The Shadow of the Wind

Rating:
Summary: A seduction of vision
Review: Slipping into this wondrous novel is like slipping into a warm bath for your mind and soul. This is the art of literature at its best, and an entertainment that is exhilerating, honest, fun. You'll feel great reading and for having read this book.

Rating:
Summary: The Critic's Rave Reviews are all Correct
Review: The enthusiastic praise and adulation which critics have accorded the english publication of Carlo Ruiz Zafon's first novel, "The Shadow of the Wind", may trouble the reader who begins the book, worried that little might match his expectations. After all, reviewers who compare a writer's work to a combination of Umberto Eco, or Jorge Luis Borges, or Gabriel Garcia Marquez, or other literary giants, compel the reader to expect to be transported when they open the book.

Not to worry.

Once started, the single downside for the reader will be knowing that the experience must end. The plot is quite complex, the jacket cover's synopsis will give the reader all he needs to know. The important thing is to read it slowly and carefully.

A mystery story, a fairy tale, a love story (actually several love stories), a passion for literature, a treatise on politics, a bawdy tale, with love, hate, courage, intrigue, loss of innocence, humor, cowardice, villainy, cruelty, compassion, regret, murder, incest, redemption, and more. Add to this delicious mixture characters who come alive, and whose thoughts and feelings you will feel deeply.

What a great pleasure to discover; an extraordinary first work, one which towers over the endless and repetative volumes which inhabit today's "Best Seller" lists. Read it, and become hypnotized.

Edward Jawer
Wyncote, Pa.
[e-mail]

Rating:
Summary: An adventure in reading
Review: THE SHADOW OF THE WIND by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (Translated by Lucia Graves)

February 5, 2005

This book may well be on my top 40 list for 2005. THE SHADOW OF THE WIND plays two roles - it's the title of this book by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, as well as the title of a book by Julian Carax, a character in this book by Zafon who becomes a focal point in the life of young Daniel Sempere.

Daniel is taken by his father to a secret place known as "The Cemetery of Forgotten Books" and finds the only book still available by Julian Carax. What Daniel wants to know is why all of Julian Carax's books have disappeared, and he spends his days and nights trying to solve the mystery. The more involved he gets, the more he finds himself in danger for his life. Along with his best friend Fermin, Daniel takes it upon himself, against the advice of more than one person, to find out what happened to Julian and the books that he had written over the years. Who was destroying the books? And who was Julian?

The charm of this book is not just the dual stories of Daniel and Julian, but the many characters that fill the pages. Larger than life personalities, they add to the fantastic story that builds into the climax, a twist of an ending which I did not see coming. The book is rather long, but I think that anyone that can finish this book will find that they will find satisfaction with it. It was well worth my time, and I hope to read other books by this author. THE SHADOW OF THE WIND shows what good story telling is all about.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful use of language but disappointing plot
Review: This book starts out with an engaging premise and an appealing narrator, a ten year-old boy. The author's prose is lyrical, and so much admired by this wordsmith that I was certain I was going to love the book to the end. Unfortunately, I was soon disappointed.

I found the plot unnecessarily convoluted and involved too many characters. Each time I picked up the novel and turned to my bookmarked page, I had to re-read the previous half a dozen pages to put myself back into the scene and remind myself of the who's whos. If an avid reader has to do that, there is something wrong with the writing. As the novel progressed, the plot became so blatantly melodramatic and predictable that my frustrations mounted. By the end, I just wanted to get through to the final page so that I could open my next novel.

For me, the battered, homeless hero remains an unforgettable character, and perhaps the book is worth reading for that image alone.

Rating:
Summary: Superb!
Review: This has got to be with out a doubt, one of the best books that I have read. If you can read the book in Spanish, even if you must strugle a bit, better yet! Zafon simply takes the language of Cervantes and uses it as a brush with which to paint this wonderful and intriguing story of a father and son in 1940's Barcelona. This is a must book to read and treasure. It holds its own with the great ones.

Rating:
Summary: Dr. Larry Seymour
Review: This is one of the most enjoyable books I have read in two years. Its plot line is complicated, with one life paralleling a generation earlier life. At times it is hard to follow which life is being talked about. A character in the story,Fermin, has some very funny observations about the human condition. Actually worth a reread.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful Read
Review: This was one the best books I have read in at least a year. I had trouble putting it down. I read a lot and I haven't got into a book and it characters likes this in quite some time. I highly recomend it to anyone who likes a good read with some history and intrigue.