Shadow of the Wind

I am a lover of books. I read novels, histories, biographies, science and politics. Some of the books I have read in the last year or so are listed above. I have no doubt read 50 more books in the last year that are not listed. The Lovely Sharon is also an avid reader and she and I have spent many hours together at book stores and libraries. I must tell you that I am very happy she is a fan of the written word.

In February I bought a book, Shadow of the Wind in Palm Desert. I stacked the book in my pile of unread books in the Bud Cave for the last few months where it resided, untouched by me for several months. In early June I looked through my stacked and I can across this book again. To tell the truth I had forgotten about it and when I picked it up again, I wondered why I had purchased this book; what had attracted me to this book. Shadow of the Wind was written in Spanish by author Carolos Ruiz Zafo’n in 2001 and translated into English in 2004. The copy I have is a trade paperback if you know what that is. It’s a larger paperback than the normal dime store type novels. It’s a fairly lengthy novel, almost 500 pages. I think the artwork on the cover is what first attracted me. The cover also indicated it was a New York Times Best Seller. So for whatever reason, I bought the book, forgot about the book and then finally found it my stacks and read it. I finished reading it today.

The plot is set primarily in Spain and secondarily in Paris. The overall time frame of the book is from 1900 to 1966. The book skillfully combines to stories that involve into a single story. A boy Daniel, finds a book in a place called the graveyards of books. The graveyard of books has thousand of books and young Daniel is given the change to walk through the books and to select on for his very own. He selects a book written by Julian Carax, unknow Spanish author.

So the book I read (“My Book”) is a book about a book. Through the years Daniel searches for author Julian. My Book is the story of the life of Daniel and the story of the tragic life of Julian. Most poignantly, it also about the crossing of their paths.

Shadow of the Wind is about love, death, violence, families and life. It felt me with a sense of melancholy as its mysteries were unraveled. The characters in the book are complex and interesting.

If you are looking for a serious read consider Shadow of the Wind.