Tuesday 4 March 2014

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

The Shadow of the Wind had been sitting on my bookshelf for years. I bought it back in 2005, because so many of my friends and family were loving it.  This book came highly recommended from no less than five different people, and that's ultimately the reason why I didn't read it for so long.  I kept hearing how amazing it was, and later on it drew comparisons to novels I love, like The Historian, and I thought there was no way it would be able to live up to my expectations.  So it languished on my shelf for many a year, until I started my TBR challenge in January and decided that enough was enough; The Shadow of the Wind was going to get read!

In the opening pages, Daniel is taken by his father to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books in Barcelona, and told that he can choose just one book to take away.  Daniel chooses The Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax, and falls in love with the story immediately.  But as the years pass, Daniel notices that others are obsessed with Carax and his novels too, and that events from the story are starting to blur with real life.  With the help of his friend Fermin, who is recovering from being tortured during the Spanish Civil War, Daniel embarks on a quest to uncover the mystery surrounding Fermin.

The Shadow of the Wind is an enjoyable book.  It's fast paced and full of unexpected twists and turns, that will keep you guessing.  I thought I had several elements of the book worked out, only for Zafon to turn things on their head and surprise me yet again.  The whole ending section came as a shock, and I love it when that happens, as it makes the reading experience that bit more gripping.  The gothic atmosphere of twentieth century Barcelona is wonderful, and there's just a hint of magic pervading the whole novel, which makes it a delight to read.

Ultimately, The Shadow of the Wind suffers from having an amazing opening section, that the rest of the book can't quite live up to.  The passages where Daniel visits the Cemetery of Forgotten Books are just wonderful, full of the joy of reading.  I could spend hours just imagining the kind of books that I might find there;

"A labyrinth of passage-ways and crammed bookshelves rose from base to pinnacle like a beehive, woven with tunnels, steps, platforms and bridges that presaged an immense library of seemingly impossible geometry."

Although the rest of the novel is very good, there's nothing quite like that opening chapter, and this is the part I will remember in the future. Consequently, I felt a bit let down by the rest of the story.  Another issue I had is that the middle section felt bloated compared to the middle and end, as the mystery develops more slowly. Sometimes I found it hard to keep track of all the different characters, especially as Daniel and Carax's lives began to parallel.  Their love stories in particular were very similar, and I kept getting the two ladies confused, as they may as well have been one person.

I'm glad that I finally read The Shadow of the Wind.  It's a magical book full of twists and turns, that is sure to please anyone who likes gothic fiction.  It's not earned a place amongst my favourites, but it was a very enjoyable way to spend a few evenings.

Source: Personal copy
First Published: In Spanish, 2002
Score: 4 out of 5
TBR 2014: Book 2/12

12 comments:

  1. Looks like the TBR challenge project is going very well for you, Sam. :)

    I am super excited to read The Shadow of the Wind myself in April!

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    1. 2 books read from the TBR project in 2 months, I'm pleased with that :)
      Hope you enjoy Shadow of the Wind!

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  2. I really enjoyed The shadow of the wind, but I have the two other books still in my TBR pile. Reading this again makes me think I need to read those two as well, and soon!

    Kind regards,

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    1. Even though I enjoyed this book, I'm not going to rush to read the other two. It worked very well as a stand-a-lone.

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  3. I had this one recommended by an ex-boyfriend who well, eventually let me down in ways I couldn't imagine. He was so keen on me reading this book and the idea of romantic love that it portrays that I never got to read it. I tried 3 times, but it didn't work for me. I'm glad it did for you :)

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    1. The idea of romantic love wasn't that great, in my opinion. It was very obsessive and the female characters were described as being too perfect.

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  4. You made some very good points to help temper expectations -- I think I'm in the same boat as you were, it's been so highly recommended, I'm almost afraid to read it! It is rare for the very beginning of a book to be the part that really grabs me -- especially the first chapter, as I usually feel a bit like I'm drowning trying to figure out what's going on and learn everyone's names!

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    1. It's rare for the beginning to grab me too, but this beginning was very special, a book-lovers paradise!

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  5. This is one I have been meaning to read forever too! Thanks for an honest look at the book.

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  6. My favorite part of this book is the Cemetery of Forgotten Books; how I'd love to go there and find my forgotten book, you know? I like Zafon as an author and have his latest book sitting on my shelf waiting TBR.

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  7. I tried to read this years ago and gave up about 1/3 of the way in. I was sad because I love gothic stuff and wanted to love this, but I just didn't connect with the writing style.

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  8. I've only read the last book in the series, but one day I will go back and read the others.

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