The Shadow of the Wind
Author: Carlos Ruiz Zafón
This was a really nice book and a pleasure to read. Though it is not on the “classics list”, I get the sense it will have a lasting impact on me, similar to renowned books like The Brothers Karamazov did. It was written really beautifully, and is a book seemingly designed for book lovers.
Once, in my father’s bookshop, I heard a regular customer say that few things leave a deeper mark on a reader than the first book that finds its way into his heart. Those first images, the echo of words we think we have left behind, accompany us throughout our lives and sculpt a palace in our memory to which, sooner or later—no matter how many books we read, how many worlds we discover, or how much we learn or forget—we will return.
It is set in ~1950’s Barcelona and does a fantastic job of dropping you right into the setting. It is moody, dark, haunting, charming, sentimental, funny, thrilling and a myriad of other adjectives.
The Shadow of the Wind is about a young boy named Daniel. He is brought to a “cemetery of forgotten books” by his father (who owns a book store) and is told to pick one book that he is entrusted to treasure and keep safe. Daniel picks a book written by someone named Julian Carax and this book becomes the book that finds its way into Daniels heart. Julian’s life is shrouded in mystery and as Daniel tries to learn more about the author, he uncovers a lot of drama and danger along the way.
The Shadow of the Wind is often described as a book within a book. Because we read the story of Daniel, as he reads and uncovers the story of Julian Carax. The book was a mix of drama/thriller, but also had a number of good laughs thanks to one particular character named Fermín.
It doesn’t try too hard. It isn’t pushing for a stunning twist and it doesn’t force emotion on you. It was really masterfully written. You can start to piece together the mystery well before the end of the book, but you don’t mind. You find yourself truly invested in the story and the characters and want to follow along on their journey.
I read the book while my wife and I spent two weeks visiting Italy for the first time, so I will likely associate this book with that trip in my memory.
I’ve been thinking about the book occasionally since I finished reading it, and my appreciation for it continues to grow. I recommend it.
The art of reading is slowly dying, it’s an intimate ritual, a book is a mirror that offers us only what we already carry inside us, when we read, we do it with all our heart and mind, and great readers are becoming more scarce by the day.