goes way beyond acknowledging a period specific reality. I don’t know why it’s so constant. There is no good reason for it. Add to the the absolutely terrible pacing and general lack of purpose to things like parallels between characters, I’m not sure the book even deserves two stars by my usual rating system. There are moments where the writing is good enough to justify the extra star, though. I can’t imagine …
MINOR SPOILERS AHEAD Normally I give books that others have reviewed well but are clearly not the right kind of book for me at least three stars because they at least accomplish what they set out to do, even if I question the point of doing it. The book, however…. I can’t. First, I don’t know what it wants to do. Second, it feels like trauma/misery porn, mostly not in a way that’s useful. Third, the unrelenting sexism goes way beyond acknowledging a period specific reality. I don’t know why it’s so constant. There is no good reason for it. Add to the the absolutely terrible pacing and general lack of purpose to things like parallels between characters, I’m not sure the book even deserves two stars by my usual rating system. There are moments where the writing is good enough to justify the extra star, though. I can’t imagine recommending it to anyone.
Un auténtico novelón. Una historia muy bien trabajada y me ha emocionado mucho. Me quedo con esta reflexión que he extraído de este libro: "Todo amor prohibido, si perserveras y luchas por él, es felicidad eterna."
This novel has "dozens" of twists, turns, mysteries, and intrigues. The characters are hateful, endearing, mysterious, caring and...
I was shocked, horrified and engrossed by the story. This is truly a masterful tale. It is not a tale for the feint of heart, but it is one to thoughtfully explore. Enjoy.
4/5: This book was a page turner for me. It's a combination of mystery and love story in a very well written language. I really appreciated the setting: The book plays in Barcelona of the 50's which is described with great detail, so that the reader has always a picture of it before its inner eye while following the protagonist through the city. Another aspect that really catched my attention was about spains civil war and its political impact. After reading the book I had the same feeling when looking a good fantasy movie. While you are in it you love it, but when you think about it you discover many coincidences that make the story not authentic. But I don't think that matters too much, because while reading I never felt like that. Instead i always wanted to continue reading. Therefore, a 4/5 seems like a good rating for …
4/5: This book was a page turner for me. It's a combination of mystery and love story in a very well written language. I really appreciated the setting: The book plays in Barcelona of the 50's which is described with great detail, so that the reader has always a picture of it before its inner eye while following the protagonist through the city. Another aspect that really catched my attention was about spains civil war and its political impact. After reading the book I had the same feeling when looking a good fantasy movie. While you are in it you love it, but when you think about it you discover many coincidences that make the story not authentic. But I don't think that matters too much, because while reading I never felt like that. Instead i always wanted to continue reading. Therefore, a 4/5 seems like a good rating for me :)
Review of 'Der Schatten des Windes' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Ohne jemals in Barcelona gewesen zu sein, waren die Orte in Der Schatten des Windes gut vorstellbar beschrieben. Besonders hat es mir natürlich der Buchladen angetan.
Ein paar lose Fäden haben sich mir noch nicht erschlossen, vermutlich sollte ich das Buch irgendwann ein zweites, drittes Mal lesen, um tiefer in die Verstrickungen einzutauchen.
Da historische Romane nicht wirklich eines meiner bevorzugten Genres sind, ganz im Gegenteil, habe ich nicht zu viel erwartet, bin aber doch positiv überrascht.
This novel was recently chosen by my book club, and while I read it in 2014, I remembered very little and decided to re-read it. I soon remembered what made it so forgettable: It’s an entertaining, plot-driven whodunnit that would probably make a good movie, but it doesn’t have the lasting “oomph” of great literature. The last 10% or so descends Into a tough-to-believe gothic romance, with levels of melodrama that quickly become tiresome. I raced through it, eager to get to the next twist in the plot or resolution of a story-within-a-story, but as soon as it was finished, I mostly forgot it again.
FIRST READ:
I feel like if I had read this book when I was 20, it would have been one of my lifelong favorites. But as an adult, I find the page-turner of a mystery to be overshadowed by the lack of realism …
SECOND READ:
This novel was recently chosen by my book club, and while I read it in 2014, I remembered very little and decided to re-read it. I soon remembered what made it so forgettable: It’s an entertaining, plot-driven whodunnit that would probably make a good movie, but it doesn’t have the lasting “oomph” of great literature. The last 10% or so descends Into a tough-to-believe gothic romance, with levels of melodrama that quickly become tiresome. I raced through it, eager to get to the next twist in the plot or resolution of a story-within-a-story, but as soon as it was finished, I mostly forgot it again.
FIRST READ:
I feel like if I had read this book when I was 20, it would have been one of my lifelong favorites. But as an adult, I find the page-turner of a mystery to be overshadowed by the lack of realism in the characters. Everyone in this book is driven by a single aspect of his or her personality or history, which never loses its power over him or her, even though the story spans decades. That's just not how humans work! But if you accept the elements of fantasy and just focus on enjoying the story, it's an entertaining read, although I think it might work better as a movie rather than a book. It also prompted me to learn more about the Spanish Civil War, which provides an interesting backdrop.
Al final ha acabado gustandome, la historia esta bien y es bastante entretenida. Aunque tengo que reconocer que me ha costado un poco engancharme al principio. Lo que mas me gusta es que es de esos libros que no puedes dejar de leer hasta que lo acabas.
