An
international bestseller translated into dozens of languages, The Shadow of the Wind
is a literary mystery set in post–Spanish Civil War
Barcelona. The novel opens with a widower taking his 10-year-old son
Daniel to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a huge library of books
forgotten except by a select few. Daniel is allowed to take one book to
protect for life. His choice is The
Shadow of the Wind
by Julián Carax. Daniel enjoys the book and wants to read
more by its unknown author — but learns that all of
Carax’s books have disappeared. Daniel, of course, wants to
find out about the mysterious Carax.
He is 20 by the time he completely solves the mystery. Over the years
his life unfolds with uncanny similarities to that of Carax, who also
was from Barcelona but ran away to Paris. The Shadow of the Wind
is a detective story, a love story (two love stories — one
tragic, one happy), a coming-of-age story, and even a tour guide to
Barcelona (some editions include “a walk in the footsteps of
The Shadow of the Wind”). A
sadistic villain, a labyrinthine
plot, a roguish sidekick, and some larger-than-life characters put the
writing over the top at times, but The
Shadow of the Wind
is a fun read, swift-paced and thrilling. Ultimately it aspires to be
more than escapist: it is about the power that one book can exert over
a single person.
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