Book of the Month - By Kathleen Thorne

The Shadow of the Wind
By Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Published by: Phoenix
Cost €14.80

The Shadow of the Wind is a novel of epic proportions. It encompasses the lives of many characters whose stories intertwine and affect each other in dramatic fashion. Two stories in particular do more than intertwine - they mirror each other in many ways. They are the stories of Daniel Sempere and Julian Carax. We first become acquainted with Daniel Sempere as a young boy, when his father takes him to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books in Barcelona. Daniel’s father tells him that it is traditional for someone on a first visit to this place to choose a book, "adopt it, making sure that it will never disappear, that it will always stay alive."

Neither father nor son could possibly have guessed what consequences this challenge would present to Daniel in subsequent years. He chooses a book called The Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax. Ominously, Daniel feels that this book "had been waiting there for him for years, probably since before he was born."

That night he immerses himself in the story and finds that "step by step the narrative split(s) into a thousand stories, as if it had entered a gallery of mirrors, its identity fragmented into endless reflections." In fact, this is an accurate description of the book we are reviewing, since it has the same title as the book within the story. Daniel is enthralled by the story and is inspired to discover as much as he possibly can about Julian Carax. This quest takes him into contact with the lives of many people, who either befriend him or threaten him. Daniel and the author, Julian, also have strangely parallel experiences. Well-to-do patrons befriend both boys, and both fall in love with girls who are out of bounds to them. Much tragedy ensues in which several benevolent characters are wounded.

There is, however, one demonic character called Fumero. He is the epitome of evil. In a different kind of novel, he would have seemed a caricature rather than a valid character. The Shadow of the Wind will remind many readers of the old-fashioned gothic novel. There are haunted houses, but the mysteries contained in them are not so much the result of supernatural intervention as the work of misguided or evil people. The story is set in Barcelona around the time of the Spanish Civil War. For anyone who knows this city the book is a treat. In the course of so much action, the book takes us through the Ramblas and streets of this amazing city. The horrors of the Civil War are alluded to, but not overwhelmingly.

In many ways, this is an intense book. Characters - with a few exceptions - are either extremely good or extremely bad. Situations are extremely romantic or extremely tragic. The result is that it will not leave the reader lukewarm or ambivalent about any eventuality or character. It is a book to be savoured in great long gulps before a comforting fire. Try sipping it and you quickly get lost in its complex twists and turns. But stay with it and you will find it is more than worth the effort.

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