Random House Books for Young Readers The Shadow of the Wind

I gave this read a little over 100 pages, and stopped to consult some reviews. Negative reviews (the very few of them) reflected my perspective, and as such I didn't see the issues I was having with the book changing, so I called it.In spite of the flowery adjective-filled writing, substance is lacking. The plot is slow, it's hard to feel engaged with the characters, and the mystery is... boring. I searched the reviews for "page-turner" prior to purchase. We must have been reading different books because this, my friends, is NOT a page-turner. It is actually the kind of book you pick up the next day, start to read, and realize you have forgotten where the character is now, who he is having a conversation with, etc.This is all subjective of course. What inspired me to actually leave a negative review was the depiction of women in the story. Female characters are either presented as large busted maternal old maids, or alternatively described in terms of their "waist of a mannequin" "classically proportioned calves" or "china doll's complexion". By the end of my valiant 100 pages, every time a new female appeared, my eyes were already half-rolled in preparation.

I write about this book because I loved it, and I want to remember it. In writing, I am forced to reflect upon how much pleasure I derived from reading the book.It is a gothic tale set in 1945, Barcelona. Daniel, the bookseller’s son, is introduced to The Cemetery of Forgotten Books, and makes his selection of one book from the labyrinth to take home and care for. In doing so, he finds himself involved in a real-life mystery. You see, the book he selected was written by a man named Julian Carax, and very well may be the last book in existence by Carax. Someone has been finding the Carax works and destroying them.I love that it is a book about a book! I love the story, but I also love the writing itself, and how Zafon has a style that makes me want to keep reading. The man is a beautiful writer. The “Angel of the Mist” story that begins on page 233 is a haunting touch, as is Maria Jacinta’s detailing of her encounters with Zacarias (begin on page 260), and the storyline of Daniel and Fermin visiting her in the asylum.I loved this first book so much that I immediately started reading the second book in the series, and I am about 200 pages in to “The Angel’s Game,” right now! To think, I found this gorgeous read because of a visit to the Book Warehouse over the July 4 weekend, where I unwittingly purchased the third book in the series first!

5 starsIn 1945 following Spain’s civil war a man takes his ten-year old son Daniel to a library called the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. There Daniel must pick out one book. He chooses called The Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax.What follows is a lyrical journey of Daniel’s life and adventures throughout his lifelong search for more information about Julian Carax. On his journey through life, Daniel meets all kinds of interesting people including an individual named Lain Coubert (who happens to be the main character in The Shadow of the Wind),who is determined to burn all of Carax’ novels. Is this person the devil? A demon of some sort? He reeks of burning and essentially has no facial features. He threatens Daniel and all that he holds dear for not turning over the Carax book. He also meets an evil fascist police inspector named Fumero who has people tortured and killed in the basement of the police station. He also threatens Daniel and his family and friends.He travels with Fermin, who works at the bookstore with Daniel and his father, to a school at which Julian attended. There they charm and trick one of the clerics who grew up with Julian to talk about him. They learn a great deal about him. Fermin does not miss the parallels between Julian and Daniel’s lives. They also learn that Julian went to school with Fumero.They go to visit Penelope’s (Julian’s lost love), nanny in a run down and filthy care home. She tells them the story of Penelope and Julian’s aborted love affair. Fermin again notices the similarities between Julian and Daniel’s lives. On their way home, they are set upon by Fumero and his thugs. Fermin receives a terrible beating.But this does not stop their search for answers. Daniel comes into the possession of a lengthy letter to him that was written by a woman before she died. And with this letter, the truth comes out; the whole sordid and awful truth.This is my first Carlos Ruiz Zafon novel, but I can promise it won’t be my last. I truly enjoyed this novel. It is very well written and plotted, and totally without any wasted words. That’s a real achievement for a novel this long. The suspense and intrigue start immediately with this book, and the level of excitement continues throughout the novel. The use of language is beautiful and Mr. Zafon really knows how to turn a phrase, as it were.

Awhile back ago my brother recommended this book to me and while I saved it on my wishlist, I ended up reading a slew of other books instead. A year or so passes and my brother once again recommends this book to me. I decided to download the Kindle version and check it out. As we all do, I had painted a picture of what I thought this book would be about and how it would be laid out after reading the summary. Oh boy was I wrong. This book was so much more interesting, detailed, complicated, and deeper than I could have imagined. I couldn't take my eyes off this book yet I didn't want it to ever end. I cannot emphasize enough how much I loved this book. It's also the type of book I know I could read over-and-over and still come across new observations.My brother and I were discussing this book as I was nearing the end of it. The sheer level of excitment and enthusiasm we had for this book convinced my sister, who was with us and listening, decided she too needed to read it. Note that my sister is not a reader, never has been and that's ok. But for her to actually want to read something is a huge deal. She ended up reading it and was just as obsessed as my brother and I. My brother has decided to re-read it to freshen up on the details so that way the three of us can properly discuss this book, in fact, I'll probably re-read it again myself. THAT'S how awesome this book is.