I came across this book through a recommendation from a book blog I follow, and I was sucked in from the very beginning. There is a certain charm to stories within stories and books within books, and this novel has such charm in abundance.
I was sceptical initially about whether my attention could be held for the entirety of a book about what appeared to be a quest for tracking down an obscure novelist for no apparent reason, but the story, and the characters developed interestingly, and the convergences and linkages between the two parallel story threads were unravelled slowly and fascinatingly.
With beautiful prose (even if sometimes the metaphors got a little tiring), interesting characters, intriguing backstories, and a satisfying resolution, I would recommend this book wholeheartedly.
The only nitpicks I have are that there is a conveniently lengthy exposition through a long letter, and >! the romance between Daniel and Bea did not feel as deep and as moving as that between Julian and Penelope. !<
These are very minor nitpicks, though, and I'm glad to have started 2021 with an immensely satisfying read.
by [deleted]
40 Comments
I had the same skepticism as you, but also ended up loving it. Great read. Took me completely by surprise, and I couldn’t put it down.
[deleted]
Really great book, but the setting is what made it for me!
RIP. His passing went under the radar last year. I really enjoyed the entire series.
If you liked the shadow of the wind, he has sooo many other books that are amazing! September lights, Marina, there is even a continuation to the shadow of the wind (the angels game, the prisoner in the sky and the laberythn of spirits).
It makes me so happy to see a writer I thoroughly enjoyed as a Barcelonian kid get so mainstream! And yes, the metaphors are tiring, but that is honestly how people in Spain/Barcelona talk haha.
It is a beautiful book. I couldn’t put it down. He wrote more books, to make it a series, what they have in common is the book store and the Book Cemetery. However, they were not as good.
This sounds like a lovely read! I’ve added it to my list.
Great to hear this ! 🙂
I would like to share my personal experience and a bit on the rest of the series (without spoilers)
The Shadow of the Wind (and the full The Cemetery of Forgotten Books series) is something which I hold quite close to heart, not just for the storyline/characters, but for the journeys through which I got the 4 books, read them and experienced them.
I Got it recommended by a friend during my undergrad in India, bought the TSOTW in a wonderful bookstore in the US (which also included a sweet convo with the old bookshop owner there who shared her experience reading it).
I finished the book partly in US, and re-read while in Barcelona. I love walking through the city, and the book and its events gave me a more directed route to take; it was wonderful doing a storyline-guided walking trip (Some of the editions do have it included after the epilogue, with pictures).
I am a person who tries to buy 2nd hand book as much as possible, and so I decided to search for the next 3 parts in second hand stores, rather than buy online. It turned out to be a tough ordeal as there are very few good stores in Barcelona, most of which sell the whole series in Spanish.
Finally I found the 2nd and 3rd parts in Berlin, during a conference trip. By the time I finished them and did the walking trips, I was quite impatient and ordered the 4th book (The Labyrinth of the Spirits) online 😀
So it took me ~ 2 years of searching and wandering to finish the series (by choice), but it was worth it.
I don’t generally read this genre, but I loved TSOTW to bits, due to the travels and friends made along the way.
PS: I believe TSOTW is the best of the 4 books; 2nd and 3rd books are more like filler stories/flashback on some of the key characters, and the final book is a more complete one compared to 2 & 3. If you are someone who needs closure on plot points/questions or just wants more of Zafon’s world, you can continue to the whole series, but I probably wouldn’t recommend expecting the 1st book’s magic.
Picked this up randomly at a B&N after reading the blurb and now I’m looking forward to it even more!
One of my top five favourite books.
One of my favourites and highly recommended.
I’ve been looking for this book for 15 years. I read back in high school and did a project on it and then had to return it to the library and lost track of the title. It was such a good book and I’ve never been able to remember the name of it until I read your description. Thanks for helping me when my google fu failed me!
I agree. Its a beautifully written book. I couldn’t put it down. The descriptions were vivid and the story was just amazing.
It is acrually a serie of four books, the last one is my favourite.
Read it years ago. I found it uninteresting. It’s written well. But the protagonist felt very paper-thin, despite the author’s best efforts
Yea I was gutted when he died
Oh man. Carlos Ruiz Zafón is one of my favorite authors. Personally, I think his books are better in Spanish. “Marina” made me cry.
It was a wonderful book! It took me a while to read because I got so attached to the characters and I was so scared of anything bad happening to them.
Yeah amazing read! Love how it portrays Barcelona. Such an amazing city and this brings a layer of mystique around it.
Amazing book. In case you’re interested, Zafon put up some music which corresponds to the themes of the book.
[https://www.carlosruizzafon.com/en/la-sombra-del-viento/musica.php](https://www.carlosruizzafon.com/en/la-sombra-del-viento/musica.php)
One of my top five favorites!
This book is definitely one of my favorites and my most recommended. Read it in my mid teens and find myself coming back to it for a reread every few years. I’ve probably purchased it half a dozen times as my copy always seems to get lost (or so I’m told) whenever I lend it to friends/family. I’ve gifted it to my nieces/nephews and have a copy waiting for my son when he gets old enough.
Rip Carlos. I was lucky enough to meet him and he signed my copy of The shadow of the wind. Is one of my biggest treasures.
The angel’s game is an old favorite of mine. I recently found a signed hardcover for under 10 bucks.
He’s a really beautiful writer. Rip
Years ago, I was traveling and found a took a selfie in a mirror that was covered in cool book paraphernalia and a quote on the bottom “books are mirrors; you only see in them what you already have inside of you” or something like that. Found that quote in this book this year and it felt like fate, which also seems to be the main theme
One of my favorite series! In the next ones, things get even better. The Angel’s Game is especially intriguing.
My favourite book, gifted to me by my wife, who is from Barcelona. I refused to lead last chapter for around a month because I didn’t want it to end. Read the series, it’s beautiful and visit the other locations across Barcelona, once we’re allowed to travel again. Els Quatre Gats is well worth a visit
I picked it up on a whim and it was a marvelous read.
The Angels Game is better imo and definitely worth checking out
One of my favorites! I’m pretty sure I’ve re-read it at least once a year since I first read it back in high school (around 2007 or 2008).
Fermín Romero de Torres is such a great character
One of my favorite books of all time.
I’m a fantasy-reader through and through. I rarely pick up anything remotely realistic.
Shadow of the Wind caught my eye after Ruiz Zafon’s death last year and I thought it sounded interesting, found it on BWW for a couple bucks, and got it because why not?
I was blown away. It was one of the most exciting mysteries I’ve read with so much magical realism and whimsicality I just fell in love. One of the few 5/5 books I read last year. Finally got a copy of Angel’s Game and I’m waiting for the right weekend to knock it out.
Also got me reading a few non-fics about the Spanish Civil War (I love Pans Labyrinth and Devil’s Backbone so I’d always had an interest in that era).
If you’re in Barcelona check out the 4Gatz. Cool atmosphere and it has original artwork from Picasso that was painted for the restaurant’s menu!
This was one of the first novels I read in Spanish, right at the beginning of the pandemic, and I completely agree. Really let me visit another world while trapped in my apartment.
My absolute favorite book! Im sure several people here have told you the same thing, but there are 3 other books in the “series” too:
The Angel’s Game was pretty good imo and acts as a prequel, following completely different characters.
The Prisoner of Heaven is a sequel that ties in elements from TAG. I honestly didn’t like this one very much, and it was incredibly short.
The Labyrinth of the Spirits, however, was absolutely incredible! It acts as a finale for the entire series and was just such a beautiful conclusion for the characters. On par, if not better than, TSotW imo. Zafon is my absolute favorite author and I was so sad to hear of his passing last year… 🙁
Thank you for the recommendation. I just finished a book and was looking for my next read. The local library had 1 copy left on the shelf.
The whole series is excellent.
Clearly an unpopular opinion here, but I’m afraid I soundly disliked this book. The narrator’s unabashed sexism made me very uncomfortable, and I found the salacious melodrama of the plot reveals tiresome. A pity, because I was initially enamoured with the library description and very eager to enjoy the book.
Actually, I have a story about this book.
I first read it when I was 16, proceeded to fall in love with both the story and the prose, read the rest of the series and promptly put it in the back of my head.
Then, years later, I find myself in the middle of nowhere in northern Germany and getting on a taxi what do I find abandoned and half hidden in between the seats? The Shadow of the Wind, German Edition. It felt as if I had suddenly become an extra in Zafon’s story. I asked the driver if I could keep it and even though my German at the time was very poor, I still made my best effort to read it. I felt like I owned to the book after it had been forgotten like that!
Still one of my favorite novels.