It’s been a while since I’ve written a book review on the site and I thought it was about time. So, today I’d like to tell you about “La Sombra del Viento” by Carlos Ruiz Zafón.
This book has been a bestseller here in Spain for quite some time now. In fact, I believe it was released around 2001 or 2002, and since that time it has been pretty popular in bookstores. It’s no surprise to me that it’s popular here — this book is one of the best fictional novels that I’ve ever read.
The book is about a child named Daniel who one day discovers a forgotten book on the dusty shelves of the “Forgotten Book Cemetery” — a place that his father, who owns a bookstore, frequents. Daniel becomes so intrigued by the forgotten book that he decides to investigate into the life of its author: Julián Carax. Of course, there is a problem: Carax’s life turns out to be very obscure and takes many twists and turns. Daniel soon becomes obsessed with finding out more about Carax’s life and this novel basically tells the story of Daniel’s search for information.
I really enjoyed reading this book because it is set in Barcelona, Spain right after the Spanish Civil War and is written in a way that makes you feel as if you really are in the city of Barcelona. It describes the buildings there, it describes the things the people do on the street there — it basically transcends you to the Barcelona of the early twentieth century. Another thing that I found very interesting about this book is that it is full of details and is told through several overlapping stories of love, hatred, mystery, and intrigue. These intertwined stories make the book extremely interesting to read and come together perfectly at the end of the novel to form a very well-executed closing. Continue reading this post…
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