The Shadow of the Wind (The Cemetery of Forgotten Books, #1) in 100 books to read before you die

Aug 22, 2011 Vanessa rated it it was amazing

Nearly 500 pages in one day. That should say something. More later, once I can form a coherent thought again

***
Please, read this book. Immediately. Shadow of the wind is everything a novel should be. It's engrossing, captivating, poignant, and most importantly, leaves a lasting impression.

I was completely steamrolled by this book, and it's really difficult to articulate exactly why. I'll give it a shot though.

First, there is the writing. It is beautifully descriptive. The author brings us to the Nearly 500 pages in one day. That should say something. More later, once I can form a coherent thought again

***
Please, read this book. Immediately. Shadow of the wind is everything a novel should be. It's engrossing, captivating, poignant, and most importantly, leaves a lasting impression.

I was completely steamrolled by this book, and it's really difficult to articulate exactly why. I'll give it a shot though.

First, there is the writing. It is beautifully descriptive. The author brings us to the tormented city of Barcelona, where we can feel the scars of the recent civil war and the general darkness of the times. I found the very idea of a cemetery for forgotten books guarded by a mysterious old man to be utterly enchanting.

Then, there are the characters. I will admit that the male characters are definitely better developed in this story, but it is written mostly from the perspective of a young boy/man and so this is not necessarily a problem, as young boys and young men tend to know very little of females and their minds. Fermín is my absolute favorite. Though I was not expecting to, I laughed right out loud on several occasions. He provides some much needed comic relief throughout the course of the otherwise dark and suspenseful novel.

On top of the lovely writing and intriguing characters are the multiple interrelated plot lines that are woven, seemingly effortlessly, throughout the story. I loved the rich detail that these diversions (although many were highly related and some even critical to the main story line!) added to the overall atmosphere of the novel. I will say that very early on I had a strong suspicion about the ultimate outcome of the novel that turned out to be correct, but it did not detract from my enjoyment of the story at all. Conversely, it seemed to heighten my anticipation somehow.

Usually, I skim the GR reviews for a book when I first add it to my list, right before I am about to start reading (this is a bad habit as sometimes I happen upon reviews that have not been censored for spoilers appropriately), and again immediately after I finish a book. I couldn't help but notice that there is a fair amount of criticism regarding the literary device used to convey large parts of the story that are not observed by the author, namely letters. I will agree that there were a few times where I thought that the writing in these letters was too much like the writing in the rest of the book and that there was no way the letter writers could have had such detailed knowledge. Obviously, it didn't bother me that much. When some of your favorite books involve a post-apocalyptic struggle between good and evil after a super-flu; a gunslinger that comes from a parallel universe, and a teenaged wizard, well, a character that is just a little too omniscient is no problemo. I hope the other books in the series are just as good. ...more

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Apr 03, 2009 Ozum rated it it was amazing

It took me a while to finish this book but some events in the book made me not want to read the book for a while.. So some days I couldn't open it for the fear that something bad is going to happen.. But once I started it was hard to put it down until the next sad event..
But I loved it.. It left something in me... ...more

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Mar 21, 2009 Ken rated it it was amazing

One of my all time favorite books that I will read again and again. There is so much in this story that lets the reader lose himself in this world of twists and turns.

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