The Shadow of the Wind, Carlos Ruiz Zafon
81 Rating(s)
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The Shadow of the Wind

Narrator: Jonathan Davis

Unabridged: 18 hr 5 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 01/01/2005


Synopsis

Barcelona, 1945—just after the war, a great world city lies in shadow, nursing its wounds, and a boy named Daniel awakes on his eleventh birthday to find that he can no longer remember his mother’s face. To console his only child, Daniel’s widowed father, an antiquarian book dealer, initiates him into the secret of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a library tended by Barcelona’s guild of rare-book dealers as a repository for books forgotten by the world, waiting for someone who will care about them again. Daniel’s father coaxes him to choose a volume from the spiraling labyrinth of shelves, one that, it is said, will have a special meaning for him. And Daniel so loves the novel he selects, The Shadow of the Wind by one Julian Carax, that he sets out to find the rest of Carax’s work. To his shock, he discovers that someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book this author has written. In fact, he may have the last one in existence. Before Daniel knows it his seemingly innocent quest has opened a door into one of Barcelona’s darkest secrets, an epic story of murder, magic, madness and doomed love. And before long he realizes that if he doesn’t find out the truth about Julian Carax, he and those closest to him will suffer horribly.

As with all astounding novels, The Shadow of the Wind sends the mind groping for comparisons—The Crimson Petal and the White? The novels of Arturo Pérez-Reverte? Of Victor Hugo? Love in the Time of Cholera?—but in the end, as with all astounding novels, no comparison can suffice. As one leading Spanish reviewer wrote, “The originality of Ruiz Zafón’s voice is bombproof and displays a diabolical talent. The Shadow of the Wind announces a phenomenon in Spanish literature.” An uncannily absorbing historical mystery, a heart-piercing romance, and a moving homage to the mystical power of books, The Shadow of the Wind is a triumph of the storyteller’s art.

Reviews

AudiobooksNow review by Leigh on 2007-05-05 15:57:28

One of the best books I've read in ages. My husband also read it and loved it (which usually we don't share the same reading interests). I would highly recommend this book for the author's engaging writing style and his wonderful development of characters. I felt like I truly knew these characters and was so sad to put it down once I'd finished. Well worth your time!

AudiobooksNow review by Evelyn on 2007-09-12 03:18:42

This is one of the most beautifully written books i've read in a long time.It is intriguing,heartbreaking and frightening all at the same time.It made me want to go visit Spain and walk the same streets that Daniel walks.