Barcelona, 1945—just after the war, a great world city lies in shadow, nursing its wounds, and a boy named Daniel awakes on his eleventh birthday to find that he can no longer remember his mother’s face. To console his only child, Daniel’s widowed father, an antiquarian book dealer, initiates him into the secret of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a library tended by Barcelona’s guild of rare-book dealers as a repository for books forgotten by the world, waiting for someone who will care about them again. Daniel’s father coaxes him to choose a volume from the spiraling labyrinth of shelves, one that, it is said, will have a special meaning for him. And Daniel so loves the novel he selects, The Shadow of the Wind by one Julian Carax, that he sets out to find the rest of Carax’s work. To his shock, he discovers that someone has been systematically …
Barcelona, 1945—just after the war, a great world city lies in shadow, nursing its wounds, and a boy named Daniel awakes on his eleventh birthday to find that he can no longer remember his mother’s face. To console his only child, Daniel’s widowed father, an antiquarian book dealer, initiates him into the secret of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a library tended by Barcelona’s guild of rare-book dealers as a repository for books forgotten by the world, waiting for someone who will care about them again. Daniel’s father coaxes him to choose a volume from the spiraling labyrinth of shelves, one that, it is said, will have a special meaning for him. And Daniel so loves the novel he selects, The Shadow of the Wind by one Julian Carax, that he sets out to find the rest of Carax’s work. To his shock, he discovers that someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book this author has written. In fact, he may have the last one in existence. Before Daniel knows it his seemingly innocent quest has opened a door into one of Barcelona’s darkest secrets, an epic story of murder, magic, madness and doomed love. And before long he realizes that if he doesn’t find out the truth about Julian Carax, he and those closest to him will suffer horribly.
As with all astounding novels, The Shadow of the Wind sends the mind groping for comparisons —The Crimson Petal and the White? The novels of Arturo Pérez-Reverte? Of Victor Hugo? Love in the Time of Cholera?—but in the end, as with all astounding novels, no comparison can suffice. As one leading Spanish reviewer wrote, “The originality of Ruiz Zafón’s voice is bombproof and displays a diabolical talent. The Shadow of the Wind announces a phenomenon in Spanish literature.” An uncannily absorbing historical mystery, a heart-piercing romance, and a moving homage to the mystical power of books, The Shadow of the Wind is a triumph of the storyteller’s art.
(front flap)
Uno de esos libros que van despacio, pero están escritos con un trazo inolvidable. Marcados quedarán por siempre muchos de estos personajes en mi memoria.
Es una historia auténtica, y creo que apta para cualquier amante de la literatura.
Si tenéis la oportunidad, el audiolibro de Jordi Boixaderas será un acompañante magnífico en vuestros diarios viajes al trabajo.
Despite not being a fantasy or science fiction novel (as I typically read), this was pretty good. My only complaint is in the narrator and the expository nature of part of the story. I felt it could have been a bit better had the author left some of the task of piecing together the mystery to the reader. However, the characters and plot was engaging and I don't think anything important was lost in the translation.
What a lovely, lovely book. It's hard to describe how much I loved this book. It's spooky, romantic, has drama, and a historical background. Can't recommend this enough.
The story is set in Barcelona, Spain, just after the end of WWII. The 10-year old son of a bookshop owner, Daniel, is brought to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. There he is allowed to pick one book, and he picks The Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax. Swept away by the mystery and writing of the author, Daniel becomes obsessed with finding out anything he can about the author. Over the course of the next 8 years, he learns the truth, which puts him in lethal danger, and finds out the tragic story of Julian Carax that strangely seems to mirror his own life.
I seriously was swept away here. I loved the characters, the gothic setting, the way the …
What a lovely, lovely book. It's hard to describe how much I loved this book. It's spooky, romantic, has drama, and a historical background. Can't recommend this enough.
The story is set in Barcelona, Spain, just after the end of WWII. The 10-year old son of a bookshop owner, Daniel, is brought to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. There he is allowed to pick one book, and he picks The Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax. Swept away by the mystery and writing of the author, Daniel becomes obsessed with finding out anything he can about the author. Over the course of the next 8 years, he learns the truth, which puts him in lethal danger, and finds out the tragic story of Julian Carax that strangely seems to mirror his own life.
I seriously was swept away here. I loved the characters, the gothic setting, the way the story was presented. Best read so far this year!