The Shadow of the Wind

By: Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Narrated by: Jonathan Davis

Length: 18 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

Barry Award

Book Sense Book of the Year

Borders Original Voices Award

Gumshoe Award

Horror Guild Award

Joseph-Beth and Davis-Kidd Booksellers Fiction Award

NYPL Books to Remember

Barcelona, 1945: Just after the war, a great world city lies in shadow, nursing its wounds, and a boy named Daniel awakes on his 11th 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.

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.

Translated by Lucia Graves.

©2001 Carlos Ruiz Zafon; 2004 Lucia Graves (P)2004 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“Anyone who enjoys novels that are scary, erotic, touching, tragic and thrilling should rush right out to the nearest bookstore and pick up The Shadow of the Wind. Really, you should.”—Michael Dirda, The Washington Post

“Gabriel Garcia Marquez meets Umberto Eco meets Jorge Luis Borges for a sprawling magic show.”—The New York Times Book Review

“[T]here is no question that [The Shadow of the Wind] is wondrous. . . [M]asterful, meticulous plotting and extraordinary control over language. . . . The Shadow of the Wind is ultimately a love letter to literature, intended for readers as passionate about storytelling as its young hero.”—Entertainment Weekly

classic

this book was so incredibly well written. It had twists and turns, there was clarity with the characters, with all loose ends tied up. It is really a must for mystery readers every where

Stop the music!

Highly engaging story, excellent vocal performance. I would recommend this book strongly. The only thing that mars it is the unnecessary music inserted (presumably for "dramatic effect") at various points. This is a trend I am noticing more and more in audiobook production. It is a trick TV producers use when they realize the story itself is weak and lacking in dramatic impact. Audiobook producers would do well to forbid the use of this cheap technique. If you have a good story and a good vocal performer, you don't need front else. It actually detracts from the listening experience.

Acceptable but bordering on boring

What did you like best about The Shadow of the Wind? What did you like least?

I thought that main characters, except protagonist, had long shadows without the complexity and depth of that characters should have.

What could Carlos Ruiz Zafon have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Use way less adjectives and reduce melodramatic scenes and sentences.

What does Jonathan Davis bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

He does a great job and acts gives character to each character.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

No

Any additional comments?

The audio producer inserted music at times that made it distracting and frankly intolerable.

Beautiful and brilliant

Zaffon is our new Marquez! Such a portrait of people and personalities and mysteries! !

Two Thumbs Up

I have loved this book since High School and now I love it as an adult.

it has quite to the crescendo

it was very good and I am downloading the 2nd book right now, can't wait

Fabulous

Read the book several years ago . Decided to listen to the story and see if I still loved the characters and plot. It has so many twists and turns that I think everyone should enjoy it twice!

Epic tale

This book was interesting because of the setting (Barcelona) and the story line. It was long, lots of characters, the plot somewhat drawn out. As one of the other reviews said, at times it was a little hard to keep track of all the characters, especially with the Spanish names. But on the whole, is satisfying read

A beautiful book

An extraordinary, genre-defying work by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. One sometimes approaches heavily lauded books with some suspicion, fearful that the pages won’t live up to the hype. But the story won me over quickly, then took a number of unexpected turns in near mystical directions, even though the characters themselves are almost all hardened agnostics and atheists. Beating beneath the heart of this ingeniously teased out mystery/romance is the dark pain of a nation torn by civil strife. The lawlessness of the powerful in times of upheaval provides a real level of horror to the narrative. I give away nothing. Immensely readable, and the reading performance of the audiobook is wonderful.

Intrigue, History and Love

An interesting combination of history, intriguing mystery and multiple love stories surrounding a boy's curiosity about a book he discovers. Lots of characters and events to remember. Enjoyable, but I haven't decided if I want to read any more of the series - Cemetery of Forgotten Books.