The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon is not a new book. It came out in 2001 and became an international best-seller, which is probably why, whenever I ecstatically mentioned it, someone said something like, oh, yeah – I read that 15 years ago and I loved it. So, yes. I’m late, but I got there.
This was one of those alchemical, magical reading experiences that reminds me of why I love books as much as I do. In fact, it’s the first time in ages that I’ve gotten “book tingle” . So, here’s what worked for me.
The plot is as tight as it is labyrinthian; the setting – Barcelona during Franco’s regime – is so effortlessly realized; the tone of elegant decay and creeping danger felt like cobwebs on the skin. Separate from objective “craft elements”;, there is a “Spanish-ness” that I found incredibly familiar and comforting, (my grandparents escaped Franco’s Spain). As I read, I could practically smell the garlic simmering on the stove.
It’s rare to find a book that is not only fast-paced and plot-driven, but emotionally affecting. While the novel itself could best be described as a literary or historical thriller, Zafon spends as much energy on characterization as he does on pacing and plot. I connected with even the most tertiary characters, like a nurse, unjustly warehoused in an old-age asylum, m because Zafon invited me to care.
This worked especially well with the book’s narrator / protagonist, a bookseller’s son named Daniel. The death of his mother endears you to him immediately, so that, when his father takes him to the gorgeously conceived Cemetary of Forgotten Books you want something special to happen. And it does.
The young Daniel chooses one book – The Shadow of the Wind by a brilliant but forgotten author named Julian Carax. Daniel’s quest to protect Carax’s legacy drives him deep into the past with a doggedness that eludes him in other areas of his life. There is an unspoken, latitudinal connection between Carax and Daniel that works quietly on how the reader engages the book. Their unfolding connection gives the novel much of its gothic pull.
Madeleine James 
Yessssssssssssss! Seriously. When I read this book, I never wanted it to end and yet I couldn’t slow down my reading to make it last longer. I recommended it to others but I don’t think I did it justice in my incoherent enthusiasm. Have you read his Angels Game? I loved that too.
I haven’t read it yet but I have it on my list! I’m a Zafon convert! I tried to write this post three times but it kept getting longer and longer – I kept babbling what basically amounted to OH MY GOD I LOVED THIS. 😀
I remember the first time I read it being struck by the absolute beauty of the language, even in translation. I loved it. I wasn’t so sure about the second one but I liked the third. I really must re-read them again.
It was his name as much as anything else that made me pick them up 🙂
I agree with you about the language. It’s beautiful. I kept forgetting I was reading it in translation. I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the Barcelona books. I can’t believe it took me this long to discover him. 🙂
Someone who loves this book as much as I!
Reading this novel was magic to me. They are the first words that come out of my mouth when someone asks me for a good book. His other books do not rise to this greatness, I think. His is children’s books are fun. This review is a good one, Malin.
Wow… a woman who likes one of my favorite books and one of my favorite paintings… if only I were younger.
Aw, Ted! You flatter me 😉 Seriously though, I haven’t read any of Ruiz’s YA but I very much want to. I’ve had Angel’s Game waiting for me for a couple of months now too, but I keep hesitating to pick it up. Shadow of the Wind was such a wonderful reading experience that I’m almost afraid to read anything else in that quartet (though, in the end, I totally will!)
Book tingle. Yes!