The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Summary:

Hidden in the heart of the old city of Barcelona is ‘The Cemetery of Forgotten Books’, a labyrinthine library of obscure and forgotten titles. To this library, a man brings his ten year old son, Daniel, one cold morning in 1945. Daniel is allowed to choose one book and from the dusty shelves pulls The Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax. But as Daniel grows up, several people seem inordinately interested in his find. What begins as a case of literary curiosity turns into a race to find out the truth behind the life and death of Julian Carax and to save those he left behind. 

About the Author:

Carlos Ruiz Zafon is a Spanish novelist. He wrote 6 novels, including the series ‘The Cemetery of Forgotten Books’, of which The Shadow of the Wind is the first book. Ruiz Zafon was inspired by noir authors and screenwriting which lends the unique cinematic element to his writing style. His books are translated from Spanish into many languages. 

Rating:

5 stars - ★★★★★

Review:

I had forgotten about The Shadow of the Wind until recently when I was going through my list of books I’d read over the years. I couldn’t remember the story but I immediately remembered how The Shadow of the Wind made me feel. It was on my list of favourite books ever and I desperately wanted to read it again. Strangely enough I found it in a second hand shop only a week or so later. Like it was waiting there for me to find it. 

So this is my second read. I still absolutely adore Carlos Ruiz Zafon’s style of writing. He is a true storyteller. It’s the most beautifully evocative book I’ve ever read. The vocabulary and the imagery are perfect. I was completely and utterly sucked into the story. Even now, a week or so after finishing the book, I can still feel the pull of the streets of Barcelona. The atmosphere is so dream-like; grey and autumnal and moody. Literally perfect in my opinion. This book still makes me feel things so deeply, it all feels so real.

I normally look up definitions of words I love or ones I’m unfamiliar with and add them at the end of my reviews, however after the first chapter or two, I realised that I would never get to the end of the book as I was taking note of too many words. That is how detailed the descriptions are. Every word is chosen precisely.

Moving on from the writing, the story itself is so gripping. Although it happens over a few years, the pace does not make it feel long. There are just the right amounts of twists and turns to keep you guessing, but at the same time feels completely believable. There were beautiful parallels between Daniel and Julian’s lives. How they found themselves in similar situations but faced them differently and so had different outcomes.

Each and every character is memorable with a full personality and backstory. There are lots of characters, but each one comes to life effortlessly. I would really like to learn more about Daniel’s father. He really took a back seat but also seemed really interesting. 

However - a couple of things to note on my second read as someone who is older and more critical. I didn’t love Daniel’s character this time around. He was very coarse (in his head), thinking about the women around him. It seemed every woman he found slightly attractive, he immediately started undressing them in his mind. I didn’t realise that men truly did this. 

Since reading Boris Pasternak’s Doctor Zhivago, I’m always reading a book with the author in mind. Trying to gauge how much of the author is in their characters. 

Basically, when I read Doctor Zhivago (I hated it by the way), all I could think was ‘I know this author cheated on his wife and this book is his way of justifying himself’. I was right. So now, every time I read a book, I’m searching the writing for clues about the author themselves. The way Daniel was written made me acutely aware of the author’s own internal thoughts. If Daniel thought this way about women, the author must too, and then so must other men. Daniel was definitely creepy, although he seemed to consider himself superior to his friend Fermin because Fermin actually spoke coarsely about women, whereas Daniel only thought it. 

I’m rating this highly for now because of how I felt when I read this book the first time. It’s natural that it loses some of the magic the second time around as it’s not all unexpected. However, I reserve the right to review this rating when I read the rest of the books in ‘The Cemetery of Forgotten Books’ series. If I get that magic back with the other 3, I can put aside my reservations about Daniel (and the author). This book is really all about how intensely it made me feel. It’s really and truly magical. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves an atmospheric thriller centred around books and with plenty of mysterious characters. I will never get over the beauty of the writing.

New Words:

Vulturine: Resembling a vulture

Ephemeral: Lasting for a very short time

Anachronism: A thing belonging to a period other than that in which it exists, especially something that is conspicuously old fashioned.