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

great narrator, great characters but okay story

What did you love best about The Shadow of the Wind?

I love the different vivid characters in the book and the author really allowed their personality to really shine! He's definitely a great character writer but the story is okay.

A little long but worth it!

I enjoyed this book tremendously. I lived in Barcelona for a year right after college so the many references to streets and neighborhoods around the city really helped me visualize the story and the surroundings.

Most excellent except

An incredibly wonderful book. Spell binding.
Unfortunately a very distracting and almost cheesy music accompanying the narrative destroys its mood, cadence and beauty.

Please remake this withou the music.

Didn't want this to end!

This is one of those stories you need to pay attention to the details and to the many characters. So many threads that connect down the road and things that appear to be of little importance are revealed in their entirety later. I absolutely and thoroughly enjoyed this beautiful story and didn't want it to end. Will be reading more by this talented author!

Excellent story narrated very nicely

A child's love for books starts him on an adventure that defines his life into his adulthood.
A lesson that things often are not how they seem.

An amazing book. That is complex and engrossing. T

An amazingly engrossing book whose plot becomes more complex with every chapter. if you are into audio books the narrator of this one is quite skilled.

Beautifully written! Loved the music

If you could sum up The Shadow of the Wind in three words, what would they be?

Love, mystery, evil

What other book might you compare The Shadow of the Wind to and why?

I truly have never read anything that even remotely resembles this book

What about Jonathan Davis’s performance did you like?

I loved the fact that the names of people, streets, and places were pronounced as a Spaniard would. The narration was powerful, tender, and well-paced. Unlike many other reviewers, I loved the music and thought it added to the mood of the story.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

There were many such moments, particularly those in which Daniel is awakened to love, both as a 10-year old and as an 18-year old. I also loved the rejuvenation of Fermin through the efforts of Daniel and his father.

Any additional comments?

I have had this book for several years and planned to read it, but never got around to it. I am now very happy that I listened instead.

So beautifully sad

I have never been much of a reader, but this book captured my imagination the way Carax captured Daniel's, and I haven't been able to read another novel since

eh...I finished it at least...

I'm not a fan of mood music in audio books, and there was a lot of it in this one. I found it distracting and irritating.

completely overtook me.

There havent been many books I've read or listened to over the years that just consumed all my attention the way this one did. I loved it and would highly recommend to anyone and everyone.