Matthew Jackson &
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

I think I would've liked this more as a physical book...
It's very melodramatic, and the audiobook has a piano track that plays whenever something happens, adding to the drama, and just making it confusing honestly
But it was fun! Nothing toooo shocking i think, but fun!

🤍

Zafón kreiert ein wohltuendes und atmosphärisches Stimmungsbild. Die besondere Tiefe der Charaktere und die Liebe für stimmige Details erwecken einen authentischen Eindruck.

In der zweiten Hälfte des Romans verkommt die schiere Anzahl an Personen und Handlungssträngen zu einem zusammenhanglosen Wimmelbild, das den fesselnden Lesefluss allerdings nicht beeinträchtigt.

Zumindest in Frage zu stellen, ist die schonungslose Beschreibung verrohter Szenen von Gewalt. Der Autor hätte den Schwerpunkt dieser Geschehnisse weniger auf das Gemetzel und fliegendes Blut setzen können und die Lesenden trotzdem in feinsinniger Weise auf die seinerzeit herrschende Brutalität hinweisen können.

Nichtsdestotrotz überwiegen in Zafóns Werk gesamtheitlich die positiven Eindrücke. Jedem ans Herz zu legen, der bereit ist, in eine literarische von Pathos und Monumentalität gefüllte Welt einzutauchen.

Meine Worte werden nicht ausreichen um zu beschreiben, wie erstklassig dieses Buch geschrieben ist. Eine Stadt, die mehrere dunkle Geheimnisse in sich trägt, Geheimnisse welche bis zum Schluss, so sehr man es auch versucht, nicht zu entschlüsseln sind. Liebe, Trauer, Hass, Schmerz, Mitleid, Zweifel - All diese Emotionen werden, ob man es will oder nicht, in einem geweckt. Es lässt einen nicht los und vor Allem aber nicht schlafen.

Man muss es einfach gelesen haben.

Sehr gut zu lesen. Leicht, romantisch und ein klassischer Zafon.

Liest sich zeitweise wie ein (sehr guter) Barcelona-Reiseführer.

Such a beautiful book with an abundance of memorable characters and unpredictable subplots. Enjoyed every memory and emotion it yielded.

Simply phenomenal This is, without a doubt, up there with one of the best books I've read. It's not the usual genre I go with but the blurb highly intrigued me and I simply could not stop reading (and listening) to this book. It is is written in such a way that it is almost poetic. It has also taught me a lot about the city of bafcona both geographically and historically and makes me want to return to the feature-rich city. The story itself keeps you hooked with every word. With the way you love certain characters and dislike others, you're vying for the future of all the characters that are being written about at the time. If you're looking for a book with a bit of mystery, intrigue, character, romance and that is wonderfully written, do not miss this book!

4,5 / 5 stars 🌟 If I thought the first half was good, the second half of the book was beyond that. As the revelations unfold, my love towards this book grew more and more. There are many interconnected side characters that not gonna lie confused me a little bit at first, but I enjoy reading their glimpse of life story.

Oh gosh, this is a love letter to literature and to everyone who adore reading. The author has created an unsettling ghostly version of Barcelona where loneliness, yearning and passion constantly mix and clash. Sparks! Absolute sparks! I would say the main strength of the story, other than the compelling mystery, were the friendships and the dialogues, because the prose would just flow when the characters would talk and it never felt forced. Fermin, my beloved madman, you have my whole heart. The only part I didnt quite like was how the mystery was solved, maybe due to the fact that it felt like the easy way out. Still it was an engaging and delightful story about loneliness and throughout it the author weaves tiny threads of hope and the promise of love.

➺ 4/5 🌟 potential spoilers ahead, be warned... 'There are worse prison than words' the second half is actually the best part of this book, in my opinion. especially when all the mysteries surrounding the unknown writer julian carax and his past are starting to unfold, and all the unexpected plot twists are starting to unravel. i didn't expect to cry, but i did. there are certainly parts that were so upsetting and so devastating, it made me so emotional. maybe i'm a sucker for a sincere, unconditional friendship but my favorite characters from this book might be fermin and miquel, the most sincere best friends of daniel and julian. i was not very into daniel's romance but seeing it having a parallel with julian's, i can live with that. this book also has one of my most hated characters i've ever known. i was anxious at first because i thought he wouldn't get the ending he deserves. but what happened to him was a bit satisfying. this might have a 'happy ending' for most of the characters, especially daniel, but knowing the truth that happened in the past, i can't bring myself to feel happy when i think about julian, who's living somewhere in paris, all alone but accompanied by a single pen gifted by daniel. it's sad and i finished this book with a heavy heart there are quite a few trigger warnings here so read at your own discretion, but this book is wonderful.

He tenido todo el rato la certeza de que estaba escrito por un hombre. No es nada bueno eso, pero está bien escrito.

** spoiler alert ** Al final es una historia interesante, pero es un trabajo llegar al final por la forma de escribir de zafon, que es muy pesada. Luego tiene un final bastante obvio y aburrido la verdad, nada nuevo - todos viven felices etc etc. No lo recomendaría.

Nobody managed to portray the splitting of the same soul between two different bodies as magnificently as Zafón did. The reader sometimes finds himself confused as he struggles to distinguish Daniel’s story from Carax’ story. The two personalities blend together in a mixture of sorrow and torment that hardly leaves one’s mind after reading such a powerful piece. I found myself hooked right from the start: it was the first book that made me want to savour every page of it with no rush, whatsoever. This was not a simple book, nor a simple tale that you can tell others. It is something you have to read yourself, to understand all the facets of Daniel’s story, which will indefinitely shift your own’s. Be ready to be hit, for the good and for the bad.

I didn't especially like the writing style, where large chunks of the story are filled in by various characters who unceremoniously spill it all out in monologues; I prefer dialogue and action to reveal the story. The protagonist wasn't relatable, he seemed only half-formed when compared to other characters and so I only cared half as much about whatever happened with him. The supporting cast, specifically Fermin and the father, were the characters who actually felt real and worth caring about. At the end of the day it's all about whether or not the book was a good read. For me, the good bits just did not stretch far enough to make the rest of the book worth it.

This is a difficult book to rate, as I get the feeling that I would be giving the original Spanish version five stars, if my language skills were up to it. It's a multi-layered story, a little over-wrought in places, but very evocative of Barcelona, a city I always enjoy visiting.

There are some unique characters in this book, and it's easy to identify with the main protagonist. If you do decide to read it, be aware (trigger warning) for a particularly brutal death in childbirth.

I was compelled to read this book after booking a trip to Barcelona, wanting to immerse myself in the Gothic atmosphere and learn a bit about the city I was about to visit. The setting and atmosphere are indeed one of the most interesting aspects of the book, and I felt myself often caught up in the mood and beautifully poetic writing style. I loved walking the streets of Barcelona and imagining the characters doing the same. But the two big issues I had were that 1. I don't feel that the mystery paid off in the end; given all the suspense, I wanted my jaw to drop a bit more, and 2. (and this is a big one), I really didn't like the presentation of the female characters. Nearly every female was a motherly figure or a potential love interest for Daniel, and this is getting to be a pretty tiresome trope. All in all, a pleasant read if you want to get caught up in an atmospheric narrative, but wouldn't rate it as one of my favourites.

I loved it. It was very beautiful, imaginative and mysterious in Gothic style

The best book I have ever read. Hands down.

The dead never go to their own funeral. I don’t know how to express my feeling about this story, I tried to write many times yet didn’t like it and deleted it. It’s a great story, great characters, not just a hero or heroine. An old Barcelona story extends even before the world war. It’s a story of death as much as life. Also a story about how can a 15-year-old boy reflects a man buried alive. And a story of love as much as sorrow. When the book ended, I wanted to cry. Loved it with all my heart. It’s funny how we judge others and don’t realize the extent of our own disdain until the ones we love are no longer there, until they are taken from us.

I love this book from the first page right 'til the end. While I was only halfway through I thought "this is going to be one of my favorites already no matter how it will end" and never did I judge a book when I'm not done reading it completely. But this, everything about it was astonishing! The descriptions, quotes, poetry... It's too good for words to describe.

Las palabras se quedan cortas delante de tan magistral obra. Ya quisiera yo tener un sentido tan apurado como Carlos Ruiz Zafón para proyectar algunos de los más bellos, y a veces más tenebrosos, retratos de un lugar y de la gente que en él habita. (En redacción - aún hay mucho que descubrir)

i physically gasped multiple times when i read this book, which is something i have never done before.

This book first caught my eye because of the series title "The Cemetery of Forgotten Books" which instantly sparked my imagination. I often avoid novels written in first person or books that span decades of time, not because I have anything against these writing methods, but because most authors fail miserably at pulling them off. They spend so much time trying to get into the main character's head that they forget to add a plot. For multi-decade books, they span so much time that you either skip years incoherently or they are filled with insignificant details. But The Shadow of the Wind avoids these pitfalls. It reminded me how any style can be great if it is well written. The Gothic style is timeless, dark and serious without being overbearing or depressing. The writing is poetic without being ostentatious. The descriptions are beautiful but brief like a well structured foundation that allows your own imagination to fill in the details. With meticulous yet concise descriptions, Zafon sets the stark scene of post World War II Europe which mixes with the flair of Spanish culture and the beauty of Barcelona. The linguistics are unapologetically smart; although some big words and literary references are sprinkled throughout the text, I never felt like they were placed there to show off. Given that a subtle theme of The Shadow of the Wind is the abandonment of books, I felt that this syntax was meant to push the reader to expand their own knowledge. The story grabbed me from the first pages. I found myself not only engaged in Daniel's journey but also wishing that Julian Carax was real so that I too could read his books. So many parts of this book were moving; I found myself rereading passages just to absorb them more. Like this beautiful quote: “I couldn’t help thinking that if I, by pure chance, had found a whole universe in a single unknown book, buried in that endless necropolis, tens of thousands more would remain unexplored, forgotten forever. I felt myself surrounded by millions of abandoned pages, by worlds and souls without an owner sinking in an ocean of darkness, while the world that throbbed outside the library seemed to be losing its memory, day after day, unknowingly, feeling all the wiser the more it forgot.” The plot moved along quickly and had enough twists to keep you interested. There were a couple moments when I was slightly bothered. One was an instance when Daniel waits a year or two to follow up on clues he is given. The others were the instances when Father Fernando Ramos and Nuria Monfort tell their parts of the story. The style of those monologues differs from the rest of the books, and there were certain details that I didn't feel they would have known. But overall, I was so engrossed in the story that these were barely blips of annoyance and did not detract from my enjoyment of the book. I don't want to put any spoilers in this review. But I will say that underneath the main story I felt there was a moral that books - and the love of books - are being forgotten. So I will end with this quote: "Every book, every volume you see here, as a soul. The soul of the person who wrote and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it. Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens." And that is why I read! Both for beautiful words like that and to strengthen my soul and the souls of all the books out there.

This surprised me so much. Was a really good mix of good characters and their development and a really exciting ever changing plot