TITLE
OF THE BOOK: Shadow of the Wind
AUTHOR:
Carlos Ruiz Zafon, translated to English by Lucia Graves
NUMBER
OF PAGES: 486
YEAR
PUBLISHED: originally in Spanish, 2001 In English 2004.
PUBLISHER: Penguin Press
PUBLISHER: Penguin Press
GENRE:
Mystery/ Fiction
SUMMARY:
The novel,
set in 1945, post Spanish Civil War Barcelona concerns a young boy, Daniel
Sempere. Just after the war, Daniel's father, an antiquarian, takes him to the
secret Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a huge library of old, forgotten titles
lovingly preserved by a select few in attempts to comfort Daniel's mourning of
the loss of his mother. According to
tradition, everyone initiated to this secret place is allowed to take one book
from it and must protect it for life. Daniel selects a book called The
Shadow of the Wind by Julián Carax. That night he takes the book home and
reads it, completely engrossed. Daniel then attempts to look for other books by
this unknown author but can find none. Instead, he
makes a shocking discovery: someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every
book Carax has written. In fact, Daniel may have the last of Carax’s books in
existence. Soon Daniel’s seemingly innocent quest opens a door into one of
Barcelona’s darkest secrets--an epic story of murder, madness, and doomed love.
“ Anyone who enjoys novels that are scary, touching, tragic and thrilling
should rush right out to the nearest bookstore and pick up The Shadow of the
Wind.” –The Washington Post
Masterfully
written, the novel is chocked full of symbolism and parallel of the seeker
(Daniel) and the person being sought after (Julian) as both become engrossed
and engulfed with the passion for writing, women and loyalty. Shadow of the Wind is an epic story of
murder, madness and doomed love.
Delicious
Reads Rating: 4.5 Stars!
OUR REVIEW:
We liked Zafon's
fast-paced writing style with meticulous plotting like an onion with layers
peeling away page after page. It is interesting to note that he has written a
prequel to Shadow of the Wind entitled, The Angel's Game. He has
also written and composed a soundtrack for the book that can be downloaded from
his site HERE. When asked why he
writes, Zafon responds, "I said, I am in the business of storytelling. This is an art, a craft and a business, and I thank the Gods of Literature for that. I believe that when you pick up something I've written and pay for it, both in terms of your money and something much more valuable, your time, you are entitled to get the best I can produce. I believe this is not a hobby, it is a profession. If you're pretentious enough to believe that what you write might be worth other people's time (as I am), you should work hard enough to earn that privilege (as I do). Which brings me back to the question of why I write. Sometimes people ask me what piece of advice I would give to an aspiring author. I'd tell them that you should only become a writer if the possibility of not becoming one would kill you. Otherwise, you'd be better off doing something else. I became a writer, a teller of tales, because otherwise I would have died, or worse."
As
we followed our host, Angie Terburg, "through a palatial corridor..
through a labyrinth of passageways and crammed bookshelves that rose from base
to pinnacle like a beehive woven with tunnels, steps, platforms and bridges
that presaged the immense plot of seemingly impossible geometry"
(p5) we, like Daniel, in the Cemetery of
Forgotten Books were "stunned".
The meta-fiction aspect of the book (book-within-a-book) struck a chord
with us as we are all book-lovers and could relate to Daniel's quest to find
more of the literature that spoke to his soul.
The
characters in the book were all wonderfully round, well-described and complex.
The fact that they were all connected made for a wild ride and yet a bit
confusing at times. We grew up with Daniel as he experiences his first
fascination with a book, his first infatuation with Clara, and his first love
with Beatrice. Julian's dark, mysterious
character takes monumental twists and turns leading for a fantastic ending.
Fumero, we felt was a bit of "shock and awe" in his brutality and
coarseness. The author describes him as, "moronic, which isn't quite the
same thing as evil. Evil presupposes a moral decision, intention, and some
forethought. A moron, or a lout, however, doesn't stop to think or reason. He
acts on instinct, like a stable animal, convinced that he's doing good, that
he's always right and sanctimoniously proud to go around messing you up."
p 155
The
themes of star-crossed but doomed lovers of Daniel & Beatrice and their
quest for Julian & Penelope were discussed and we loved how the author included
such parallels but some found them a bit predictable. Mixed feelings also
ensued in the conversation about the REAL relationship of Julian &
Penelope. Other themes of loyalty and
friendship were discussed in relation to Daniel and Thomas, Fermin and Daniel
and Daniel's Father, Penelope and her governess Jacinta, Julian and Penelope
and the 'rat pack' of Julian, Miquel, Fumero, & Jorge.
It
was interesting how revenge played a key role in the plot of the story. One example being the two opposite in Fumero
and Fermin. Fumero let hate consume him to the point of insanity that lead to
torturing others, including Fermin. Fermin on the other hand was able to move
past the undeserved brutality paid to him and became a humble, trustworthy,
friend.
Quotes on love:
"Women
have an infallible instinct for knowing when a man has fallen madly in love
with them especially when the male in question is both a complete dunce and a
minor." p 29 Daniel describing his hope for a relationship with Clara.
"You
are talking to a professional in the craft of seduction an this business of
kissing is for amateurs and little old men in slippers. Real women are won over
bit by bit. It's all a question of psychology, like good faena in the
bullring." p 132 Fermin giving unsolicited dating advice to Daniel
"Look
Daniel. Destiny is usually around the corner. Like a thief, a hooker or a
lottery vendor; it's three most common personifications. But what destiny does
not do is home visits. You have to go for it," p 225 Fermin encouraging
Daniel to go after Beatrice
"Love
is a lot like pork; there 's loin steak and there's bologna. Each has its own
place and function." p 195 More gems from Fermin to Daniel
"My
attempts at hating him were unsuccessful. I began to believe that Juilan was
not a man, he was an illness." p 393 Nuria explaining her obsession with
Julian
Quotes
on character:
"One
of the pitfalls of childhood is that one doesn't have to understand something
to feel it. By the time the mind is able to comprehend what has happened, the
wounds of the heart are already too deep." Daniel reflecting on his
post-war experiences as a child.
"Does
a madman know he is mad? Or are the madmen those who insist on convincing him
of this unreason in order to safeguard thwier own idea of reality? p 444
Nuria's letter to Daniel describing Julian.
Quotes
on books & reading:
"Television,
my dear Daniel, is the Antichrist, and I can assure you that after only three
or four generations, people will no longer even know how to fart on their own and
humans will return to living in caves,
to medieval savagery, and to the general state of imbecility that slugs
overcame back in the Pleistocene era. Our world will not die as a result of the
bomb, as papers say, it will die of laughter, of banality, of making a joke of
everything, and a lousy joke at that." p 107 Fermin to Daniel upon seeing
a poster announcing the arrival of the first Phillips TV set in Barcelona
"The art of reading is slowly dying, that
it's an intimate ritual, that a book is a mirror that offers us only what we
already carry inside us, that when we read, we do it with all our heart and
mind, and great readers are becoming more scarce by the day." P 484
Beatrice to Daniel in the bookshop quoting Julian (p 209)
"Few things leave a deeper mark on a
reader that the first book that finds its way into his heart. Those first
images, the echo of words we think have left behind, accompany us throughout our
lives and sculpt a palace in our memory to which, sooner or later-- no matter
how many books we read, how many worlds we discover, or how much we learn or
forget-- we will return." (p8)
Final thoughts:
To quote The
Washington Post, "Try to imagine a ben of Grand Guignol thriller,
historical fiction, occasional farce, existential mystery and passionate love
story; then double it.... Anyone who enjoys novels that are scary, erotic,
toughing, tragic, and thrilling should rush right out to the nearest bookstore
and pick up The Shadow of the Wind. Really you should."
*CONTENT CATEGORIES* *RATING *
LANGUAGE/PROFANITY: HEAVY,
mostly by the antagonist Inspector Javier Fumero
SEXUALITY: HEAVY, Julian's
coming of age thoughts, 2-3 sex scenes
VIOLENCE: EXTREME, several
abusive scenes, assalts, murder, blood
DRUG/ALCOHOL USE: MEDIUM, smoking, alcohol
INTENSE/SCARY SCENES: HEAVY, entire book is a intense suspenseful trip.
1 comment :
This book was very engaging and kept me guessing until the end. This was a great book for anyone who likes mysteries. "The Lottery" summary - I also recommend reading this book.
Post a Comment