The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

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When eleven year old Daniel wakes up crying one night because he can no longer recall his deceased mother’s face, his father takes him by the hand and brings him to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. In this immense building of winding passageways and rows of bookshelves, Daniel is invited by his father to choose for himself one book from the vast selection; a book that will be his to guard. After wandering through the isles of books, Daniel finds himself drawn to a leather bound book entitled Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax, an author whom neither Daniel nor his father have ever heard of.

After devouring his new book, Daniel is eager to find more works by this unknown author, but he soon discovers that all of Carax’s books have slowly disappeared over the years, as someone has set out to burn them all. Determined to learn more about Carax and the disappearance of his books, Daniel soon sets off on a path that will lead him on a journey of discovery which he never could have anticipated, as he slowly unravels the mystery that is Julian Carax.

The Shadow of the Wind is not the kind of book I usually read, and I had actually assumed it would have some elements of fantasy in it because I had seen it mentioned on a couple of fantasy book blogs that I follow. It turned out to be a historical, gothic mystery- very far from my regular genre reading- but I still enjoyed it.

There are so many wonderful characters in this book, from Daniel and his colorful friend Fermin to the psychotic and dangerous Inspector Fumero. Julian Carax is at the center of it all, and as one mystery after another is slowly revealed, you get to know Julian and his friends and family, and discover unexpected relationships between many of the various characters.

I did have a bit of hard time with the dark tone of the book. As you learn more about Julian, you come to care and root for him, even as you watch his life slowly spiral down into one of misery and misfortune. I just couldn’t see how the story could possibly end satisfactorily and I spent most of the book impatient to get to the conclusion, which is probably why I’m not much of a mystery reader. The pace of the book is also unhurried, as the story is slowly built, and some readers might have trouble with this, though I found it interesting enough that the slow pace didn’t bother me.

The Shadow of the Wind was an excellent book that still has me thinking back to it a few days after finishing it. I did find the ending to be satisfying though it took me a while to dispel the somber mood that the book had put me in. And while I would like to follow up with the second book by Zafon, The Angel’s Game, I think I’ll need to fortify myself first with a few more lighthearted books.