The Shadow of the Wind

De: Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Narrado por: Jonathan Davis

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

Reseñas de la Crítica

“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

Just read it.

Truthfully I started this book years ago, never finished it. I picked it back up when I found it in some old things in my garage and then started listening and reading again. It is a wonderful read.

Exceptional!

The story just sucked me in. mystery, suspense, and the nara tor's wonderful accent. perfect!

A very good listen

I highly recommend this book. It was a great story. Definitely a repeat listen.

Didn’t like the music

I didn’t appreciate how often and how long they played music while the narrator spoke. It was too loud and was very hard to listen to the words. Very distracting.

The music

The music ruins this as an audible choice. I will read it instead. I'm disappointed that I used a credit for this.

Struggled through the end

The book is beautifully written, but I think it would need to be read to be appreciated rather than on audiobook.

The performance was melodramatic and the music was a horrible distraction. it was very annoying, and found myself eye rolling alot.

I was curious where the story was going, but struggled to stay engaged until the last few hours. I wanted to quit and return it over and over again. It was painful to keep listening, but just when I was going to give up on it, it opened up and the mystery revealed and it ended well.

Can't recommend the audio version, if you want to read it, get a digital or paper copy. I think I would have enjoyed it far more. If you get it..commit to finishing it. It's a satisfying ending.

Gothic fun

In the tradition of gothic genre, I found this novel quite entertaining. Some parts were a bit overly sentimental, frought with musical overtures, and melodramatic, but such things did not completely destroy the entertainment value. Comparative to other novels which I have paid more for, but whose value and quality were non-existent after listening, I would suggest that this is the best $13.00 download I have ever purchased, whose quality far outweights the price of purchase.

I love, love, LOVE this book and reading!

This story had me excited, sad, hopeful... THE book about the wonder of books! I have listened to this many times and it never gets old!!! LOVE it!

A good story but....

A good story but needlessly convoluted and verbose at times. It detracted from the flow. I enjoyed the character development and the bacdrop of Spain. Fermin was the character that stole the show in my opinion.

intoxicating journey

loved this book and was eager to get back to it whenever I had minutes to walk drive cook etc. story was a little tidy but so much fun