The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon January 16, 2006
Posted by CamdenKiwi in : Reviews , trackback
This is a beautiful, rich book set in Barcelona in the early days of Franco’s rule. A young boy is given a book in unusual circumstances, and becomes bound up in the mystery surrounding its author and its publication. As he grows up, he becomes more and more entwined in events which are both intensely personal and also tied up with the traumatic times he is living through. It is a mystery, a political comment, a coming of age story rolled into one.
Barcelona itself is a major character, with the book firmly located in the centre of the city. The street names are familiar to any city-breaker who’s spent a few days there, but the atmosphere is dark and drear befitting the times. It is a reminder of how much pain Barcelona went through during the 20th century, which is hidden under the bright, modern city that it is now.
The style is reminiscent of Umberto Eco with the same rich characterisation and byzantine inter-relationships of the characters, though without the erudite literary references, unless it is just that my limited knowledge of Spanish literature failed to spot them.
This is the first of Zafon’s books to be translated into English, and I only hope the rest are soon, otherwise I may have to drastically improve my holiday Spanish.
If you’d like to buy this through Amazon, click on the picture above and earn me a penny or two.
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