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Review
A sensation across Europe... a page-turning mystery.... a coming of age tale.... And it's a hymn of praise to all the joys of reading, stylishly caught in Lucia Graves's entrancing translation. (Boyd Tonkin INDEPENDENT )
crowd-pleaser in the mode of The Da Vinci Code... Intertwining playful detective caper, compelling political thriller and sweeping historical romance, the narrative coils back beyond the savagery of the civil war to the world of the tainted Spanish aristocracy, before slowly unravelling the dark secrets born of Franco's tyranny. Zafon's novel... leave the reader with a palpable sense of enchantment. (SUNDAY TIMES )
This week's book barely needs an introduction. Almost every book group I know about had read The Shadow of the Wind... the book is about a boy who becomes obsessed with an author. It is set in Barcelona during a bloody time in Spain's history and there is, as you would expect from a bestseller, plenty of death, murder, love and heroism. (THE TIMES BOOK CLUB )
It was only The Da Vinci Code that stopped The Shadow of the Wind from hogging the top of the bestseller charts last year... an astounding critical success. There's an intricate plot, a gothic atmosphere and an elusive quest, as well as murders, intrigue and star-crossed lovers. (THE GUARDIAN )
a wonderful portrait of Barcelona - not the sunny, culture rich and fun loving city break destination that most visitors know - but a shadowy, at times dark and atmospheric picture of the city centre streets in the years following the Spanish Civil War. (LIVING SPAIN )
This bewitching novel has all the hallmarks of a classic Holy Grail story complete with mystery, mayhem, romance and labyrinthine plotting. What elevates it above all others in the genre is its emotional energy, making it a richly rewarding read. (DAILY MAIL )
one of the most engaging, funny, moving, lyrical books (IRISH EXAMINER )
The best book I've ever read (Amanda Lamb WOMAN AND HOME )
a magical tale of romance (Cecelia Ahern SUNDAY EXPRESS )
I couldn't put it down but didn't want to rush is as every sentence is beautifully crafted and every character unique. (Santa Montefiore EVENING STANDARD )
A page turning exploration of obsession in literature and love (SUNDAY EXPRESS )
a great thriller (Cecelia Ahern MARIE CLAIRE )
the main character's deep love for books and their respective, secret libraries (Cecelia Ahern IRISH TIMES )
A real page-turner of a mystery that will have you hooked from beginning to end (SPAINSH MAGAZINE )
crowd-pleaser in the mode of The Da Vinci Code... Intertwining playful detective caper, compelling political thriller and sweeping historical romance, the narrative coils back beyond the savagery of the civil war to the world of the tainted Spanish aristocracy, before slowly unravelling the dark secrets born of Franco's tyranny. Zafon's novel... leave the reader with a palpable sense of enchantment. (SUNDAY TIMES )
This week's book barely needs an introduction. Almost every book group I know about had read The Shadow of the Wind... the book is about a boy who becomes obsessed with an author. It is set in Barcelona during a bloody time in Spain's history and there is, as you would expect from a bestseller, plenty of death, murder, love and heroism. (THE TIMES BOOK CLUB )
It was only The Da Vinci Code that stopped The Shadow of the Wind from hogging the top of the bestseller charts last year... an astounding critical success. There's an intricate plot, a gothic atmosphere and an elusive quest, as well as murders, intrigue and star-crossed lovers. (THE GUARDIAN )
a wonderful portrait of Barcelona - not the sunny, culture rich and fun loving city break destination that most visitors know - but a shadowy, at times dark and atmospheric picture of the city centre streets in the years following the Spanish Civil War. (LIVING SPAIN )
This bewitching novel has all the hallmarks of a classic Holy Grail story complete with mystery, mayhem, romance and labyrinthine plotting. What elevates it above all others in the genre is its emotional energy, making it a richly rewarding read. (DAILY MAIL )
one of the most engaging, funny, moving, lyrical books (IRISH EXAMINER )
The best book I've ever read (Amanda Lamb WOMAN AND HOME )
a magical tale of romance (Cecelia Ahern SUNDAY EXPRESS )
I couldn't put it down but didn't want to rush is as every sentence is beautifully crafted and every character unique. (Santa Montefiore EVENING STANDARD )
A page turning exploration of obsession in literature and love (SUNDAY EXPRESS )
a great thriller (Cecelia Ahern MARIE CLAIRE )
the main character's deep love for books and their respective, secret libraries (Cecelia Ahern IRISH TIMES )
A real page-turner of a mystery that will have you hooked from beginning to end (SPAINSH MAGAZINE )
CECELIA AHERN, SUNDAY EXPRESS
"a magical tale of romance"
Inside This Book
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Browse and search another edition of this book.
First Sentence
I still remember the day my father took me to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books for the first time. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
I still remember the day my father took me to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books for the first time. Read the first page Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon is literary fiction in the truest sense. It is a novel about books - about one book in particular - and about the power of words to inspire, inflame and ultimately destroy.
10-year-old Daniel Sempere discovers `The Shadow of the Wind' in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books and from that moment his life becomes entwined with and begins to follow a similar path to that of the book's author Julian Carax.
The drama is played out amid the horrors and uncertainties of Revolutionary and Post-revolutionary Barcelona, where class is everything and yet where power rests not only with rich families but with anyone sufficiently ambitious and unscrupulous to take full advantage of the vacuums that war has left. Daniel, the novel's narrator, is none of these things. He is just a normal boy caught up in events beyond his understanding and control, and which threaten to overwhelm him.
Amid the realities of time and place, however, Zafon's sense of humour shines through. He is able to see comedy in the grimmest settings and situations. Indeed, there are passages where the line between grim drama, comedy and even farce is finely drawn, as in many scenes featuring the novel's most endearing character, Fermin Romero de Torres, spy turned tramp turned bookshop guru. It is Fermin who shines a light on life's tragedy and shows us the real meaning of loyalty and friendship.
The Shadow of the Wind has its malevolent villain too, one who evokes shades of Hugo's Javert, though without Javert's morality or redeemability. Fumero is corruption and decadence personified, almost to the point of melodrama.
The novel is literary, for sure, but it is also an historical romance with gothic overtones. Julian Carax haunts its pages with an almost but not quite supernatural presence. Yet amid all the horrors and amorality of this war-torn society resides love that defies class and convention.
Daniel, vaguely reminiscent of John Ridd in Lorna Doone, is a self-deprecating hero. He confesses to being a coward yet he seems not enough of a fool to risk his life when the odds are so stacked against him. When it really matters - to the story - he comes through to his own cost.
Translations are tricky. The translator must not only translate the words but must also capture the mood, the emotion, the sense of time and place and the nuances of language of the original, and present them convincingly as the author's own. He or she must remove that `alien' feel and render the work as acceptable to the reader as a work in his or her own language.
In this translation, Lucia Graves manages to do just that. By the end, I felt I knew the Barcelona of the nineteen-thirties, -forties and -fifties; in her prose, I could feel the texture of the snow; I could be disgusted by the fetidness of the abandoned garrets or be awed at the ostentatious luxury of the upper-class villas; I could hear the clanking of trams as they made their way along the Avenido del Tibidabo or the peal of church bells across the city.
The Shadow of the Wind has all the elements of an enduring classic. It is a story that sometimes shocks but often makes you laugh. And just once or twice, it makes you shed a tear or two.
10-year-old Daniel Sempere discovers `The Shadow of the Wind' in the Cemetery of Forgotten Books and from that moment his life becomes entwined with and begins to follow a similar path to that of the book's author Julian Carax.
The drama is played out amid the horrors and uncertainties of Revolutionary and Post-revolutionary Barcelona, where class is everything and yet where power rests not only with rich families but with anyone sufficiently ambitious and unscrupulous to take full advantage of the vacuums that war has left. Daniel, the novel's narrator, is none of these things. He is just a normal boy caught up in events beyond his understanding and control, and which threaten to overwhelm him.
Amid the realities of time and place, however, Zafon's sense of humour shines through. He is able to see comedy in the grimmest settings and situations. Indeed, there are passages where the line between grim drama, comedy and even farce is finely drawn, as in many scenes featuring the novel's most endearing character, Fermin Romero de Torres, spy turned tramp turned bookshop guru. It is Fermin who shines a light on life's tragedy and shows us the real meaning of loyalty and friendship.
The Shadow of the Wind has its malevolent villain too, one who evokes shades of Hugo's Javert, though without Javert's morality or redeemability. Fumero is corruption and decadence personified, almost to the point of melodrama.
The novel is literary, for sure, but it is also an historical romance with gothic overtones. Julian Carax haunts its pages with an almost but not quite supernatural presence. Yet amid all the horrors and amorality of this war-torn society resides love that defies class and convention.
Daniel, vaguely reminiscent of John Ridd in Lorna Doone, is a self-deprecating hero. He confesses to being a coward yet he seems not enough of a fool to risk his life when the odds are so stacked against him. When it really matters - to the story - he comes through to his own cost.
Translations are tricky. The translator must not only translate the words but must also capture the mood, the emotion, the sense of time and place and the nuances of language of the original, and present them convincingly as the author's own. He or she must remove that `alien' feel and render the work as acceptable to the reader as a work in his or her own language.
In this translation, Lucia Graves manages to do just that. By the end, I felt I knew the Barcelona of the nineteen-thirties, -forties and -fifties; in her prose, I could feel the texture of the snow; I could be disgusted by the fetidness of the abandoned garrets or be awed at the ostentatious luxury of the upper-class villas; I could hear the clanking of trams as they made their way along the Avenido del Tibidabo or the peal of church bells across the city.
The Shadow of the Wind has all the elements of an enduring classic. It is a story that sometimes shocks but often makes you laugh. And just once or twice, it makes you shed a tear or two.
21 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Ten year Daniel Sempere is brought by his father to a mystery book depository underneath the streets of Barcelona. Here all books are protected from being forgotten or destroyed. His father asks him to choose one book, and swear to protect it for the rest of his life. He picks up a copy of an unknown book by an unknown writer. He loves the book, and his curiosity leads him to investigate the mysterious life of the author. As he does so, he is drawn into a story of murder, betrayal, passion and revenge.
The Shadow of the Wind is an exciting and imaginative gothic thriller, set immediately after the Spanish Civil War, and written in the style of a children's adventure story. The narrative is fast and physical. The characters are colourful or grotesque. The intricate plot spans three generations. Some well defined themes run through the book: the power of literature, secret worlds, repression and injustice, and the conflict between duty to a family versus passionate impulses. However, the characters are a bit too baroque to be emotionally engaging. Some of the writing is very good, but I thought it fell short of its potential. In particular, I felt Zafon pulled away from giving the book the dark ending it deserves, and the final twists rely upon a rather dishonest deception on the part of the author. A fun adventure with some memorable moments, but which may leave you feeling a little flat.
The Shadow of the Wind is an exciting and imaginative gothic thriller, set immediately after the Spanish Civil War, and written in the style of a children's adventure story. The narrative is fast and physical. The characters are colourful or grotesque. The intricate plot spans three generations. Some well defined themes run through the book: the power of literature, secret worlds, repression and injustice, and the conflict between duty to a family versus passionate impulses. However, the characters are a bit too baroque to be emotionally engaging. Some of the writing is very good, but I thought it fell short of its potential. In particular, I felt Zafon pulled away from giving the book the dark ending it deserves, and the final twists rely upon a rather dishonest deception on the part of the author. A fun adventure with some memorable moments, but which may leave you feeling a little flat.
117 of 133 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have never before said this about a new novel, but I have little doubt that Zafon's 'The Shadow of the Wind' will in time attain classic status. The novel tells about the experiences of a young boy named Daniel living in Barcelona, who one day innocently comes across a book called 'The Shadow of the Wind'. After enjoying the book, he is puzzled as to why nobody, even those knowlegable in literature, seem to know anything about the novel's mysterious author - Julian Carax. It is his curiosity to discover more about the life of Julian that sets him on the path to a thrilling but equally dangerous adventure.
The novel contains twist after twist as the story progresses, and the characters, especially Daniel's hilarious friend Fermin, are all likeable. Highly recommended.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Fabulous read!
Extremely atmospheric, dark and mysterious. Grabbed me from the first page and continued throughout the whole book. Read more
Published 1 day ago by Jo
My favourite book. Ever.
This is amazing! Thrilling and mysterious it captures you from the first sentence to the very end. I have never come across a better book, and although I'm only 13 years old, I... Read more
Published 9 days ago by Emily
Shadows of the wind
I loved this book. The translation into English is wonderful and a joy to read. The story was very interesting and kept my attention to the very surprising end.
Published 24 days ago by pedrogas
Great storyteller
This is a very unusual tale which I could hardly put down. Lots of twists and turns and definitely recommended.
Published 29 days ago by WendyS
Absolutely magnificent
This book is quite simply utterly fantastic. 5 stars is not enough. I think I would stick my neck out to say its one of the best books I have ever had the good fortune to read. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Yorkshire Rose
Simply the best...
...book in the world. I couldn't put it down and sleep was an inconvenience until I had finished it.
You'll not be disappointed.
You'll not be disappointed.
Published 1 month ago by hay-ho
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Young Daniel Sempere is taken to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a labyrinth hidden in the depths of Barcelona, by his bookseller father in order to choose a book with a promise... Read more
Published 1 month ago by iandliz
enjoyable
my only complaint with this novel is the sometimes clumsy translation of sections of the story - apart from that it's a really good read.
Published 2 months ago by menapian
Less of a shadow of the wind....more a lot of hot air!
Read this book as part of a reading group recommendation. What a mistake.I found the characters flat and dull,there were too many to keep track of and I didn't feel any empathy... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Isla Swan
Engrossing, riveting, convoluted and overwrought, original
I enjoy lush descriptions of setting and the social milieu of a place and time if there is a page-turning plot; and Carlos Ruiz Zafon gives the reader that. Read more
Published 3 months ago by Millions
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