The Shadow of the Wind
Ratings537
Average rating4.1
55% - maybe DNF? I love this book but literally hates the main mystery, reading all the backstory abt it is so boring to me :( But i enjoy the characters, dialogue, writing and everything else so much, so i want to return to it soon... i've been in a reading slump for 2 weeks now bc of the plot lmao
Que desilusión. Un comienzo fuertísimo, impresionante, pero de ahí se fue a pique, con irritaciones que seguian aumentando hasta que no pude más: narrador sin promesa de redención; caracter secundario con pinta de héroe pero quien es mentiroso e ignoble; demasiados milagros de coincidencias simplemente para avanzar la narrativa; intrusiones en la narrativa, en forma de cartas o crónicas de tercera persona, que explican puntos importantes pero no explican cómo tal caracter pudo tener el conocimiento que narraba (los pensamientos íntimos de otra persona); idioma ridículamente florido, hasta colmo que el autor se burla de sí mismo — «Abrevie, Fermín, por el amor de Dios» — pero sigue que te sigue; y, finalmente, un misterio que no es muy interesante, con sorpresas inesperadas las cuales, francamente, tampoco son interesantes. Como si Ruiz Zafón hubiera planeado una serie de «plot twists» para asombrar al lector, y entonces forzado una historia alrededor de ellos.
Abandonado, p. 310, justo pasado la mitad. Sólo 250 páginas más... pero no, soy gran creyente en la falacia de costos hundidos. Seguro que encuentro otras 250 páginas más preciosas.
«Suspiro...» A este paso no voy a terminar mi meta de libros para el año...
Tolles Buch. Die Ineinanderverschlungenen Geschichten das gleichzeitige im Hintergrund verlaufene Reflektieren über Text und Bild ... toll. Macht spaß
Like all good gothic stories, sometimes the mysteries are a little more exciting than the answers. Great book though.
This book is a beautiful magical experience! A web of stories within a main story; it grips you in right from the first paragraph. Magical realism at its finest!
The story is about a boy who stumbles upon a book which happens to be the only copy of that book and then gets pulled into its writer's life, who has now mysteriously disappeared and all his books are being burned out of existence by someone. Amidst the gothic architecture of Barcelona, the tale unfurls slowly and blooms into a majestic tree, where the characters branch out into enchanting stories of their own.
Reading Zafon reminded me somewhat of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude. I absolutely loved the writing and how everything is eventually tied together in the end.
Probably one of the best mystery novels I have read! Would love to explore the other books in this series.
What a beautifully written book! While there were some parts that didn’t work for me and others that felt a little wasted, the overall plot kept me gripped throughout and wondering just how it was all going to connect. Wrapping up a mystery is the downfall of so many books but this was handled quite nicely. Overall, a really good read though I’m not sure I’ll read any of the others.
Fantasy is my favorite genre. The biggest reason for my love of it is because fantasy is able to instill a sense of wonderment and intrigue in me. There are few reading experiences greater than finding a great fantasy book that makes you feel like you’re totally transported into another world that is rich with ideas and concepts to explore. When I have an experience like this, I swear I feel a physical sensation in my heart that is euphoric.
For the first 300 pages, The Shadow of the Wind gave me that same feeling. I was entranced by the way Zafón laid out the pieces of Julian Carax’s life and just wanted to know more. Each plot twist and reveal felt satisfying and I just couldn’t put the book down. Few non-fantasy books have ever made me feel the way The Shadow of the Wind did for the first ⅔ of its page count, and for that I am extremely grateful. I can confidently say that no book I’ve read in 2024 has made me feel that way.
And yet, for some reason, that feeling went away during the final third of the book. At a certain point I just wanted it to end. I genuinely don’t know why I stopped liking the book. There aren’t many differences between the first two thirds and the last third, but it felt like the magic had run out. There are some books that I like to call ‘vibe reads’. ‘Vibe reads’ are really hard to review because the impact they leave on the reader is hard to explain in words. Some ‘vibe reads’ are really enjoyable and yet have objectively poor qualities. And there are some ‘vibe reads’ that are the opposite, where despite everything being objectively strong there’s just something off about them. The Shadow of the Wind is the ultimate ‘vibe read’. When it’s good, the vibes are just fantastic and yet something just changes and makes it a slog to get through.
In terms of literary qualities, I think the biggest issues the book has are with its main character and tendency to exposition-dump. Daniel is the main character of this book and yet I would say without hesitation that he’s the least interesting. The book mostly gets away with having a fairly boring protagonist by having a ton of supporting characters to take the attention off of him. For the first parts of the book Daniel is more of a vessel that allows these other characters to be explored as opposed to a character in his own right. The book also has a way of making the plot so intriguing and expansive that there’s no need to focus on Daniel himself. Unfortunately, the plot is a bit too expansive, leading to a ton of exposition-dumping in the final parts. This book is at its strongest when Daniel acts as a detective in search of the truth of Julian Carax, meeting various interesting characters along the way. He finds out each bit of information slowly, allowing the plot to progress at an even pace. But the last parts of the book just give Daniel all of the information and focus a lot on who he is as a person. These changes are subtle but they really tank the vibes of the book and leave me incredibly unsatisfied.
This book still has a ton of strong qualities. I think the overall mystery of what happened to Julian Carax is really interesting. And the supporting characters (including Julian) are just fantastic. I don’t think there’s a single supporting character who I would say is poorly-written or adds nothing to the plot. I can confidently say that this cast of supporting characters is among the best in any novel I’ve ever read. Overall I can’t say I hate this book simply because those qualities are so strong. Its highs are extremely high, but its lows are low enough that I leave the book feeling more frustrated than anything.
It was very good. Author kept me entertained throughout the whole story. Interesting varied cast of characters. Multiple layers. Prose was enjoyable and it had a nice flow that made the book a pleasant read.
10/10 recommend. Reminded me of so many other good books. A touch of Dickens, Kundera, Camus. Just amazing writing.
“Books are mirrors: you only see in them what you already have inside you.”
On to the next.
Interesting story. But I got bored with it. If it had been 200 pages shorter, I think it would've been a tight read.
that plot twist was abominable... no idea why i bothered to finish the book when nothing pained and bored me more than reading it.
Recomiendo leerlo con el ebook porque tiene un léxico muy amplio para saborear y aprender. Con refranes materializados en personajes.
Atrapante y con varios giros inesperados, algunos muy cliché, otros más auténticos.
Me hubiera gustado más profundidad con algunas escenas, para vincular emocionalmente. Ya que a cada 3 capítulos da una cierta vuelta de tuerca a la investigación y casi se pierde la idea central. ¿Es un crimen?¿una historia de amor?¿una persecución?
De seguro, es el inicio de una saga que me gustaría continuar.
Second catchup review.
People love this book, and sure it was a really easy read with the story rolling out, satisfying all the loose ends. I readily admit this type of book is probably not for me - this type of book just doesn't provide me with any satisfaction.
The characters are all largely what is expected - good guys and bad guys, all with back stories and all who wrap together. The setting was excellently described - Barcelona with an edgy almost gothic face - for me probably the highlight. The plot was offered twists and turns as layers of information were added, and it was here that the biggest issue I had came to light. When characters along the way told their ‘story' it was not only their story but provided information, but information that this character just would not have had - the personal thoughts and secret actions of other characters. This didn't happen just once, which might have been overlooked, but several times. Maybe this was not supposed to be information the protagonist received, just the reader? In that case, when resolving a tangled mystery like this is seems wrong that the reader operates with different information than the protagonist. Maybe it is just me.
Secondary issues, there were just too many coincidences for me. Things fell into place due to them, and it was all just a bit easy for the protagonist to step his way through the complex background. I know it took nine years for Daniel to resolve it all, but mystery-wise, too easy. I especially disliked the story being wrapped up by the receipt of a long letter which just tied it all up...
I also thought that the prose was a bit over the top. Yes the setting was 1940s and 50s, but it was a bit overwritten for my simple tastes. The more I read the more I was convinced it was going to turn into some sort of awful parable like The Alchemist, God help me. Thankfully it never came to that.
Last gripe - the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. I wanted to understand what this was, why it was and how it came to be. It is introduced on page 3, but given no real explanation. I know there are several other books in the series but this needed improving for me. In fact, the Cemetery of Forgotten Books was not even necessary in this story. Daniel could have just a well found the Carex book in his father shop for all the relevance there was.
As I say, other readers love this book, and I see all the 5 star reviews in my friends and following, but while I found it an easy and fast paced read, there was too much to annoy me on the way. I have another book of this series in my shelf, and I might give it a go to see if CRZ up's his game, but not in a hurry.
For me, with my unpopular opinion, this reached 2.5 stars, rounded down.
I liked most parts of this book except the parts that were just unnecessarily horny... Which is, unfortunately, a lot of it.
Really weird choice.
Started out great but eventually led nowhere.
In the first third of the book I was really hooked and really excited. But then it all became a slog and eventually it was just, meh. Such a great build up wasted for nothing.
I don't know how this man makes me almost shed a tear by the end of each book, but this series is criminally underrated
There were parts that I loved, and there were parts that were so tiresome.
3.5 rounded up. Beautifully written book about a book. Probably a bit boring in places.
I generally do enjoy the writing style, despite some odd passages which I'll provide the benefit of the doubt due to translation. There's an incredible gothic atmosphere, elevated by the often lovely descriptions and utter commitment to the goofy ass plot. But on that topic... this had zero grip on me aside from aesthetic appreciation. While cliches are not an inherent issue, this felt quite uninspired. And it should be telling that I'm a sucker for many of the devices here - like, the idea of the cemetery per se is completely up my alley. I just didn't enjoy the characters I guess? The protagonist was uninteresting enough plus some side characters made me want to chuck the book at the wall, in simple terms. Plus if my thick head can easily predict the “twist”, you know it's incredibly blatant.
In short - superficially quite neat yet the melodrama and storyline don't work for me. Feel like if I read this a while back I could've loved it, so I'm disappointed I didn't leap at the bandwagon sooner. Oh well.
tiene segunda parte y no voy a dudar en leermela, toda la narración me ha tenido enganchada como el peor de los vicios, incluso a veces me olvidaba hasta de dormir. que ganas de sacarle el jugo a todo tiene este autor, daniel siempre en mi corazón.