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deacro's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
stefiuta's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
jujudepamplemousse's review against another edition
3.0
I am left with mixed feeling after finishing reading the Shadow of the Wind.
I found the way the book was constructed as a story within a story to be captivating. The global idea of the story was also interesting.
That said, several flaws completely spoiled the fun.
First, it felt like the author tried too much to write beautifully. The writing style was just overly descriptive. Each noun was completed by several adjectives and so it became tiresome and boring after a while. I also loved the atmosphere at the beginning of the book. It was mysterious, dark, captivating but it kind of lost it greatness as the book went on.
Second, the execution of the mystery was lacking. While the revelation piece by piece of the elements of the mystery was a delight, it sometimes didn’t make any sense. All along the book, the side characters were making revelation about things they couldn’t have known, either because it was someone else's personal though and feeling or because they were not even involved in the events.
Finally the most distracting point was the blatant sexism pouring all over the book. The Spanish society at the time of the story was not kind on woman and I’m not saying otherwise. However I don’t feel this needed to be portrayed this much on pages. The sexism was just overly present in this book. Plus, did we really need to know all the sexual thoughts and all the details about the sexual life of a teenage boy who, by the way, was only 11 years old at the beginning of the story? Well I didn’t, it was just creepy.
In the end, I like the idea of this book but the execution didn’t quite work for me.
I found the way the book was constructed as a story within a story to be captivating. The global idea of the story was also interesting.
That said, several flaws completely spoiled the fun.
First, it felt like the author tried too much to write beautifully. The writing style was just overly descriptive. Each noun was completed by several adjectives and so it became tiresome and boring after a while. I also loved the atmosphere at the beginning of the book. It was mysterious, dark, captivating but it kind of lost it greatness as the book went on.
Second, the execution of the mystery was lacking. While the revelation piece by piece of the elements of the mystery was a delight, it sometimes didn’t make any sense. All along the book, the side characters were making revelation about things they couldn’t have known, either because it was someone else's personal though and feeling or because they were not even involved in the events.
Finally the most distracting point was the blatant sexism pouring all over the book. The Spanish society at the time of the story was not kind on woman and I’m not saying otherwise. However I don’t feel this needed to be portrayed this much on pages. The sexism was just overly present in this book. Plus, did we really need to know all the sexual thoughts and all the details about the sexual life of a teenage boy who, by the way, was only 11 years old at the beginning of the story? Well I didn’t, it was just creepy.
In the end, I like the idea of this book but the execution didn’t quite work for me.
viryr's review against another edition
5.0
5 estrellas
Simplemente es una obra de arte. Uno de los mejores libros de siglo XXI.
Alguien que se llame lector debe leer este libro, se ancla en la historia de una Barcelona gótica y de época, ¡con golpes de realidad! nada es negro ni blanco si no como en verdad es la vida gris, a momentos linda a momentos cruel.
Tiene muchas referencias a arte tanto escrito como arquitectura, pintura hasta algo de ciencia. Cada personaje es tan real y lo increíble es que se interconectan hasta formar una bella y a momentos desgarradora historia, sí a momentos es predecible, pero en otros es sorprendente.
Carlos Ruíz Zafón no solo hace imaginar una cuidad hermosa, o destruida por la guerra, o tapizada de nieve si no que hace sentir cada personaje cada decisión que toman y eso los hace tan humanos ¡es hermoso! Mensaje brutal del impacto que tienen las palabras, un recordatorio de que la literatura es arte, un mensaje bello sobre la verdadera amistad (sí esa que pone en riesgo la vida, solo por esa lealtad y cariño a ese amigo), de que el amor no tiene cara ni lazos "nadie elige a quien amar", de dolor, de la importancia de la familia ya sea consanguínea o no, también lo que hace la venganza, una historia de tragedia (que horroriza), la idiotez, etc., tantos temas que se van ensamblando como adoquines en una pared.
De principio a fin es un libro extraordinario, es mi nuevo libro favorito de la vida.
“Los libros son espejos: solo ves en ellos lo que ya tienes dentro de ti.”
“Cada libro, cada volumen que ves aquí, tiene un alma. El alma de quien la escribió y de quienes la leyeron y vivieron y soñaron con ella. Cada vez que un libro cambia de manos, cada vez que alguien recorre sus páginas con la mirada, su espíritu crece y se fortalece”.
“Los recuerdos son peores que las balas”
“Ganar dinero no es difícil en sí mismo... Lo difícil es ganarlo haciendo algo a lo que valga la pena dedicar la vida”
“Pero con el tiempo verás que a veces lo importante no es lo que se da sino lo que se deja”
“No existen las lenguas muertas, solo las mentes dormidas”
Simplemente es una obra de arte. Uno de los mejores libros de siglo XXI.
Alguien que se llame lector debe leer este libro, se ancla en la historia de una Barcelona gótica y de época, ¡con golpes de realidad! nada es negro ni blanco si no como en verdad es la vida gris, a momentos linda a momentos cruel.
Tiene muchas referencias a arte tanto escrito como arquitectura, pintura hasta algo de ciencia. Cada personaje es tan real y lo increíble es que se interconectan hasta formar una bella y a momentos desgarradora historia, sí a momentos es predecible, pero en otros es sorprendente.
Carlos Ruíz Zafón no solo hace imaginar una cuidad hermosa, o destruida por la guerra, o tapizada de nieve si no que hace sentir cada personaje cada decisión que toman y eso los hace tan humanos ¡es hermoso! Mensaje brutal del impacto que tienen las palabras, un recordatorio de que la literatura es arte, un mensaje bello sobre la verdadera amistad (sí esa que pone en riesgo la vida, solo por esa lealtad y cariño a ese amigo), de que el amor no tiene cara ni lazos "nadie elige a quien amar", de dolor, de la importancia de la familia ya sea consanguínea o no, también lo que hace la venganza, una historia de tragedia (que horroriza), la idiotez, etc., tantos temas que se van ensamblando como adoquines en una pared.
De principio a fin es un libro extraordinario, es mi nuevo libro favorito de la vida.
“Los libros son espejos: solo ves en ellos lo que ya tienes dentro de ti.”
“Cada libro, cada volumen que ves aquí, tiene un alma. El alma de quien la escribió y de quienes la leyeron y vivieron y soñaron con ella. Cada vez que un libro cambia de manos, cada vez que alguien recorre sus páginas con la mirada, su espíritu crece y se fortalece”.
“Los recuerdos son peores que las balas”
“Ganar dinero no es difícil en sí mismo... Lo difícil es ganarlo haciendo algo a lo que valga la pena dedicar la vida”
“Pero con el tiempo verás que a veces lo importante no es lo que se da sino lo que se deja”
“No existen las lenguas muertas, solo las mentes dormidas”
mrsbrewcrew's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
cindyshirld's review against another edition
2.0
Mixed feelings about this one. Took me so long to get into it and found myself wishing for it to be over multiple times. There are so many characters introduced that it gets very confusing to follow on who is who, who is related to who, and who does what. I also think that this book was way too long and it did not need to be. It just kept going and going on and I thought it would never end. I also listened to the audiobook version and whenever a chapter was going to end or something exciting was about to happen, there's music that would come on and is the same volume as the reader that makes it so hard to hear what is being said and that soured my experience of this book even more.
I did like the story overall and was curious what would happen but only because the book dragged on for so long. This could literally be cut in half and it would be a much better read.
I did like the story overall and was curious what would happen but only because the book dragged on for so long. This could literally be cut in half and it would be a much better read.
llcoffj's review against another edition
5.0
Not as magical as I was expecting it to be, but I did truly love this.
hannah_miles's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
2.5
briina24's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0