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A review by brisingr
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
5.0
Entertainment Weekly says about The Shadow of the Wind that it is, in the end, a love letter for literature and readers as passionate of good stories as the young hero of this book. I felt like this book was written for me.
This book says the story full of intrigue, drama, mistery and books of Daniel, the son of a simple librarian, that, after his mother’s death, in his loneliness, finds solace in a book written by a misterious Julian Carax, a writer that risks to be erased from the memory of the whole world, haunted by the devil of his own stories.
I had a slow start with this book. Although up to a point fascinated by the huge world of hundreds of books collected in a single place, I still didn’t feel that 'something' that would make me feel stuck in the book… but when it came in the end, it made sure that it would be impossible for me to forget about this book too soon. I think I adored lots and lots of aspects of the story, and faced with the need to list them all, I realize that I can’t recognize them separately, but only together, forming this splendid book.
The book was filled with misteries at every breath, jumbles and plot twists, some more predictable than others. The truth is that I love misteries, and facing one, I feel the need to solve them myself. I felt a little bit disappointed that I figured the main one from page 76, but I adored deeply the background all these misteries had behind them, the truth… about the characters, but about the human nature as well. Because, in the end, I felt that the book is more like a portrait of the whole humanity, the author taking all the stereotypes and putting it in the story, creating a mini-world of a Barcelona filled with mistery of a holy place for book lovers in general, librarians in special, and with the pain left after war.
The Shadow of the Wind made me feel something. I was intrigued by the threads of a story I don’t belong to, but in which I was somehow involved, together with the main character. I felt the fear and terror inflicted by a world not that calm, by humans that didn’t deserve their humanity. I laughed and I was pleasantly surprised by the intelligence and wisdom behind the characters’ lines. I was touched by acts of gentleness, kindness, charity and sacrifice. In the end, I was fascinated by everything that was being revealed with every page I was reading.
I don’t think I will meet too often a book that was so beautifully written, and not in the pompous way, but in the simple way, that simple words used right make you see an entire universe. This was a book that satisfied all the needs of a reader that fell in love with the characters. None of the books I’ve read before did manage to give me exactly what I wanted, and this one did it in a way that I didn’t realize it until I’ve read the last word.
With a mastery of the pen similar to the writer present in the book, Julian Carax, that fascinated his readers, Carlos Ruiz Zafon enchanted me through one single book, although I was so skeptical upon first reading this book.
I might just found a new favorite writer.
This book says the story full of intrigue, drama, mistery and books of Daniel, the son of a simple librarian, that, after his mother’s death, in his loneliness, finds solace in a book written by a misterious Julian Carax, a writer that risks to be erased from the memory of the whole world, haunted by the devil of his own stories.
I had a slow start with this book. Although up to a point fascinated by the huge world of hundreds of books collected in a single place, I still didn’t feel that 'something' that would make me feel stuck in the book… but when it came in the end, it made sure that it would be impossible for me to forget about this book too soon. I think I adored lots and lots of aspects of the story, and faced with the need to list them all, I realize that I can’t recognize them separately, but only together, forming this splendid book.
The book was filled with misteries at every breath, jumbles and plot twists, some more predictable than others. The truth is that I love misteries, and facing one, I feel the need to solve them myself. I felt a little bit disappointed that I figured the main one from page 76, but I adored deeply the background all these misteries had behind them, the truth… about the characters, but about the human nature as well. Because, in the end, I felt that the book is more like a portrait of the whole humanity, the author taking all the stereotypes and putting it in the story, creating a mini-world of a Barcelona filled with mistery of a holy place for book lovers in general, librarians in special, and with the pain left after war.
The Shadow of the Wind made me feel something. I was intrigued by the threads of a story I don’t belong to, but in which I was somehow involved, together with the main character. I felt the fear and terror inflicted by a world not that calm, by humans that didn’t deserve their humanity. I laughed and I was pleasantly surprised by the intelligence and wisdom behind the characters’ lines. I was touched by acts of gentleness, kindness, charity and sacrifice. In the end, I was fascinated by everything that was being revealed with every page I was reading.
I don’t think I will meet too often a book that was so beautifully written, and not in the pompous way, but in the simple way, that simple words used right make you see an entire universe. This was a book that satisfied all the needs of a reader that fell in love with the characters. None of the books I’ve read before did manage to give me exactly what I wanted, and this one did it in a way that I didn’t realize it until I’ve read the last word.
With a mastery of the pen similar to the writer present in the book, Julian Carax, that fascinated his readers, Carlos Ruiz Zafon enchanted me through one single book, although I was so skeptical upon first reading this book.
I might just found a new favorite writer.