This is a translated work by Carlos Ruiz Zafron. It is a bit historical mystery, a bit magical realism with some romance thrown in. This book was selected for my book club and I wasn't too sure about the selection but I ended up really enjoying the book. It is a bit of a slow read at the beginning, not in the sense that you feel as though you are trudging through chapters. Rather, it is just a slow methodical read that is quite enjoyable. As the book progresses the pace definitely picks up and I was hard pressed to put the book down. The mystery unravels as you learn about the characters and their intertwining stories. There are lots of characters that can be a bit difficult to keep straight initially, but as the story progresses the familiarity grows as well. The book spans a period of 9 years in Daniel's life and reveals his growth and obsession with Julian Carax, the author he has become enamored with after selecting his work from the Cemetery of Lost Books
Zafron writes characters that draw emotion from the reader. Some you cannot help but root for as an underdog type character, others are down right despicable and unlikeable. The story definitely draws the reader in and it would be impossible not to feel emotion for the characters and their plights. He is also a masterful story teller who weaves different character storylines together masterfully. Each section reveals someone else's connection to the narrator, Daniel, and Julian Carax. I thought the stories were well connected and made sense. There are other works in the series and I look forward to seeing if they are separate storylines about books selected from the Cemetery of it there will be stories told from others' perspectives. Time will tell but I do intend to try the next book for sure.
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book starts out at a slow steady pace but gradually picks up to a fast paced Nobel you don’t want to put down. Ruiz creates characters and a storyline that weave together in amazing intricacies but are still quite plausible. The whole novel is set amid the lure and mystery of Barcelona and is set in the era of turmoil surrounding the civil war. The implicit lack of trust of Barcelona citizens helps fuel the story more. I look forward to reading more in this series
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Challenge Prompts
The Challenge Prompts I will use this for are:
- Library Love #LibraryLoveChallenge Book #107
- Alphabet Soup Author Edition #AlphabetSoupAuthorChallenge "Z"
- 2021TBR #2021ReadingChallenge # 9 a classic
- Virtual Mount TBR #VirtualMountTBR2021 Book #115
- Back List Reader #Backlistreader Book #129
- Cloak & Dagger #CloakDaggerChal Book #109
- Historic Fiction #histficreadingchallenge Book #12
- PopSugar #popsugarreadingchallenge #21 A genre hybrid
- Around the Year in 52 Books #37. A book from the Are You Well Read in World Literature list
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