Binge Reading

Backstory: My sister-in-law insisted that I read this book.  Immediately.  Actually, she insisted that everyone she knew read this book immediately, even devoting her facebook status to the cause for a few days.  Though she and I don’t have identical taste, she reads almost as much as I do, so when she tells me to drop what I’m doing and read. this. book., I listen. 

One-Sentence Plot Summary: Daniel’s desire to learn the secrets surrounding author Julián Carax’s burned books takes him on a ten-year quest involving murder, war, friendship, tragedy, and love.

Review: As you can probably surmise from the plot summary, The Shadow of the Wind is one of those grand novels that calls to mind words like “epic” and “saga,” though it doesn’t meet the technical definition of either.  It’s difficult to categorize the book because Zafón incorporates so many elements.  The book begins as a coming-of-age tale, the story of Daniel’s first infatuation.  As Daniel discovers more clues about Julián Carax, the novel evolves into a thriller with Gothic twists and turns.  And at a later point, Daniel’s story becomes secondary to Julián’s; the book even switches to a different first-person narrator to provide a closer look at Julián.  But Zafón weaves these sections together masterfully.  The way in which the two characters’ storylines mirror each other and intertwine is one of the best things about the book.

Another is the character Fermín Romero de Torres, a scrappy, good-hearted man who manages to provide comic relief and emotional backbone in almost equal portions, a rare feat.  Fermín is the type of character who makes a novel, the sort who, if this were a movie, would give the Academy pause over whether to put the actor playing him in the leading or supporting category. 

Naturally, the novel isn’t flawless.  Some of the language is overwrought–a pen nib that “shone like the lighthouse at Alexandria,” snow as “God’s dandruff.”  Much of the very first portion of the novel feels unnecessary and inconsequential after reading the rest.  And at least one major plot twist (you’ll know it when you read it) is so dramatic that it’s almost laughable. 

But the faults are easily forgiven because above all else, this is a novel for book lovers.  Daniel’s obsession with Julián begins when his father takes him to visit the Cemetary of Forgotten Books, a ficticious labyrinth of abandoned treasures that any reader will long to visit.  Daniel’s whole life is about books, working in his father’s bookstore and trying to unravel the mystery of the author, Julián Carax.  Daniel says it best at the beginning of the novel, in one of the book’s most memorable quotes, “I was raised among books, making invisible friends in pages that seemed cast from dust and whose smell I carry on my hands to this day.”  Anyone who identifies with this will appreciate the rest of the novel. 

Conclusion: This novel is encompassing; it could be enjoyed by someone of any age, gender, race, or class.  It has a compelling plot without sacrificing other elements such as characterization.  It is complex without being dense.  Though I do not mean to imply that the novel is perfect, I do think it could rightfully be called fantastic.

Available at: Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Powell’s.  Also available in Sony eBook Reader and Kindle formats.

NB: If you read and enjoy The Shadow of the Wind as much as I did, you’ll be happy to know that The Angel’s Game, written as a prequel to The Shadow of the Wind, will be available in the United States on June 16, 2009.  Expect a full report here.