The author does not really take the opportunity from all the characters that he has introduced, yet this may be viewed as an act of restraint on his part. The position of Daniel remains a low positioned individual, and that probably takes care for the other individuals who seem to have much more power than is the case in real life. (the complete review - fiction)
The book will appeal to some types of people and among them are people who love Gothic romance. This is almost a mystery with a young boy slowly attaining age and at the same time trying to find out about the mysteries that are connected with Julian Carax. The total image of the book has scenes taking place in a heavy and sensual atmosphere. This builds up a sense of foreboding. This is combined with night time mists, storms, cold in winter, astounding events and simply unlikely coincidences. The actions in the novel are complicated by a lot of factors like mysterious photographs, letters which are not delivered, false identities, an abandoned house where only a ghost resides, killing of a mother, a stepfather who is a scheming individual, love situations which do not meet the expected ends, unending revenge, and murders at many points. The individuals who are portrayed as villains are shown to be really bad individuals, and on the other hand, the good people are very good. (Whipple, Mary. The Shadow of the Wind)
Even the women who love these characters are very pure women. On top of this the length of the book is very high - almost 600 pages and reminds one of Charles Dickens in terms of length. Here the length is achieved through the passages giving details for all the characters and their backgrounds. Even details of the houses are provided in certain cases. The book does not have much of humor and the little attempts that exist do not really make a person laugh. As an example one can quote snow being called as "God's dandruff." This tells us that the book would be immensely enjoyed by people who like to hear of old times, and about romances and intrigues. To a certain extent it gives details of the situation in Spain after the occurrence of their Civil War and World War II. The characters that are portrayed are good though they do not provide interest in terms of types. There is a certain amount of melodrama, but that is about all. (Whipple, Mary. The Shadow of the Wind)
Still the book provides an amount of interest and this will be true even for people who read a lot of books. The general thought required for liking the book is probably a bit of home made philosophy - all characters slowly die and the process starts when they stop on their main purpose in life at that time and that can be hope, love or anything else. This gives out clearly in the book the character of Julian. Yet the death is not final and probably the person persists in our memory as long as we want to and till that time, the person continues to influence our lives. As an example, a person can talk about film stars like Marilyn Monroe who have passed away a long time ago, but are still remembered by at least some people. This is a matter that all Christians should think about, and may also be thought of being our legacy for the future generation. Will our examples be beneficial for mankind in future? (Connecting with Culture)
The good can be at many places including the place of work, home, entertainment areas, etc. Sometimes these feelings are not properly cared for, and these individuals should try to attend to these requirements. When an individual has the power to influence other people, it is easily recognizable by them, and they should take care of it. In this book the greatest emphasis is on the power of love and that being given or not given. The worst character in book can be understood and expected to act the way he acted. People who have...
This in itself can fill up our requirements and some may even lead a life immersed in it. This is not unique and many people have been doing it in the past. (Connecting with Culture)
In this book every character starts from a point and ends up in their utility of living at another point. At that point they give up all hope of being successful in
business, writing a decent novel, finding true love, and many other things. This becomes the point where they start declining. This is probably true in life also. All individuals may start thinking of the purpose that they are living for, and when they can reach the goal that they are trying to reach. At some point one may reach the target, or may stop thinking about it. The next thought is then of what follows or should follow. Some individuals then spend the rest of their life not really living, but through just going through the motions. Will they not have any sense of purpose,
adventure or passion? Even the most religious individuals have these worries, as every individual always stays a human being.
The aim of the individual can be different - either concentrating one's life on
religion or on some other activity. It can be seen even among some individuals who are pretty religious now are not really fulfilling their purpose in life. Sometimes these people are also just waiting for improvement in life. This is not the aim that is given by any religious leader, and they all talk about us having a lot of
energy to do what we feel is our requirement in life. Every individual dreams of going to heaven some day, but till that happens, one has to live on this
earth in a full manner. This will help in the transmission of the individual into a better person. The characters in this book seem to have no purpose to achieve, at least a good portion among them. Are they not already dead? (Connecting with Culture)
In some respects, this book is like a
Science Fiction novel and quite similar to "Snow Crash" by Neil Stephenson. The similarity is not in terms of the story of the book, but in terms of the fact that the books start out with a great beginning and then are not able to continue in that same great style. This happens as both these books keep adding a lot of story and characters who are not related to the mains story. This is probably not liked by most readers - who has the time anyway? This will lead to a situation where the reader will just keep turning the pages or in certain cases give up
reading altogether. Some individuals solve the problem by just jumping from one section to another where they find things happening that interest them. This happens mainly to individuals who read a lot of books. Some of the sections of the book are written from the view points of different characters, and these are fine if the characters play a major role in the story. Here the last section is written from the view of an unimportant character! (Break like the Wind)
Most readers of the book, who have had earlier experience of reading books, will probably jump over this section. This sort of situation has been happening in this book right from the half way stage, and this is a section containing a serious flaw. The book talks about the individual getting a brain scan in Spain in the
1950s. The fact is that MRI scan process was developed and started on humans only in the 1970s. It is certainly important that all authors keep checking up on all the events that they put on record. The problem that came up could have been solved by more of
imagination of the writer, why did he have to quote tests about which he did not know the facts? A little of extra damages shown to the individual just required a little imagination from the author. However with all the errors, the book was still appreciated by the critics and this book even was nearly nominated for the Spanish award for the best book. The book also received a large number of good
reviews in Europe regarding the quality. This does not talk highly about the critics or the quality of other books. According to some opinions, the book itself is only a Shadow of a great book. There were opportunities, but the book did not live up to the expectation. (Break like the Wind)
The views of certain critics can be seen. According to Christopher Taylor of Daily Telegraph, the author's thinking is…
