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 story, Great narration, Bad/Intrusive Music

Any additional comments?

The narrator was wonderful and the book engaging but if I wasn't so caught up in the story, I would have stopped listening .

The music played during some of the scenes was appallingly intrusive and often at odds with the emotion I was sensing in the book. It made parts of it feel like a telenovela.

shadow of the wind

Beautiful, sheer poetry, great audio presentation. This original story is inspiring and I will listen again and again.

True Mystery Simply Delightful

Having read most of the reviews before mine, I agree with the pros and cons of this book, however since this is a work of translation I kept this in mind wandering through the wind with Danielle... and conjuring up images of post war Madrid from an historical perspective. I loved the narrator (he narrated Snow Crash for those of you who are searching for him which I gave 5 star and wrote a review) and the music as corny and it might have sounded it somehow hit the right note :)... The first chapter is simple and deceptive because each story branches off into other stories with new characters with quirks, twitches and authentic voices you can see the cafe or the hat shop or the mansion where the murders took place... I love to listen to the language if you do you will love this book.

Outstanding

This book was recommended to me by a friend, and I must admit is not one that I would have picked for myself. However, it is now my favorite book. It is beautifully written, or at least the translation from Spanish to English was done flawlessly. The reader is outstanding, bringing each character to life.

Excellent example of a book best LISTENED to

I am so glad I experienced this novel as an audiobook! True, there is sometimes too much of a good thing in some of the lengthy descriptions the author uses, but the style fits with the fantasy world of the story. The narrator fits his emotions and pitch with each character and brings them to life, yet still allows the reader to imagine the rest. The icing on the cake is the piano music composed by the author. The notes add texture to what you experience. The flaws in this book are more than made up for by its strengths, earning it 5 stars.

Melodramatic and marvelous

I hate schlock, and this book is wonderful. Some of the other reviewers have said it quite well, consider this a resounding "yes" to their praise. I can imagine listening to this again some day.

A must-read

Wonderful as an audiobook, one of my absolute favorites. The narrator does a wonderful job and his performance adds to an already wonderful book. The decision to include music was a real bonus. I highly recommend this one.

Too much music

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

The narrator was great, and I really enjoyed the story but the weird music that will start up randomly during the story became very distracting. It wasn't even at the beginning and ending of chapters but at any point that, I'm assuming, the director wanted to build an emotional response though it? I don't know but it was annoying.

Amazing

Any additional comments?

This book started off slow but then blossomed into one of the most interesting stories. The characters were developed in a way that was just gripping. This book is definitely in my top 5 of all time. Only thing that was a little annoying was the music in the background. Other than that, the narration was fantastic too.

Loved it! Over too soon.

This book was wonderful, I didn't want it to end. This is the second Zafon book I've read/listened to, I am looking forward to his next work.