THE SHADOW OF THE WIND
SUMMARY:
I am going to try to give as a brief summary as possible because I don’t want to spoil even one thing for anyone. This book is a gem. Hidden? Undiscovered? Hyped? Biased? I don’t know. Decide it for yourself. But read this book.
The Shadow of the wind is the first book in the Cemetery of Forgotten Book series.
The story begins with Daniel being upset about the fact that he cannot remember his mother’s face anymore. His father takes him to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a secret library, where there are hundreds and thousands of books forgotten by everyone around, waiting, to find someone. Everyone who enters here can take one book for themselves. After looking around, Daniel picks up a book “The Shadow of the Wind” by Julian Carax. Daniel is so in love with the book that he can’t help but look around for other books by Julian Carax. During his quest to find other books, he was informed that all the books by Julian Carax had been burned and the copy that he has is possibly the last one in existence. His quest to find other books by the said author brings him into the light of some powerful people.
Daniel tries constantly to find the missing pieces and connect the dots when the resemblance from the book slowly begins in his reality. Their stories become entwined, characters from past and present mix yet they are their own stories.
***
“The moment you stop to think about whether you love someone, you’ve already stopped loving that person forever.”
MY THOUGHTS
There is something magical about The Shadow Of The Winds. Maybe because it is a story of a reader of books, of someone who loves words and care about them, maybe it is because of the lure of forgotten books, maybe it is because how books change our life, maybe because it is slowly blurred the lines between fiction and reality for Daniel, maybe it is the beautiful writing, maybe it nothing and everything. But this book is magical.
I read this book years ago. But when I sat to write this review, all I wanted to do was to curl up and read this book again. When I read this book, I was busy going to my college and classes and all the things that last one and a half year have put a stop on. But even in all the haste and busy schedule, all I could think about was this book and the gripping mystery.
I talked about Daniel but this book isn’t just about him. There characters who we meet along the way, who somehow become so familiar. I cannot stress enough how much pleasure reading about Fermín was (and now that I have read his book, I adore his character even more).
Apart from love for words what I love about this book was…the simplicity to just be humans? And understanding at a point that everyone else is too. The range of emotions portrayed in this book made my heart swell. From grief, wonder, kindness, love, loss, ache, the need to know things, friendship, family; This book has a piece of everything.
You don’t need to love historical fiction or mystery to enjoy this book. I am positive anyone and everyone will fall in love with this beautiful book.
“Once, in my father’s bookshop, I heard a regular customer say that few things leave a deeper mark on a reader than the first book that finds its way into his heart. Those first images, the echo of words we think we have left behind, accompany us throughout our lives and sculpt a palace in our memory to which, sooner or later—no matter how many books we read, how many worlds we discover, or how much we learn or forget—we will return.”
P.S.: There are 4 books in the series but you read them as standalone as well.
P.S. There is something in this book that many people complained about:
” How the females were represented in the book.”
And while I recognize it when I was reading the book, I honestly did not think about it. So, if you found it a little odd, you are not the only one.
“Every book, every volume you see here, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it. Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens.”
NOTE: This review was written more than 2 years ago. My writing style for reviews have changed a lot since then.
BLURB
Barcelona, 1945: A city slowly heals from its war wounds, and Daniel, an antiquarian book dealer’s son who mourns the loss of his mother, finds solace in a mysterious book entitled The Shadow of the Wind, by one Julian Carax. But when he sets out to find the author’s other works, he makes a shocking discovery: someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book Carax has written. In fact, Daniel may have the last of Carax’s books in existence. Soon Daniel’s seemingly innocent quest opens a door into one of Barcelona’s darkest secrets–an epic story of murder, madness, and doomed love.
If you enjoy my content, you can support me here.
You can reach the article for creation vs destruction here.
