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Summary: A MANY LAYERED TALE - PRIME LISTENING
Review: "Blockbuster debut novel" has become an overworked phrase, however it's on target accurate when applied to "The Shadow Of The Wind" the first effort by Barcelona born Carlos Ruiz Zafon. Rights to this epic tale have been sold in more than 20 countries, and it has been #1 in Spain for weeks. Give a listen to the virtuoso voice performance by New York-based actor/writer Jonathan Davis, and you'll soon understand what all the hoopla is about. Zafon has chosen Barcelona in the year 1945 as his setting. Daniel, 11-years-old, is the only child of an antiquarian book dealer. Remorseful that he cannot remember his late mother, the boy needs something to occupy his mind. To this end, his father takes him to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a place that is carefully guarded and loyally tended by a group of the city's rare book dealers. It is here in this unique place that all the books forgotten by the world are kept. Daniel's father challenges the boy to choose just one book, only one of thousands but one that will have special meaning for him. His selection is "The Shadow of the Wind." Eventually, listeners, along with Daniel, meet the strange author of the chosen book, Lain Coubert. Yes, the book does have special meaning for Daniel, but it also exercises mysterious powers which the boy tries to unravel. He's helped in this quest by Ferman, a vagabond, and hindered by Javier Fumero, a dictatorial police chief who seeks to find out what Daniel has learned. Of course, there are women: Clara, both blind and beautiful, and Beatriz Aguilar. "The Shadow of the Wind" is a many layered tale consisting of mystery, thrills, history, romance. Everything a listener/reader looks for in a spellbinding story is presented with imagination and originality. We eagerly await a second novel from the gifted Mr. Zafon. - Gail Cooke
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Summary: Definately a Keeper!
Review: As a military spouse, I only keep the books that have made an impact on me and that I know I will read again. This is one of those books. I stayed up until 3AM so I could finish reading it and it was wonderful. This book is all about how books can affect your life, particularly the good ones. I find myself thinking about the characters and the story at different times during the day, wishing there were more. This book is written like a classic - nothing too overdone but but everything is woven together beautifully. I'm anxious for his next book!
Rating: 
Summary: Almost Five Stars
Review: As others have stated, this novel could have benefitted with a bit of editing here and there, and I wonder if the translation takes a bit away from the impact of the original Spanish. But, I was entranced by the characters and the plot (I did figure out a big plot twist way before it happened; I thought it too obvious to be true). There are many faults that could be pointed out in this work, but there are many wonderful moments as well. One chapter in particular, which I won't mention for fear of spoiling things, I found to be absolutely hypnotic and breathtaking. I hope more of Zafon's books are translated into English, and soon.
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Summary: A book you won't forget
Review: I bought the book at the Airport without much expectations, rather as a way to help me go thorugh my two-hours flight. I opened it right before take-off, and not only did I read it to the moment I was forced to leave the plane, but I kept on reading it while waiting for my luggage, on the taxi, and until approximately 2 AM at home (sorry, honey).
The Shadow of the Wind is one of those books whose essence is hard to transmit to someone who hasn't read it. Mr Zafon has a magical way of describing places and people while keeping you turning the pages at the speed of light. The succession of scenes is breathtaking, as are each individual scene (my favourite by far is the cementery of forgotten books). Seemingly unimportant characters suddenly become central, while new characters seem to appear all the time. Throughout the book, the main story wanders around in intricate and unexpected ways while at the same time remaining coherent.
The books includes some elements of Umberto Eco (The Name of the Rose) and Garcia Marquez (whose "Magical Realism" was borrowed by Tim Burton for "Big Fish").
All in all, the only sure thing is that I haven't found a story like this in a long time, and next time Mr Zafon gets another book out, I'll be the first on Amazon's pre-order list.
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Summary: Wonderful
Review: I can't believe this is Zafron's first book. I wish there were more so I could hunt them down. This is one of those books that you should give to anyone who loves to read. The characters, the plot, the dialogue, everything was near perfect.
He will have a hard time following this with a better book, but I hope he tries. SOON.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best
Review: I find usually a book either has a fast pace or detailed descriptions. This book has both, as well as deeply individual characters, a fascinating plot, a sense of time and place, and beautifully formed sentences. I have fallen in love with this awesome book. I have a feeling it'll be one of those I buy lots of copies for gift-giving.
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Summary: Perhaps the best novel I've read in my life
Review: I finished reading this intensely seductive and rewarding masterpiece two days ago. Since then I've been unable to get it out of my mind, and I think you won't either. The characters, the plot and specially the extremely powerful and clever brand of storytelling deployed here seem to have left me under a spell that I can't remember experiencing with any other book I've read in the last 25 years. The promise of the magic first few pages, a stunning and seductive journey to a wonderful place called "the cemetery of forgotten books", not only doesn't let down, but steadily builds up into a magnificent saga of intrigue, romance, passion, murder, satire and even spine-chilling touches of gothic suspense. This is literature of the highest order, but I think it is also the most intelligent, often wickedly so, piece of entertainment I've come across. It manages to be at the same time an epic love story, a spellbinding mystery about enigmatic books, a meditation on the power of literature and the boundaries between fact and fiction and a grand saga in the tradition of the 19th century classics. I could see a lot of Dickens and Victor Hugo here, but somehow powered and intensified by an mesmerizing cinematic drive that places the reader inside the story and its world. I read for hours on end, marveled by the language, the wonderfully drawn characters and the many secrets of the story. I felt echoes of Poe, Borges, Garcia Marquez, Eco, Wilkie Collins, Balzac and many others. But the voice here was entirely original, unique, unlike anything else I've read before. And modern, very modern, despite the references to those classic novels. I think a book like this comes once in a reader's lifetime. It becomes much more than a engrossing read, it reminds you why you are a reader and makes you much more aware of the power of great literature to touch your life. Above all, I don't remember having this much fun in ages, and at the same time I was moved, sometimes to tears, sometimes to terror, sometimes to hysterical laugh, beyond what I had thought a book could take me to. As I was reaching the conclusion, I felt I did not want it to end. I would reread scenes or chapters, much like young Daniel does in the novel when he finds the book that will change his life. In many ways this shadow of the wind made me a young Daniel, made me experience again the thrills of first love, the times when life held mystery and promise and I dreamed some day I could find and experience such a extraordinary work of fiction as this one. I recommend this novel 100%. I would even urge you to read it and not miss what most possibly will be one of the most intense, engrossing, rewarding and magical experiences in your life as a reader.
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Summary: I loved this book!
Review: I had trouble putting THE SHADOW OF THE WIND down. Great descriptions of Barcelona (which is a wonderful city for the story), interesting post-Spanish-civil-war times, and lots of intrigue surrounding a rare and valuable novel. Though I sometimes predicted the perpetrator of certain mysterious actions, the book never ceased to delight and surprise me. I highly recommend the book to anyone searching for an engrossing and fun novel--a mystery with a lot of passion mixed in, as well as a glimpse of another time and place.
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Summary: Excellent Novel - Will Be A Classic
Review: I loved this book. I found the plot gripping and mysterious, the characters interesting, the atmosphere dark and convincing. I couldn't put it down. I like a good mystery and this a good one. I guessed one of the main plot twists as well -- I think you are supposed to get that one early. It doesn't detract from the suspense. The characters held my interest all along. The writing (and translation -- I read it in English, not the original Spanish) is crisp and clear and yet uses a quirky and evocative vocabulary to paint a strong picture without being self-consciously "literary."
The words that come from the mouth of Fermin are brilliant. He's is the crazy, wise, over-the-top sage. The parallels in the story are satisfying.
Several reviewers have complained about the plot. What's not to like? It's complex, intriguing, twisted. And the story has a satisfactory resolution in the end. You also find out who the characters are and what happens to them.
This novel was a huge best seller in Spain. I found the translation by Lucia Graves (daughter of Robert Graves) to be excellent.
Some reviewers are picking nits such as errors in historical minutiae, Spanish grammar, and geography. (I have spent a lot of time in Europe and have been to Spain, but the "errors" didn't bother me any. One reviewer even admits that he is guessing that the must be errors of Barcelona geography.) It's a novel! When the complaints go to that low a level, it should indicate to you how good the book is overall. Other reviewers have unfavorably contrasted the book to G. Marquez's, "100 Years of Solitude." Well, OK, if you have to use a Nobel Prize winner to draw a constrast, that should also indicate the level this book reaches!
I would compare this novel to, "Girl With a Pearl Earring," "The Way the Crow Flies," "The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime." It's very different from all of these; but it shares with them a evocation of mood, strong characters, and the ability to draw you into the book and make you want to keep on reading. And excellent read.
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Summary: Highly unusual
Review: I read the description of this book and thought: Either this is going to be an absolute mess, or this is going to be sheer genius. Fortunately, the latter prevalied. Zafon is a master storyteller in the tradition of Marquez, Capote, or McCrae. This type of material in any other author's hands would be horrible, but Zafon weaves such a wonderful tapestry for us that the effect is mezmerizing. A great novel in the tradition of "One Hundred Years of Solitude" or "The Bark of the Dogwood," this stellar read won't disappoint.
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