July Read #2 - The Shadow of the Wind

[Ahtims]

I liked it too. It started slow but steady, accelerated progressively and culminated with a crescendo. It held my attention throughout, providing reasonable explanations to the seemingly obscure incidents, descriptions of people and inanimate things almost perfect as to make me visualise them, lots of interesting charecters and above all, the possibility of a maze of a library to fulfil one's literary needs. I envied Daniel and his dad for their cozy occupation, laughed with and empathised with Fermin, related to all the female charecters and overall enjoyed the slightly gothic (if I may call so) feel of the book. The epilogue at the end neatly summed up things. I didn't have a favourite charecters, but liked most for who they were, except perhaps the nasty inspector, Javier.
2nd in the series would be eagerly awaited.

[Srividya]

@Smitha - I also hated Javier but at the same time admired the author for so beautifully creating such a character and giving him such twists and turns and connecting him with all the events that happened. It truly fascinated me that a villain such as he was created without any frills or fancies that you tend to expect from such characters.

[Ahtims]

That's true. I initially pitied the child Javier.

[Versha]

Finished and just loved everything about this book.

[Anirudh]

Varsha wrote: "Finished and just loved everything about this book."

So fast :) Who is your favourite character? :)

Smitha wrote: "That's true. I initially pitied the child Javier."

He was a good villain :) Pretty cold and nasty

[Anirudh]

When I nominated this book I didn't think so many of you would come to like it :D

[Srividya]

Yayy Varsh.. I knew you would love the book :) :)

[Versha]

@Anirudh: First of all thanks for the suggestion :P I know.. i have finished it rather fast but for me it was like the longest time ever thats how i am feeling.
Every character carried some sad story with them I liked them all but my favorite character is Nuria Monfort I don't know why may be because of her letter ,it touched my heart. Who is yours.. I think Fermín isn't it?

@Sri: Yes i did! :) Who is your favorite character Sri?

[Srividya]

@Varsh - I loved all the characters but I loved Fermin best because of who he was and how he came across. There was a mix of fun, poignancy as well as immense strength and love in that character.

[Ahtims]

I liked almost all, except the obvious villain. Perhaps liked Daniel the most - for his love of books, level headedness, vulnerability yet sheer determination, reliability and loyalty.
Liked Fermin too, and sympathised for the unseen yet powerful wounds he carried. Nuria and Bea were wonderfully portrayed, but Clara lacked essential something.

[Versha]

Yes Smitha I agree in the end Clara lacked something the way she was potrayed in begining it was totally different...may be as a narrator Daniel stopped giving her any importance in the story because he didn't care for her much! :P

[Srividya]

I think Clara stopped being of any importance to Daniel after the first part of the book. He overcame his feelings for her, which in turn got transferred to Nuria and then Bea. If you look at it, the book progresses very well in terms of drawing parallels and therefore Clara had no role to play in Daniel's life and therefore no role to play in the book.. I guess that's why the author minimized her role to that of a background player rather than a front runner.

[Ahtims]

Yes, makes sense. Importance alloted to her character in the beginning mislead me in thinking that she had a pivotal role throughout. Anyway she wasn't totally forgotten. She was given a niche in the epilogue :-)

[Anirudh]

@Varsha, thank :)

Actually though I loved Fermin's character I was also quite taken by Miquel Moliner

[Anirudh]

The parallels between the life of Julian and Daniel was really nice. The author managed to mix two separate lives set in two different times splendidly.

And there were so many twists!! More often than not I found myself guessing things incorrectly.

[Ahtims]

I initially mistook (view spoiler)[ Julian for some paranormal devilish character. (hide spoiler)]

[Anirudh]

Smitha wrote: "I initially mistook [spoilers removed]"

Sometimes the novel feels like it has a supernatural element :)

[Sumit]

Finally finished reading this and my reaction is - WOW!

Magical realism in the same league as Gabriel Garcia Marquez and character development and plot in the same league as Rohinton Mistry.

The only thing that was a slight letdown was the ending.

(view spoiler)[I don't like 'and they lived happily ever after' endings. Especially when the characters have battled circumstances throughout the book. (hide spoiler)]

[Anirudh]

(view spoiler)[ Its not really a happily every after ending. Julian and all his friends suffered and did not get a happy ending. There was already plenty of melancholy. That's why I think Daniel got a good ending. Even then he loses the friendship of his friend. (hide spoiler)]

[Versha]

I agree the ending was a bit dramatic (view spoiler)[even Daniel's survival part too but as Anirudh said i think author gave a bit different ending for Daniel so that it won't end up same as Julian's which was very tragic. (hide spoiler)]

[Ahtims]

Is the second in the series translated in English?
(view spoiler)[ Perhaps the younger Julian will continue the legacy. (hide spoiler)]

[Anirudh]

The 2nd and 3rd book have been already translated.

[Srividya]

(view spoiler)[I will admit I loved the ending, the drama and the happily ever after. Given that the whole book was filled with one tragedy after another, it was as if the author had heard my pleas and decided to give a happy ending. :P :)

On a serious note though, I believe that every transaction in life (if we may call living a transaction that happens between us and the universe) has two distinct paths, each depending on the choices that we make, with each path having an end of its own. I believe, and this is my personal interpretation, that the author showed us two parallel lives, each leading up to the climax in a similar way, although having some differences; and therefore each with an ending slightly different than the other. I could be wrong in my interpretation but if you were to look at and accept that Julian's and Daniel's lives were parallels of each other, it is obvious that the author wanted each to have a different ending, if only to show that firstly parallels need not be the same and secondly, it is a matter of choices ultimately, which decides what happens next.

Bea had the chance to escape, something which Penelope did not. And therefore, came about the prime difference. On the other hand, both Julian and Daniel lost their good friend while being saved from death, which is similar in approach. When looked at from this point of view, I believe the end makes sense.

And finally, as I said earlier, I love HEAs in such stories, it gives me hope. :)

Also, I agree with the general view that maybe he lived to take the story forward. We will know that only after reading the entire series or at least the next book in the series. (hide spoiler)]

[Ahtims]

Yes, agree there.

[Versha]

*** Spoiler***

Very well said Sri, even I am sucker for Happy Endings but it should be a bit logical! :P And here in this story there were enough tragedy already to give Daniel’s story a sad ending too. I wouldn’t have rated it 5 stars if it weren’t for this ending.

What you people think.. Julian should have known the truth about Penelope? If yes or no then why? (saw this question in another group discussion on this book, interesting one!)

[Sumit]

Sri, that's exactly my grouse against the ending. What made it very predictable was that Daniel's life was analogous to Julian's and so I did guess that Zafon wouldn't repeat history in the same sequence.

(view spoiler)[Also, the 'mystery' about Lain Coubert was apparent from fairly early on. (hide spoiler)]

Also, I thought Julian should either have clearly rediscovered more purpose to his life, or died heroically while saving Daniel and Penelope (Hindi-movie style). I'd have been happier if he had published more new novels though. :D

[Srividya]

Ahh Sumit - thou art more intelligent than poor ol' me :P

For I honestly thought differently and was pleased that it was different :) Guess I was too caught up in the story to even try and take a guess.

@Varsh - On one hand, I truly wish he had learnt about Penelope earlier, if only, as Sumit says, it would have helped him to rediscover a new purpose to life but then I also feel that had he learnt about it earlier, he could have become suicidal instead .. Not sure but he did seem extremely impetuous at times.

@Sumit - NOOOOOO that Hindi movie style would have been horrible!!! :( :P However, I agree with you - I have a similar grouse that he did not publish any new novels!!

[Anirudh]

Well to have the same ending again would have been redundant. If that was the case there was no need to read Daniel's story at all. I think he got a good ending as a symbol hope amidst all that sadness.

Actually I guessd wrong about the identity of Lain Coubert for a long time :D

He does write a novel in the end. If I remember correctly there was some mention of it in the last pages right?

[Anirudh]

(view spoiler)[He Does, Angel of Mist (hide spoiler)]

[Versha]

@Sri: Even i wished he had known the truth at least in the end.

(view spoiler)[He does write a novel using a pseudo name. (hide spoiler)]

[Anirudh]

How many of you wish to read book 2?

[Sumit]

Me me me!

[Anirudh]

Sumit wrote: "Me me me!"

I got book 3 as well :D

[Srividya]

Me too :) :)

For both :D :D

Want to read book 2, got book 3 as well :D :D *smirks*

[Sumit]

Awesome! I bought the other 2 books too. Now, if only I could buy some time to read as well. :|

[Ahtims]

Me, me, me, me

[Srividya]

Great!!! So when are we starting on Book 2??? :D :D

*clapping hands in glee and looking eagerly at all*

[Sumit]

*collapses under the pile of TBRs*

[Srividya]

Sumit wrote: "*collapses under the pile of TBRs*"

Awwww.... Don't say that!!!! *pouts*

[Anirudh]

For those of you who are interested, Amazon is giving a huge discount to book 2 and 3 of this series today.

[Em*Greedy* (Iniya)]

Just finished reading.. and what an awesome read it was..!!!!

[Anirudh]

Glad to know iniya :-)

[Anirudh]

@Manju, where is it? :O

[Em Lost In Books]

1) what you think of Fumero, Lain Coubert and Zacarias?

2) similarities between Daniel and Julian?

3) female characters of the book?

4) the effects of war on the story?

6) Miquel Moliner's role in the book?

[Anirudh]

(view spoiler)[1) Fumero is the type of person everyone hates. Because of his bad childhood he's grown up to be a sadistic person and has gotten himself into a position of power. Very dangerous because it's in his nature to hurt people.

The identity of Lain Coubert has been very well kept. Makes you guess and second guess

2) The whole theme of the book is how Julian and Daniel are similar. There are many similarities between them. I think Daniel falling in love with Bea is partly because of the book he read. Julian has been an unseen influential force in Daniel's life. It was searching after him that led Daniel on this journey

3) There weren't that many female characters who got a lot of screen time. But I liked Bea. She was very naive and sweet

4) War has no direct effect on the book. But it has been used as an excellent background to depict the Barcelona society

5) Miquel Moliner is something of a wild card in the story. He gives insight into the events which are shrouded in mystery. Personally I think his life was tragic. (hide spoiler)]

[Em Lost In Books]

(view spoiler)[Fumero: I think he was the true evil. Very clever and some one who gets what he wants whichever the way he has to follow to get it done. No doubt his upbringing has a major role to play into what he became as an adult. He could have been a different person if his parents had paid him attention.

Coubert was surely very scary until his real identity was told. Don't you think it is scary to find someone about whom you'd read in a book comes alive in real life. & poor Daniel was scared to death because Coubert was no prince Charming.

2. Yeah in many ways even without knowing Daniel had started idolising Julian. he has started seeing things in a different ways.

& I don't think Julian has anything to do with Daniel falling in love with Bea. It was just that she was beautiful and not a cold hearted girl who was too vain.

3. yeah there were not many but whatever were there, they'd a great impact on the story. My favorite was Nuria. First she was very helpful with providing information to Daniel about Julian. then I absolutely hated her when Fermin told Daniel about how Nuria was the one who was extracting the mails from that box. but what shredded me was her true story. being loved by someone whose love you could never reciprocate and then loving someone who could never love you. sad.

4. true but it surely made the financial problems of our characters very drastic.
(hide spoiler)]

[Em Lost In Books]

(view spoiler)[5. yes, he gave insight to the events but he played a vital role in elopement of Julian to Paris and in this way shaping the future of Julian. It would have been a different story if he'd told the truth about Penelope. (hide spoiler)]

[Anirudh]

(view spoiler)[ If Fumero didn't have that kind of upbringing I don't think he would have turned out like that. He would stil be evil but not to that extent.

I guess his identity wrong for the most part of the book :) Lot of twists in this book :)

I think he did. It was Julian's love story that inspired Daniel to go after Bea no matter what

I think you've summed it up well. "being loved by someone whose love you could never reciprocate and then loving someone who could never love you" That was the truly sad part. If she had found love in Miquel she would have been much happier

If he had told Julian about Penelope he would never have left and would have stayed and destroyed his life in the quest for revenge (hide spoiler)]

[Em Lost In Books]

(view spoiler)[That upbringing and his love for Penelope changed him forever. He became cruel and heartless. Killing Carax became the only objective of his life and whatever he did he did only to attain this objective

Until his identity was revealed I thoght the book had a paranormal touch to it. True this book is so much more complex than it seems initially.

I don't think so.

Yes and every story was more sad than the previous one. Only Daniel and Bea's love story got a haapy ending every other story ended on a sad note.

In the ends no matter how Moliner tried to save Julian. He still destroyed his life in quest of revenge. There was no peace for Carax. (hide spoiler)]

[Anirudh]

(view spoiler)[ this proves my theory that love is poison :P:P If he did not love penelope then he would not have turned out so :P

Yes at times you get a paranormal feel about the book. Especially the house Daniel finds. But it has been brilliantly narrated.

Yes the book is a collection of sad stories. As you read 2 and 3 you will notice.
Even Daniel story has a sad part to it. He lost his best friend because of his love

I think losing her in that way just broke him. He was a very passionate man and could not think of anything else. Ironic that he turned on his own books and hated them. (hide spoiler)]