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herbieridesagain 's review for:
The Shadow of the Wind
by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
With The Labyrinth of the Spirits sitting in the pile of books ready to go, I decided to go back and read the three previous novels in Ruiz Zafon’s Cemetery of forgotten books series. The first time I started The Shadow in the Wind I couldn’t get into it and put it down. The second time I devoured it and couldn’t work out what was wrong with me the first time. I absolutely love this book.
The story barrels along at pace, the young protagonist, Daniel, becomes more reckless as it progresses as he tries to discover more about the writer who wrote The Shadow of the Wind. The reason the book is so important is because after fearing he would one day forget his late mother, Daniel is taken to the cemetery of forgotten books by his father where he picks (or is picked by) the book. It is this longed for magical place that anchors the series from Ruiz Zafon, and captures the imagination of book lovers everywhere.
The author of the book in the book is something of a mystery and the deeper Daniel dives the less he seems to discover. He only knows that someone is intent on destroying all the copies of the authors books, and Daniel has one of the last known copies in his possession.
His adventures take him all over the city, and The Shadow of the Wind is filled with Barcelona, the other recipient of this love letter from the author, who paints the city in all it’s colours, light and dark, and if you have been to the city, you will be picturing the avenues and alleyways depicted, the bustling cafe’s and deserted residential avenues, even though it is a long time since Daniel was running around them.
I realised coming back to the series that these are in fact gothic novels in content, reaching out, but never quite touching the supernatural (at least here anyway) but also what I loved about Shadow is that there are some hilarious moments in it. The introduction of Fermin Romero de Torres is wonderful, and he provides the light relief throughout with comments that made me laugh out loud. There is in fact a rich cast of characters, including Barcelo, Daniels father and the dark inspector Fumero who are painted in full that bring the story and Barcelona to life.
I took this on holiday with me, and after one stupid 20km walk in the blazing sun that left me with burnt feet, I pretty much finished this in a couple of days. There was a lot I had forgotten which enabled me to enjoy it fresh a second time, and I can’t wait to get through the rest of the series.
(blog review here)
The story barrels along at pace, the young protagonist, Daniel, becomes more reckless as it progresses as he tries to discover more about the writer who wrote The Shadow of the Wind. The reason the book is so important is because after fearing he would one day forget his late mother, Daniel is taken to the cemetery of forgotten books by his father where he picks (or is picked by) the book. It is this longed for magical place that anchors the series from Ruiz Zafon, and captures the imagination of book lovers everywhere.
The author of the book in the book is something of a mystery and the deeper Daniel dives the less he seems to discover. He only knows that someone is intent on destroying all the copies of the authors books, and Daniel has one of the last known copies in his possession.
His adventures take him all over the city, and The Shadow of the Wind is filled with Barcelona, the other recipient of this love letter from the author, who paints the city in all it’s colours, light and dark, and if you have been to the city, you will be picturing the avenues and alleyways depicted, the bustling cafe’s and deserted residential avenues, even though it is a long time since Daniel was running around them.
I realised coming back to the series that these are in fact gothic novels in content, reaching out, but never quite touching the supernatural (at least here anyway) but also what I loved about Shadow is that there are some hilarious moments in it. The introduction of Fermin Romero de Torres is wonderful, and he provides the light relief throughout with comments that made me laugh out loud. There is in fact a rich cast of characters, including Barcelo, Daniels father and the dark inspector Fumero who are painted in full that bring the story and Barcelona to life.
I took this on holiday with me, and after one stupid 20km walk in the blazing sun that left me with burnt feet, I pretty much finished this in a couple of days. There was a lot I had forgotten which enabled me to enjoy it fresh a second time, and I can’t wait to get through the rest of the series.
(blog review here)