It is midnight in Barcelona, in the Fifties, and the story begins with a memorable description of the city , giving you the right mood to enjoy the fascinating plot you are going to read. ********** THE PLOT ********** Daniel is a young boy that lives alone with his father after his mother's death, some years ago. He tries to overcome this sad event with his imagination. One night, his father shows him a secret place where there are piles of forgotten books, "the cemetery of the forgotten books", and encourages him to choose one of them. The aim is to look after it and prevent it from being lost.He will be the keeper of this book.
Daniel choose "the shadow of the wind", not because he has pondered over it, but he feels that the book is calling him.
He read the book, an after that he become fascinated by the author, Julián de Carax, and he tries to know everything about him. What he finds in his search is almost disturbing. And then he begins his own trekking around the world of Carax and he gets involved in the Carax life in an amazing way.
As Ruiz Zafón says about his own novel, "this is a mystery, thriller, and adventures book that takes place in the Fifties in Barcelona". But I will add that it takes place just in the gaslighted streets at night, you will never see the people walking around before the sunset. The way you perceive people at night is different, then their
little miseries are highlighted. All the characters in this novel are "losers", and the ones who are not social misfits, are extremely merciless, only the women appear to me surrounded by a golden aura, as if they were the redemption for this men. In fact this is a very strong love story because you'll come to the conclusion that love is the feeling that saves us from death and from the misery of our own lives. The decadence feeling is all around, men who pass through life with the only hope to survive.They don't walk, they slither through life as if they were carrying very heavy loads, while Barcelona is falling down from its previous golden age.You will see a house in ruins in the heights of the Tibidabo hill, one of the main settings for the more thrillering passages in the novel. As you can deduce from my words, a decadent, depressing, and melancholic atmosphere. Daniel tries to come to age in this hopeless world. Are you wondering if he will achieve his purpose?
**************************** THE WORLD OF RUIZ ZAFÓN ****************************
I must to insist in the world that Ruiz Zafón show us. A cruel , harsh world, where you have to put all your efforts to remaing clean from its roughness.The beginning of the story, when the main character is a kid, show us the way he manages to grow up in a world that gave him such a cold reception. As Ruiz Zafón himself says , the books cemetery represents the destruction of our history an memories. I also think we need to know the past to create our future.
**************************** THE SHADOW OF ROMANTICISM ****************************
"The shadow of the wind" reminds me of the romantic writers of the nineteenth century, where love was related to death and gloomy sceneries.I love the way it is written, and the atmosphere Ruiz Zafón creates with his words.He show us a misty , in black and white Barcelona, during the postwar period.The language he uses is full of poetry.The plot is also very addictive,they are always searching for a misteryous Julian Carax very difficult to find and understand. But in every chapter, you know a little bit more about his strange behavior , and you understand more why he was acting like this.You cannot stop reading , something thrilling is going to happen next chapter, that maybe will reveal us something new about Carax life.
Maybe there is some explicit violence that I didn´t like very much , despite I understand it helps to create such a gothic story.
**************************** THE WRITER ****************************
I will introduce you to the author, Carlos Ruiz Zafón. He was born in Barcelona in 1964. He studied journalism and worked as a creative manager in an advertising agency. He left this job to write novels for young people and children. After his marriage, he settled in Los Angeles to work as a scriptwriter for the film industry, that is his current job. "The Shadow of the wind" is his first novel for adult people.
**************************** THE WEBSITE ****************************
The novel has been awarded throughout the world and has its own website, www.lasombradelviento.net. I hope you will enjoy it . I suggest that you look at the link called " los escenarios" , where you can see the scenery where the novel is set.
**************************** THE CHARACTERS ****************************
I don't want to tell you a lot about the characters in this novel, I prefer you to find out all about them gradually, as it is shown in the novel. The characters are very believable and well developed.I just show you a very small picture of them.
DANIEL SEMPERE: The son of a bookseller and the main character.He is a lonely boy surrounded by adult people.
JULIÁN CARAX: A forgotten writer, son of a hatter . His whereabouts are unknown , he was last seen in París, living badly.
GUSTAVO BARCELÓ: One of the most famous booksellers in the city, he says he is a descendant of Lord Byron.
FERMÍN ROMERO DE TORRES: A beggar that helps Daniel , not only in his search for Carax but also bringing him his vast experience in life. He and Daniel, in fact ,are opposite characters, whilst Daniel stands for the youth and the innocence, the other one does the same for the wisdom of the ancients.
There are more characters, but I prefer to keep them secretly, not to spoil the reading, I can only tell you that even the Devil has been seen through its pages.
*********** ***********
One of the most remarkable thing about this book is that both critics and readers came to an agreement with it. The book arrived at the bookshops with a very poor marketing campaign, and the word of mouth did the rest to make it a bestseller.
***********
Finally, I think Stephen King's words can sum up what I'm telling you:
"If you thought the true gothic novel died with the 19th century, this will change your mind. Shadow is the real deal....Be warned, you have to be a romantic at heart to appreciate this stuff, but if you are, this is one gorgeous read." Stephen King, Entertainment Weekly
*********** WHO CAN READ IT ***********
The story has some explicit scenes of sex and violence, though it is only recommended for adult people despite I think teenagers can read it. - you'll be fascinated if you knew the kind of books I read when I was in my teens! - .
*********** WHERE TO FIND IT ***********
You can find this book at Amazon store, the price is £6.59. For those of you who dare read it in spanish you can try http://www.casadellibro.com/.They deliver to almost all the world. You can even find it on EBAY from less than a pound!
Have a nice reading!
Pictures of The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Carlos Ruiz Zafón sorrounded by books
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Your analysis of the themes in the book is worth an E alone ... I never noticed how much of the book is set at night time, when no one is around, amongst other things. I see the themes in a different light now. A beautiful, romantic novel, the translation is superb.
Newboy3 22.10.2006 03:37
A most interesting review. I must get round to reading the book. ~ Tony
kalimero 22.10.2006 01:52
i didn´t know about this book and this author,but it´s again another well writing review.Congratulations!
Advantages: fantastic plot that's put together, many characters seemingly unimportant, very dramatic Disadvantages: At first, the language might be hard to read and becomes a chore, perhaps a bit long.
Advantages: Gripping plot, interesting period of history (to me) Disadvantages: Poor characterisation, repetitive writing, assumes in depth knowledge of period
Sep 30th, 2006
(Oct 18th, 2006)
exceptional by (3%):
very helpful by (98%):
