The shadow of the wind

¶ … Wind

The author of the book, Carlo Ruiz Zafon was born in 1964 in Barcelona in Spain. He is a graduate from a university and was working in advertising before he shifted to Los Angeles when he was a little more than 20. He was a writer and had written four books for young persons before he started on the road to success with Shadow of the Wind. This had been a best seller in Spain for more than a year and is already a popular book in more than 20 countries. The book started with the story of Daniel Sampere waking up on his eleventh birthday and he was not very happy. The problem was that he had forgotten his mother's face. The mother had passed away due to cholera but had been a real life guide for the boy and had a sort of invisible presence. The boy had used her as a guide, but would now be unable to do it as he had forgotten her face. For his birthday, his father took him to the cemetery of forgotten books to give him the gift of a book to celebrate his birthday. (Whipple, Mary. The Shadow of the Wind)

This cemetery is a store of books which have been forgotten about, and these books are "no longer remembered by anyone, books that are lost in time, live forever, waiting for the day when they will reach a new reader's hands." (Whipple, Mary. The Shadow of the Wind) the tradition of the people who visit this store of books is that they take a book and after choosing the book promise that they will adopt it and make sure that it will never disappear. When he reaches the cemetery, the boy chooses a particular book with the name of "The shadow of the Wind." He feels an immediate love for the book and that the book had been waiting for his arrival. The book had been written by Julian Carax. The story in the book is about a young person who has been trying to find out the father that he did not know. During the search he expected to get back his lost youth and also to finally end a lost love that he had once. The book is very well liked by Daniel and this makes him to try to find out more about the author and other books that he had written. In the process he also finds out that another person is also searching for the author's books, but his aim is to burn the books. He also learns that many of them had already been burned by the other person. (Whipple, Mary. The Shadow of the Wind)

The book is from this beginning clearly projected to be a thriller and possibly very ambitious. It sounds like a standard book of the Victorian era, but the difference is that the book is set in Spain, and the book has been given a literary angle through the introduction given to the book. The opening itself has been given a good invention with the concept of "the Cemetery of Forgotten Books." The time is also quite romantic, and this is 1945. The introduction of this invention is excellent - "In this place, books no longer remembered by anyone, books that are lost in time, live forever, waiting for the day when they will reach a new reader's hands." (the complete review - fiction)

There is also a twist which is added by the author and this makes him tell Daniel's father to his son "According to tradition, the first time someone visits this place, he must choose a book, whichever he wants, and adopt it, making sure that it will never disappear, that it will always stay alive." (the complete review - fiction) the offers for the book start from the time after he has got the book but Daniel cannot forget his duty as per the tradition, and this is what stops him from passing on the book to the collector who was burning the books of Carax. This is what brings danger into his life. Slowly the story of Carax is made known to Daniel and that those books were written in 1920s and 30s in Paris and that the books were later sold in Barcelona. The details of his life are not known, and one knew that he was able only to be a pianist in a variety club and a very unsuccessful novelist.

The traces of his life are not very well-known now, but during the course of the novel, some parts of it become known through the stories from some people who knew the writer. There is however a person named as Lain Coubert, who is also named in the book written by Carax, the Shadow of the Wind and he is supposed to be the devil. This person has been trying his best to remove the traces of the book. Along with the efforts of this individual, there was also the worst character in the book, and he is also a figure most would not like. There are doubts whether the person is the same, but an individual with the same name has become the chief inspector of the Barcelona Crime Squad. He is called Francisco Javier Fumero and he is specially targeting Carax. (the complete review - fiction)

Initially, the story is not known to Daniel and gradually when he comes to know, he becomes totally involved. In the entire process, he also falls in love with a blind woman. Her name is Clara and this woman had also been a person liking the writings of Carax at one time. She had also managed to rescue a victim of Fumero once. The name of the victim was Fermin Romero de Torres and this person takes up employment in the bookshop, now under Daniel and also ends up helping Daniel in his searches. In the meantime, the mysteries of the Carax novel continues and the mysteries keep coming out. The emotions come out of childhood friendships and humiliations, disappointed and disparaged love, as also deep rooted and long lasting hatred and anger. These lead to inevitable conflict and confrontation.

The individuals involved do not want to forget the past and in the entire process, Daniel gets involved. This makes the book full of passion and revenge, unreturned love, severe disappointments and also of Christian redemption. The character of Daniel as portrayed is not a heroic person, but he has to remain at the center of it all. His main likeable characteristic is that he is a very human individual. Fermin can be seen to be a very useful assistant, and so are many of the other characters whose story matches their expected characters. Some of the group seems entirely Victorian, and this group includes Fumero. The turns of the story are also somewhat Victorian and these include the greatest part of the love affair on to Lain Coubert. The portrayal is entirely Victorian yet in the end for the reader it is enjoyable, though sometimes it goes on to seem excessive. (the complete review - fiction)

At some points the writing is classic and there are passages like "The white marble was scored with black tears of dampness that looked like blood dripping out of the clefts left by the engraver's chisel." Yet the writing does not always maintain good quality and one of his favorite expressions seem to be "foggy." Every event in the novel seems to be surrounded in fog, but there is no smoldering, but there is always smoky. The story itself has been started in a very complex fashion, and that causes difficulties. The author had to start the entire story with a complex method of a manuscript left behind by one of the characters. This is probably a complex method of getting Carax into the story. The aims that Ruiz Zafon had started with are quite commendable, but his functioning is not always up to that level. His best invention of the Cemetery of books has not been used as much as it could have been used in the novel. There is only another person who goes to this cemetery to choose a book that is no longer of any use, and forgotten.

The name of the book given is Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy. This may have been a satire by the author, had he chosen the novel to make satires on his fellow mates, but the author has maintained a very serious tone throughout the book. The story in itself has been made very complex, and this has led to a loss of precision in the book. The story shifts continuously from talking about historical happenings to current events, and does not know where one is just now. The total problems that have been talked about are finally solved, though the perseverant reader has had to go through a lot of twists and turns. The matters finally reach a limit and in the end the reader should have reached the end. 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 a passion for life should also think whether they have a passion for Jesus. 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)