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Mar 26, 2011

Jamie rated it:

There's probably nothing much I "learned" in the introspective sense, but this is a novel like a novel ought to be. This is an epic film on paper, gloomy and engaging, smokey, noir with crumbling ruins, young love, disfigurment, lust, torture...the stuff of Dumas, DuMauier and, as of late, The Historian. I woke up at five a.m. and had to sweet talk myself back to sleep: all I wanted to do was read. One Friday, after work, I took sanctuary in The Hotel Biron, those little tables in t More...

9 comments like (131 people liked it)

Jul 30, 2010

Annalisa rated it:

I read the opening few pages and instantly knew 3 things:
1. I was going to love this book.
2. I needed a whole pad of post-its to mark quotes.
3. I wanted to read this in Spanish for the rich poetry the language would add.

A young boy Daniel is taken by his father to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books and told to salvage a book which he must take stewardship over. He choses a novel—or maybe it chose him—that touches him, stirs his desire for literature, and forever entang More...

24 comments like (91 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Lola rated it:

I found this novel by accident, while quickly browsing shelves at the local library, and let me just say it was the best accidental find i've had in years. From the very first line to the end i loved it, and as a reader i am not easily pleased by anything. I love stories out of the ordinary that captivate my imagination and run away with it. That is exactly what The Shadow of The Wind did.

Right off the bat the plot intrigued me, Daniel Sempere is taken to the a secret labyrinth of fo More...

5 comments like (48 people liked it)

Feb 03, 2012

Lauren rated it:

Ruiz Zafón has created a near-perfect novel: seductive and intriguing characters, a brilliant Spanish locale, and a lyrical style reminiscent of past literary masters. I found myself reading passages countless times just to savor the words. The language was so solid and mesmerizing, I could not believe it was a translation. The story lingers in your mind hours and days after reading it, and I become nostalgic; wishing I could read it again for the first time.

When Daniel Sempere first More...

1 comment like (13 people liked it)

Dec 17, 2009

Dracolibris rated it:

This book had me hooked when the young protagonist is taken to "The Cemetery of Forgotten Books" by his father in 1945 Barcelona. There he is allowed to choose one book that he will "adopt" and take care of, making sure it is never forgotten. He picks, seemingly at random, a book titled "The Shadow of the Wind" by an unknown author named Julian Carax.

But problems arise when, as the years go by, it becomes apparent that someone wants to make sure that More...

3 comments like (18 people liked it)

Apr 03, 2008

Deb rated it:

I bought a copy of this book last September at the library's book sale, but it languished unread on my shelf until yesterday. What prompted me to pick it up was this: I was browsing through the backlist and pre-orders at Subterranean Press because of an author I'd found who releases specialized, small run stories that I thought I'd like to read. (Caitlin R. Kiernan) Turns out her books now run about $40-60 a pop and are generally only available third hand. As I browsed down the list, I saw that More...

2 comments like (32 people liked it)

Jan 05, 2010

Kelly rated it:

Trying too hard. I wonder if I hadn't read this right after Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell if I would have liked it better. They were both trying to pay homage to the gothic/Romantic era writers, except that Strange and Norrell was brilliant, and this one was.. eh. I appreciated what the author was trying to do, but he didn't do it well enough to keep me reading. Yes, Romantic lit is full of cliche, but the thing is to do it in an intriguing way and with enough wit to keep your audience intere More...

48 comments like (34 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Monique rated it:

This is my favorite book of all time! It is my goal in life to have everyone read this. There wasn't a dull moment and it keeps you guessing.

"The time is the 1950s; the place, Barcelona. Daniel Sempere, the son of a widowed bookstore owner, is 10 when he discovers a novel, The Shadow of the Wind, by Julián Carax. The novel is rare, the author obscure, and rumors tell of a horribly disfigured man who has been burning every copy he can find of Carax's novels. The man calls himse More...

3 comments like (19 people liked it)

Oct 10, 2011

Lance Greenfield rated it:

A book within a book

There are so many layers, and levels, and intertwining stories within this book. The main story is begins in 1945 with a ten-year-old Barcelona boy, Daniel Sempere, being taken to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, by his bookseller father, to choose a book, which he must keep alive.

Daniel chooses The Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax. The book and the mystery surrounding its author, who appears to have suffered his fate in a duel in Paris, soon infatua More...

0 comments like (7 people liked it)

Feb 17, 2011

Emir rated it:

"I still remember the day my father took me to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books for the first time."

Thus begins The Shadow of the Wind. At once, Carlos Ruiz Zafón grabs your attention, hinting of mysteries. From that portentous opening, Zafón trails one way then another, and another, and more. The Shadow of the Wind consist of tangles of unbelievable stories set in a bewitching Barcelona, where shadows move and identities are multiplied and blurred.

Everything t More...

19 comments like (8 people liked it)

Aug 21, 2011

Giovanni rated it:

L'ho comprato perché ha stregato milioni di lettori in tutto il mondo. Hai visto mai che mi sono perso il libro che poi, tra dieci anni, un giorno qualunque che te ne stai bello tranquillo a farti le tue cose, arriva uno e ti dice:
«NON HAI LETTO l'Ombra del Vento? Ma sei impazzito? Vattene, non sei più mio amico.»
Allora l'ho comprato e tra una cosa e l'altra ci ho impiegato più di un mese a finirlo.
Non per colpa del libro, ma della vita.
E con la frase appena scritta (sopra) More...

0 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jan 05, 2009

Daniel rated it:

After reading The Shadow of the Wind, I was left with somewhat mixed feelings. On the one hand, this is such a beautifully written book, and is in essence an ode to literature. On the other hand, there are some serious flaws which distracts from the whole experience.

The best thing about the book, in my opinion, is Zafon's skill in artistic writing. It reminds me of why I love to read in the first place, and makes me wish I could write as beautiful as this. The book contains lots of More...

12 comments like (73 people liked it)

Jan 26, 2008

Suzy rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

3 comments like (23 people liked it)

Oct 05, 2007

Ben rated it:

My favorite book since Blindness. A must read for bibliophiles and a pretty good mystery, if you like that sort of thing. Below is my booktalk for this one, also from library school.

The Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

On Daniel Sepere’s 10th birthday, his father takes him to a cemetery. Instead of holding people, however, this cemetery is an underground library, and it is the final resting place of books. It is the Cemetery of Forgotten books, and it houses book More...

1 comment like (7 people liked it)

Dec 28, 2011

Judy rated it:

Zafon combines romance and mystery in this coming-of-age thriller to perfection. The only thing I could knock it for would be that some of his characterization isn't well-defined. A couple of the characters are quite similar in speech and personality. This normally would be a big deal to me, but the witty banter had me too entertained to care.

Young Daniel's father is concerned because his son still mourns the death of his mother. Hence, he makes the decision to introduce Daniel to t More...

20 comments like (4 people liked it)

Nov 07, 2011

umberto rated it:

In fact I came across this novel some few months ago at Kinokuniya Bookstore in BKK but I decided not to buy it then, I thought I didn't have time to finish its 500+ pages. I wasn't sure if it's a page-turner and I had never heard of Carlos Ruiz Zafon or read his book before.

However, I bought a copy from one of the booths in our annual Book Expo XVI held early this month in BBK. Surprisingly, its first page thrilled me with words I've never read before: "The only thing I can rec More...

24 comments like (6 people liked it)

Nov 03, 2011

Ricardo rated it:

“- Este lugar é um mistério, Daniel, um santuário. Cada livro, cada volume que vês, tem alma. A alma de quem o escreveu e a alma dos que o leram e viveram e sonharam com ele. Cada vez que um livro muda de mãos, cada vez que alguém desliza o olhar pelas suas páginas, o seu espírito cresce e torna-se forte. (...)
Quando uma biblioteca desaparece, quando uma livraria fecha as suas portas, quando um livro se perde no esquecimento, os que conhecemos este lugar, os guardiães, asseguramo-nos de qu More...

6 comments like (4 people liked it)

Mar 04, 2008

Khaya rated it:

I loved this. It had so many elements of a great novel -- romance, mystery, richly drawn characters, humor, a story within a story (with both plots equally enjoyable and dovetailing in interesting ways), and great writing -- even in translation. Someone compared it to "History of Love." I sort of see the comparison, but I think I would compare it more to "The Thirteenth Tale" by Diane Setterfield. Anyway, I highly recommend it.

18 comments like (8 people liked it)

Nov 05, 2011

Carol rated it:

Several of my GoodReads friends really loved Shadow of the Wind. Paul and Helen nudged me to move it up on my list and I can't thank them enough for this. I have just spent the last week reading one of the most engaging novels that I've read this past year. Watch out everyone. I'm going to badger you until you read it too.

Shadow of the Wind is a bit of a humbling experience; I'm truly not certain I can do it justice. If you're a book lover, someone who loves to read, who appreciates More...

8 comments like (8 people liked it)

Jan 01, 2012

Scarlett rated it:

[Note - This review will not contain names of any of the characters, because I don't trust myself to not reveal the plot of the story, and I want anyone who reads this review to actually read this book]

A tale of passionate love, till the end of time friendship, ruthless hatred and extreme sorrow, the words in Shadow of the Wind wove a beautiful world of the early nineties in my mind in Barcelona.

What entirely captured my attention in the first few pages and let me read the fi More...

9 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 15, 2012

Tanychy rated it:

The fact is that I’ll never be able to write a real review of this book. Here is why :

1. I’m not good enough.
I’m not now and I’ll never be. It doesn’t matter how many books you have read or how smart you are, you’re never good enough for that. You won’t be able to find exact words and it’s not just you. Only person who can is the author himself, but I think he already said everything he wanted.
Don’t believe me?
- “Books are mirrors - you only see in them what yo More...

8 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jun 25, 2010

Henry rated it:

First, let me say this book is ridiculously hard to summarize. It required a little more time and attention than most other fiction I have read, mainly because it is the sort of mystery in which tiny details are given throughout, and most of them play an important part in piecing everything together by the end of the book. The story is told in layers and each is interdependent on other layers.

The novel is the story of Daniel Sempere, who at age 10 is taken by his father, a Barcelona More...

3 comments like (5 people liked it)

Jan 14, 2010

L rated it:

Loved it! Loved it! Loved it! I fell in love with this book (which begins with a young boy falling in love with a book) from the first few pages and never looked back. It did what we often hope our books will do; it took me out of the sort of bad place I've been in recently. Ok, so the place it took me is fascist Spain, but the story is about navigating that place and time, living one's life, and the power of books in all of this.

There is a mystery, a wonderful one. There are wonder More...

1 comment like (5 people liked it)

Mar 24, 2011

Alethea rated it:

-*-The item pictured above is a special edition--I haven't received it yet! It comes out at the end of the year. I can't wait to see it.-*-

Wow. A must-read for book lovers, all the way to the Dramatis Personae at the end. Sumptuous prose and melodrama, a full cavalcade of carefully wrought characters, suspense, romance, gothic horror and best of all, it is read on CD by my new favorite audiobook reader, Jonathan Davis. (He also reads The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.) If I ever los More...

3 comments like (4 people liked it)

Aug 21, 2008

Katie rated it:

This book tells the story of Daniel Sempere, the son of a rare book dealer who one day stumbles upon a mysterious book by a mysterious author called Julián Carax. Daniel tries to find out more of Carax’s work and discovers that almost all Carax’s novels are being systematically destroyed by a shadowy figure who refers to himself by the name of one of Carax’s characters. Thus is a mystery launched, as Daniel attempts to unravel Carax’s secrets and figure out why his novels are being burned.
More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Jul 07, 2010

Julia rated it:

I was surprised by that one.

My friend reccomended me to read it.
She bought me three books from the 'Princess Diares' series for my 16 birthday , so I wasn't expecting much of 'The Shadow of the Wind'.But suprisingly It turned out as an interesting, and fascinating mystery book. The plot, the characters, the ideas of the book, the setting - everything was just perfect! I was sucked into it.. without even noticing..
The whole book was read at one piece. I Started reading a More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 22, 2010

Simon rated it:

It's been a couple years since I read this book so I shouldn't and won't go into details, but the effect has lingered all this time. There's no other book I'm quicker to recommend than this one. It's not that it's particularly important in a lot of the ways "important" books are, it's just that it works as pure reading pleasure (and sometimes, just sometimes, isn't that enough?); so I find reviews from people desperate to discover structural flaws and stylistic cliches to be entirely m More...

1 comment like (5 people liked it)

Dec 16, 2009

Jordan rated it:

This book SEEMED like it was going to be so good - a dark mystery set in post-war Barcelona, with tragic love and a place called The Cemetary of Forgotton Books... what's not to love? (To be honest, I'm not a fan of tragic love, but everything else at least seemed great). But while I was vaguely curious to see how everything pieced together, I didn't like or care about any of the characters, and dialogue like "Sometimes I no longer know who you are," kept me at a distance. The book ne More...

4 comments like (18 people liked it)

Jan 29, 2008

Evelyn rated it:

On his eleventh birthday, Daniel is initiated into the secrets of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. There, he is entranced by a book by Julian Carax whose other books are being systematically hunted down and burned by a mysterious stranger. Daniel's quest to discover why leads him into a labyrinth of love, murder, and hope.

Outstanding writing, unforgettable characters, and a multi-layered story with depths of meaning. This book is a treasure--suspenseful, poetic, and mysterious. For More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Jul 30, 2008

Erin and Jim rated it:

Carlos Ruiz Zafon's "The Shadow of the Wind" is terrific. It could be described as a gothic, mysterious novel, but such adjectives are limiting. It's a moving story set in Barcelona, 1945. "Bea says that the art of reading is slowly dying, that it's an intimate ritual, that a book is a mirror that offers us only what we already carry inside us, that when we read, we do it with all our heart and mind, and great readers are becoming more scarce by the day." And that's just o More...

1 comment like (6 people liked it)