From the bookshelf of Good Beginnings…

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, Lucia Graves (Translator)

Start date: November 1, 2009

Finish date: November 30, 2009

Discussion: Group read discussions

Discussion leader: Kirsty

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group discussions about this book

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Group read discussions

Group Read Program and Guidelines
By Beejay — 11 posts (11 new) — 25 views — last updated Jul 22, 2009 04:09PM

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The Bell Jar - October 2009
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The Shadow of the Wind - November 2009
By Mandy — 212 posts (212 new) — 15 views — last updated 17 days ago, 01:54PM

* The Reader - December 2009
By Mandy — 32 posts (32 new) — 17 views — last updated 1 day ago, 07:57PM

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what members thought

Jan 26, 2008

Doug rated it:

Read in September, 2005

From the very first page the book grabs you and takes you away to a time and place set 55 years ago through the eyes of a young, innocent, extremely likable and intelligent boy named Daniel who lives in Barcelona, Spain during the political upheaval and the problems of the area caused by the war and revolution. Daniel has a host of very helpful characters around him including his father, a beggar, a blind older girl whom he is obsessed with, the writer of a novel that Daniel has read and loved a...more From the very first page the book grabs you and takes you away to a time and place set 55 years ago through the eyes of a young, innocent, extremely likable and intelligent boy named Daniel who lives in Barcelona, Spain during the political upheaval and the problems of the area caused by the war and revolution. Daniel has a host of very helpful characters around him including his father, a beggar, a blind older girl whom he is obsessed with, the writer of a novel that Daniel has read and loved as a ten year old and a host of other colorful, interesting and well described characters.

The brilliance of the author is that he is able to give each character a very well defined and amazingly intricate role in defining Daniel's future, his relationship with women, his dedication to a cause, his sympathy for people in need and his hatred of those characters who are guided by revenge and selfishness. There is a lot of clever and fun humor and precious insights from the philsopher beggar who becomes Daniels best friend and guide. There is real love and passion from a father who is simple, hard working, has lost his wife (Daniel's mother) and is trying to do the best thing for his son. And there is real feeling and coming of age love from Daniel toward several beautiful females who all help define his life and growth. These relationships are real, sometimes heartbreaking, sometimes sexual and always touching.

The book also gets into the dynamics of the father and son role and how important that role is in guiding a young man into adulthood. There are four different such relationships in the book each describing a different part of growing up both from Daniel's perspective and from the viewpoint of each of the man's love for Daniel.

The book is literature. It is a complicated, humorous, fun, serious, sometimes amazingly sad and serious work. As others here have mentioned, it could be condensed a bit, but on the other hand, it is such an enjoyable read, that cutting any of it out would have been a mistake. Real readers, be prepared to get lost in this world for a few days. I think you'll love it.

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Sep 08, 2009

Colleen rated it:

Read in December, 2009

I started out loving this book,the writing style, so descriptive with so many memorable quotes. But in the end these very things started to irritate me. It just seemed to drag on and on and I didn't think I was ever going to finish it. The characters that at first found interesting, I just lost interest in.

*******SPOILERS*********
I did love Fermin, and I got the father / son relationships, but when it came to the romantic attachments they just didn't ring true for me. They jus...more

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Nov 03, 2009

Glenn rated it:

(review of isbn 1594200106)

bookshelves: contemporary-literature, good-beginnings-group-reads

Read in October, 2009

Intricately woven tale that takes place in the mid 20th century in Barcelona, but reads and feels like it might have taken place much earlier, like the 1700's or so. It's about a mysterious writer named Julian Carax, a young boy who obtains a copy of one of the few remaining copies of Carax's books, and why someone would be trying to find and burn all the remaining copies of Carax's books. It's so much more than that as well, introducing many other characters into the story. I really enjoyed the...more

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2 comments

Sep 18, 2009

Kathy rated it:

(review of other edition)

Read in December, 2008

This is a fantastic book...everything from romance to suspense to thriller to gothic mystery. Very evocative. Excellent characters.

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Nov 23, 2009

Beejay rated it:

bookshelves: did-not-even-finish, good-beginnings

Read in November, 2009

Over-rated, over-long, over and out.

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Mar 12, 2009

Stef rated it:

(review of isbn 3518459023)

bookshelves: fiction, read-in-2009

Read in April, 2009

Wonderful book. Interesting charakters, great plot, even more interesting unexpecting turns. It started out a little bit slow but half way through it got better and better and I wasn't able to put it down. Read the last 200 pages without interruption.

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Jul 26, 2009

Debra rated it:

(review of isbn 0753820250)

bookshelves: absolute-favourites, book-club-reads

Read in October, 2009

wow what a wonderful read..... so beautifully written... the story immense with twists and turns I loved it...... a story about a boy and his quest to discover the identity of an author.... and so the journey begins...
will write more when i have digested it....

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Aug 29, 2009

Kathleen rated it:

bookshelves: book-club, kids_and_teens

Read in November, 2009

recommends it for: Demorah

Too good to be missed. Intricate and slowly-weaving story will capture you from the start. Wordy and smart, but not in the least pretentious. Just darn good writing.

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