The Shadow of the Wind | Carlos Ruiz Zafón

The Shadow of the Wind | Carlos Ruiz Zafón | A moving allegory

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The Shadow of the ...

	The Shadow of the Wind Carlos Ruiz Zafón Penguin (Non-Classics), 2005 - 487 pages average customer review:based on 523 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

All time masterpiece.

A long time ago ago Barcelona that you wish you have lived in and breathed in its ancient magical dust and fairytails. The Shadow of the Wind has all the dark fantasy, mystery, human oriented elements you need for a masterpiece of a book that the book itself seems hunted to me. A library with hidden books that were kept from everyone, a copy of Julian Carax one and only novel about the devil (Or?) a young man searching for his place in life in parrarel waves of history of a book he read when he were young. He falls in love with a blind woman, and has an idea who the devil is. Every one is after the book that has so much resemblance with the incidents in his life.
The greatest thing about Carlos Ruiz Zafon is that he blends mystery with magical realism with history with action and a wicked sense of humour in the folds of one book that every page is so entetaining and mesmerizing.
A book you will keep. I have two editions myself.

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A moving allegory

Ruiz Zafon's novel tells the story of Daniel Sempere who grows up in post-Civil War Barcelona. The city is scarred by the war (bullet holes still mark building facades), and the lives of everyone in the city are affected by what took place during the Spanish Civil War (1936-39). Reading this novel, one can easily look at one side of it and think of it solely as the story of Daniel searching for information about Julian Carax, the author of a mysterious novel. However, as I read this book I saw a deeper significance and made another connection.

Ruiz Zafon published this novel in 2001, at a time when Spaniards were looking back at their own past and breaking the "pact of silence" that was made during the transition to democracy in the 70s. It was a huge bestseller in Spain (and, interestingly, in Germany), as it told the story of the modern Spanish experience since the end of the Civil War. It is an allegory for all that has happened since 1936, and the characters represent different segments of the Spanish population.

Think of Daniel as the modern Spaniard, who is searching for meaning in the past and for an understanding of that past. Think of Mr. Sempere and Nuria Monfort as the generation of Spaniards that remembers the Civil War and its effects and who wants to forget. Think of Fumero and Fermin as the opposing sides during the Civil War--each responsible for atrocities. Think of Clara as the political parties that promised change and help but gave none. And most importantly, think of Julian Carax as Spain itself, scarred and devastated, and desperate to eliminate himself from history by destroying any evidence that he existed.

Barcelona itself is a character in the story--an angry, hurt and brooding woman (as Ruiz Zafon describes it), but one that watches over Daniel in his quest for truth and understanding. Consider also Ruiz Zafon's use of light and dark imagery. Here he takes a cue from Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness," and reverses the roles of black and white. The darkest places are the safest, while white and light represent betrayal and danger. (An interesting note: Julian Carax's cat is named Kurtz, the name of the doomed capitain in "Heart of Darkness").

These are just some thoughts that have come my way as a student of Spanish and modern Spanish history. If you have read this book, read it again or flip through it again and consider the possibility of it being an allegory, and perhaps you'll notice something interesting. If you have not read the book, keep an open mind to both aspects of the story: the effect of Julian's book on Daniel's life, and the broader associations with Spain's recent past.

Hope you enjoy it, and I would love to read your comments! This is just a theory I've come up with, so I'm totally open to opinions and feedback.

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I wanted to be there..

This book, "Shadow of the Wind" was one of the best I have read in a long time. I found it in a library cast-off sell. Oddly enough; after reading it, I discover that it may be the book that found me. If you don't understand the premise behind that statement than you need to read the book. This book is excellent and I thoroughly enjoyed every second of reading it. It was the best ten cents I have ever spent. It is one of the books that I will read once or twice a year for the next ten years.

I'm not much of an academic; just an average reader with a voracious appetite for good books. That being said, I don't deem myself qualified nor interested in reviewing the details of the book line after line. What I will tell you is that if you're looking for a book that will hold your attention and keep you interested until the last page; you will find it in "The Shadow of the Wind".

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A B- for Zafon

The Publisher's Weekly review and the one by Steve Koss have it about right. The book's concept and plot are intriguing, but the quality of the writing and some completely implausible incidents and details don't hold up to close attention. That said, I read all 470 pages and finished them feeling torn between being satisfied to see how it all ended and thinking that I'd wasted my time. If you don't expect or demand a literary quality of writing and if you can suspend disbelief, it's a pretty fun ride.

The shadow of a Novel

Among other subjects, this book is really about how one can loose motivation for life, (even to the point of self destruction) and for creativity and expressions. It is a round about way, (maze like) an adventure to recover that spark to write again. A key instrument of the recovery process is a Mont Blanc, Meisterstuck, presumably belonged to Victor Hugo.

Some biographical information on the author: Carols was born in Spain, is a screenwriter living in California. He wrote this book in S...more Among other subjects, this book is really about how one can loose motivation for life, (even to the point of self destruction) and for creativity and expressions. It is a round about way, (maze like) an adventure to recover that spark to write again. A key instrument of the recovery process is a Mont Blanc, Meisterstuck, presumably belonged to Victor Hugo.

Some biographical information on the author: Carols was born in Spain, is a screenwriter living in California. He wrote this book in Spanish. Nothing gets lost in the translations. The book reads the same in English as it does in Polish. The style and structure remains the same. Much of this structure is 'filmic'. That is to say, this book can be made into a film easily. Was this intentional? The author's screen-writing background crafted a book that is both literate and filmic. Does this help or hinder the enjoyment of the book? Part of me thinks it does. I want to read a book for its medium unique in book form. Sometimes, I thought it was like reading a movie, everything fitted too neatly, in a way that is formulaic. I definitely wanted to find out more, much more about the mysterious author, Julian Carax. I did not get the sense of what his brilliance is or about any of the books which he had written. (Is it too far fetched to compare this book to the 'English Patient'? It has elements of secrecy, romance, betrayal and a burned patient whose story is being told in reflections and refractions of the other characters involved, as though in a prism.) I bring up the `English Patience' as a comparison also for its style and structure. Ondaatje, wrote `The English Patience' in a poetic tone and style. It seems difficult to translate this into the film, but the film version tells the same story, just in a different way and just as compelling. I guess this is what I mean by saying that a book should be a book and not a veiled screen play? It is ironic that, the book is about books and paean to books, yet the form is not true to its form. And that's my main critical concern of this book. Having said that, I enjoyed it!

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