ILoveShelley
02-26-2011, 12:02 AM
A tale of mystery and romance, The Shadow of the Wind is perhaps one of the most rounded novels I have read in awhile. It is not made up of just one genre, but a mixture of many. For those who are interested in Gothic literature, riddled with elements of romance and crime fiction, I definitely recommend this one for you, just as it was recommended to me by a dear friend. Set out in Zafon's home of Barcelona in the 1900’s, a city of mystery and romance in itself, protagonist Daniel Sempere discovers a book entitled The Shadow of the Wind, written by Julian Carax. When a character from the novel appears to Daniel, he becomes interested in who Carax was and begins to probe into his life in an attempt to unmask the mystery behind the appearance of this strange character.
The Shadow of the Wind is full of twists and turns, a book you will find hard to put down, each character with their own complex yet intriguing story. It presents many interesting and agreeable ideas behind the concept of death and is ridden with much religious imagery. The way in which it presents books and literature as is also very interesting; according to Zafon, each book has its own soul from the person who wrote it and all who have touched and read it, an ideology we do not hear much of in this day and age as we are relying so heavily on technology (how ironic!). It really brings back to life the true, beautiful essence that reading beholds, which is enlightening for bookworms like myself! Zafon has truly displayed himself as a literary master in The Shadow of the Wind.
The Shadow of the Wind is full of twists and turns, a book you will find hard to put down, each character with their own complex yet intriguing story. It presents many interesting and agreeable ideas behind the concept of death and is ridden with much religious imagery. The way in which it presents books and literature as is also very interesting; according to Zafon, each book has its own soul from the person who wrote it and all who have touched and read it, an ideology we do not hear much of in this day and age as we are relying so heavily on technology (how ironic!). It really brings back to life the true, beautiful essence that reading beholds, which is enlightening for bookworms like myself! Zafon has truly displayed himself as a literary master in The Shadow of the Wind.