The Shadow of the Wind

A few months ago, the latest addition to the Priscilla Obeada honorary bookshelf arrived. In the package: The Savage Detectives by Roberto Bolano (his book 2666 is already circulating the ranks of PC Albania and is now on its fifth volunteer even though it comes in at 1,000 pages and is really three books); Austerlitz by Sebald and finally, The Shadow of the Wind by Zafon.

I first read about Zafon by chance while browsing the NYT’s online literary section. Another volunteer who has crazily similar literature tastes as me, Raino, asked me later that week if I had read it. Once the book arrived and I started it, I couldn’t put it down.

A lot of comparisons between Zafon and Borges have been made. The elaborate and winding plot and biblio-theme are really the only Borgesian elements. Zafon’s book, as Stephen King describes it, is “full of cheesy splendor.” I’m certain that any comparisons can’t possibly be made to the quality of the writing.

Set amongst the backdrop of Franco’s Spain, the overall mood of the book is gloom and darkness. Barcelona is frequently covered in rain and fog. Nature creates the mood and Zafon uses it often. At the center of the novel is a mysterious library of lost books: books that have perhaps only one existing copy left in the world and are guarded from complete extinction. One day a father takes his son, Daniel, to this near-sacred place and allows him to pick his own book to read, love and protect. This singular moment starts of a series of events that stretches into the past and affects the future while bringing countless mysterious people into Daniel’s life as he searches for more information about the author. Who wrote this book? Why have other works by the author been destroyed by a masked man? And why is that same man now following Daniel? Zafon takes his time to tie and untie this knot of a mystery, which is the strongest point of the book: its elaborate and challenging plot is capped off with a flurry of events that finally puts all the puzzle pieces into place.

While he’s certainly no Borges, Zafon certainly creates the character depth and element of mystery that is required to sustain reader interest for the almost five hundred pages of the book. A prequel, The Angel’s Game is now available and I hope to read it soon.

Some of my favorite quotes:
“Those who really love, love in silence, with deeds and not with words.”
“…the eternal stupidity of loving those who hurt us the most.”
“It’s funny how we judge other and don’t realize the extent of our disdain until they are no longer there, until they are taken from us. They are taken from us because they’ve never been ours.”
“Memories are worse than bullets.”
“Most of us have the good fortune of seeing our lives fall apart so slowly we barely notice.”