I believe a book like this does not come very often. The piece of literature that devours you and consumes your every thought and visits you in dreams. The Shadow of the Wind is one such book. I can say that I was almost heartbroken when it was nearing its conclusion, so sumptuous was the word and imagery feast laid out before me that I wanted to keep on reading and reading. I did not want the story to end.
Carlos Ruiz Zafon's masterpiece is the story of Daniel a ten-year old boy during the first few pages of the book but ages into a man right before our eyes as the pages are turned. It starts when his father brings him to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a labyrinth of bookshelves -- a sanctuary where books that may have been lost forever are brought here by a brotherhood of guardians so these books are remembered. Tradition dictates that someone who visits for the first time may take a book and guard it so it will never be forgotten. So begins his story when he picks up The Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax.
Because of how the story called to him, Daniel wished to read all of Carax's books only to find out that his novels have mysteriously disappeared from the streets of the city. As he finds out why the books were destroyed he comes face to face with a variety of characters who help him, waylay him, distract him, torture him and provide him with pearls of wisdom. There is his father who is wrapped in sadness and longing for his dead wife but filled with love for his son who is coming of age and who he barely understands. Don Gustavo Barcelo, the book collector who at times was his mentor and second father. Clara Barcelo, his first love. An enigma who broke his tender heart and dashed his dreams. Bea Aguilar a girl who stirs in him feelings of love and tenderness he was not prepared to feel. Fermin Romero de Torres, labeled as criminal and thug by the police, turned into a beggar by society and unearthed by Daniel to discover in him a wise and loyal friend.
Daniel is aided by a few good souls, but there is also a villain following him thru the streets, a veil of darkness dogging his steps.
The story is a a confluence of narratives interweaving thru the streets of Barcelona right before the Civil War. The calles and paseos, mansions and arches provide the perfect backdrop for a novel with mystery, crime, love and humor. It fills you with hope and expectation and at times a sense of dread and foreboding. As the story progresses, we see a parallelism between Daniel and Julian's lives that is almost uncanny. Will they share the same fate?
As the novel keeps you on the edge of your seat you would have to stop and close your eyes to imagine Barcelona at dawn or in the misty rain or the gothic mansions with its gargoyles and fountains because Zafon is such a master at engaging your senses. Shadow of the Wind is indeed a masterpiece -- in the end, you can never own it because the book owns you.
