The Shadow of the Wind

Cross posted at : http://valiewrites.com/2021/02/28/opinion-the-shadow-of-the-wind-carlos-ruiz-zafon/

Ok. I think enough time has passed for me to talk about The Shadow Of The Wind without going on a rant since, oh boy, can I rant about this one. I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed.

I first heard about this book in 2020 from Bookstagram and piping hyped. When I finally got my hands on it early January this year. It was magic! If you haven't read it yet, go check it out here on Goodreads. It has a whopping 4.27 stars out of 448k ratings. That should be good, right? Even Petrik gave it 5 stars how bad could it be, right?!

So, I was extremely excited to read this book. And I will not lie the first 5% of the book was magical. I don't know if it was the excitement or the concept, but I loved it. Then it stopped. Saying it has a slow beginning is an understatement. It doesn't pick up the pace like 60% of the book and by then I lost my interest in the story, its characters and my will to read; or, you know, live. It's that dry. I had to hoodwink myself into reading this, so I don't fall into a slump right at the beginning of the year. In the Shadow of the Wind, Zafon writes about love, loss, grief, and regret, but his efforts to reflect all these deep human emotions to the reader (I mean me) fall flat. Or this particular reader has a cold dead heart I don't know.

The plot isn't as ingenious and masterful as the hype around the book made me believe. I was expecting this great mystery in a gorgeous setting with many interesting characters, but even Barcelona is dull. That is an achievement, I believe. The starting point is not bad, not really, it had me hooked at first for sure. It is just wasted. Zafon tries to create this dual storylines that interconnect, but things usually happen by chance rather than intention. It has so many antique tropes it hurts the eyes while rolling them. Love of your life at first sight, check. A villain just to be a villain, check. Supersperm, check. Sexism, check. I felt like dnf'ing the Shadow of the Wind so many times but I didn't hope things will turn around and after all that, to explain everything, came the long letter. A letter that occupied the last 20% if I'm not mistaken. It is as if Zafon was tired of trying to establish a convincing explanation and decided to tie the loose ends by telling everything straightforward.

Of all these tropes, I have to pay special attention on sexism. Oh, the sexism in the Shadow Of The Wind. I'm not someone who complains about slight things and steps away from the book and the author. My discrimination condemn bar is not so sensitive, but this book is something else. Zafon does not write women particularly successfully, does he? There isn't one three dimensional female character in this book and they are not even shadows they are just there for sexuality and sexuality alone. I don't think he's been around women all that plenty or otherwise how is this possible. I'm speechless.

I really feel terrible about this, because I feel like I've missed out on something and I'm not fully appreciating this book. Although it is a beautifully written book, the content feels bloated. I'm actually sad to think like this, but it is how I feel in the end. And the sad part is with a bit more care to actual plot and character development, this could have been one of my favorites of the year. Yet, here we are. Maybe in time I can try Carlos Ruiz Zafon's other works, but for now I'll put away my giant disappointment and move on.