The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

“Every book, every volume you see here, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it. Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens.”
― Carlos Ruiz Zafon, The Shadow of the Wind

Today I want to talk about my favorite book (besides Harry Potter), The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

Source: Goodreads

First of all, The Shadow of the Wind is the first book in a four-book series. Two more books have come out already (the latest being „The Prisoner of Heaven“), but what I really like about the series is that you don’t have to read them in a particular order. You can understand „The Angel’s Game“ without having read „The Shadow of the Wind“.  

The books all center around one place in Barcelona: The so-called “Cemetery of the Forgotten Books”.

Plot

The protagonist is called Daniel Sempere, and his father brings him to the Cementery of the Forgotten Books when he turns 11 years old. Daniel gets to pick out one book and keep it, the book is called “The Shadow of the Wind” by Julian Carax.

He grows up reading and loving that book, and as he reaches his late teens (I think he’s 18, not sure though!) he wishes to find out more about Carax, the author. But Carax’ books all seem to have disappeared, just like Carax’ himself.

He meets a mysterious stranger who looks exactly like the devil in “the Shadow of the Wind”, he follows Daniel and wants Daniel to give him the book.

At the same time Daniel, who has been doing research on Julian Carax’ life, realizes his life is starting to become more and more like Carax’ life, the deeper he digs and the more he finds out about Carax’ past.

What do I like about the book?

Everything. The amazing characters, the way the book is not predictable at all. The setting: Barcelona in the fifties, and most of all: Zafons writing style. His descriptions are so detailed, the dialogues are funny and intelligent… His writing is just beautiful, I can’t find another word for it. Zafon is a Spanish author and so far I've only read English and German translations of his books. Although even the translations are beautifully written, I hope that one day my Spanish will be good enough that I can read the books in Spanish.

Plot: 4,5/5
Language: 5/5 (I would give 100 points if I could!)
Characters: 5/5
Overall: 5/5

I’m giving it a 5 out of 5, definitely check it out! Really, please do.

And if you’ve already read “The Shadow of the Wind” also check out “The Angel's Game” and “The Prisoner of Heaven”. They’re both different but still amazing.
However, “The Shadow of the Wind” will probably always be my favorite :) I can't wait for the fourth and last book to come out (which won't be anytime soon, since The Prisoner of Heaven was released not too long ago).

Author: Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Pages: 487 (Paperback)

Get it on Amazon:  (Available as: Hardcover, Paperback, Kindle, Audio book)