Alyce at At Home with Books hosts this meme – and it’s one of my favorites. Every once in a while a book comes along that, despite getting all sorts of hype, is as good as everyone says it is. This week I want to talk a little about The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón.
The Washington Post has an extremely long review of this book, but my favorite part is the last paragrah:
I’d like to say more about this superbly entertaining book but don’t dare to hint any more about its plot twists. Suffice it to say that — and here’s yet another critical formula — anyone who enjoys novels that are scary, erotic, touching, tragic and thrilling should rush right out to the nearest bookstore and pick up The Shadow of the Wind. Really, you should.
You can read their entire review here.
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
“Well, this is a story about books”
“About books?”
“About accursed books, about the man who wrote them, about a character who broke out of the pages of a novel so that he could burn it, about a betrayal and a lost friendship. It’s a story of love, of hatred, and of the dreams that live in the shadow of the wind.”
This was a re-read, and the first of many I believe. I read The Shadow of the Wind in 2007 and remember being dumbfounded by it. I raced through the story, unable to set it down as I was trapped deeper into the prison of the words written by Zafon. The above quote sums the story up more brilliantly than any review can do. That being said, I will tell you what to expect when you pick up this novel for the first time.
This is not a story full of “bang bang shoot ‘em up”. It has its moments, but the beauty of this story is in the delicious tales being told throughout every paragraph. Stories written in the manner in which this author writes do not happen that often, and the fact that it’s so beautifully written and translated makes it even more incredible to me. When you read this novel prepare to devote time to it. Read through it slowly, and re-read passages that catch your eye. I noticed things I didn’t remember before and even got my father to start reading the book so that we could marvel over the descriptions together.
Most importantly, read the book. Ignore the hype and commercialization surrounding it. This is a beautiful story worth reading.
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