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)

Update: Books I'm Currently Reading

Long time no see! I’ve been really busy during the last 2 weeks, trying to get used to college life. But I did buy a few new books and I wanted to update you guys on what I got and what I think about the books that I got.

First of all, I started reading “A Storm of Swords” which is the third book in the Song of Ice and Fire series by George RR Martin (I’m sure most of you are familiar with the books since the TV show is such a big hit in the States).

I’m reading it on my Kindle, and it tells me I’m at 27%. I know that Storm of Swords is many people’s favorite book in the whole series, and I like it so far. However, I thought the beginning was a little slow, and I’m glad things are starting to get really interesting now!

Source: Goodreads

On September 27th“The Casual Vacancy” by J.K. Rowling came out, and, being a big Harry Potter fan, I had to get my hands on it immediately.

The first few chapters were interesting, I liked the descriptions of the characters and places. Now, a month later, I’m still stuck at page 130, because I’m not that interested in what’s going to happen. In fact, I feel like nothing has happened after the death of Barry Fairbrother on page 3 AT ALL. I really want to like this book because I adore J.K. Rowling, I really want to like it because I’ve been waiting for the book to come out for months… But I have to force myself to continue reading, and every time I find an interesting book I want to read I stop reading the Casual Vacancy.

Source: Goodreads

Just like yesterday when Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s “new” book, "Der Gefangene des Himmels” (The Prisoner of Heaven) came in the mail. (“new” because the Spanish original came out last year, and I waited for the German translation because it’s better than the English one in my opinion.)

Hey, if you’ve never heard of Carlos Ruiz Zafón or his books “The Shadow of the Wind” and “The Angel’s Game”  --> CHECK. THEM. OUT. !!!

Zafón is a Spanish author and “The Prisoner of Heaven” is the third book in a four-book-series.

I’m going write a review on the first three books once I’ve finished “The Prisoner of Heaven”.

Let me tell you one thing: The Shadow of the Wind (the first book) is my ALL TIME FAVORITE BOOK. You have to read it! :)

Source: Goodreads

Wow, that was a long update! To summarize: I’m reading three books at the moment. Storm of Swords is slowly getting exciting. I want to like The Casual Vacancy but it’s so boring. Instead of finishing the these books, I keep starting to read new books, “The Prisoner of Heaven” in this case (which I hope will be as good as the fist two books in the series!).

Love,

Maren