The Shadow Of The Wind

著者 : Carlos RuizZafon

• Phoenix (an Imprint of The Orion Publishing Group Ltd ) (2004年10月28日発売)

感想・レビュー・書評

[seminitwaktuさんの感想 · 2011年11月17日]

as a rule of thumb, when selecting books by unknown authors (read: authors not in my fave list), i always pick up the thickest book i can lay my hands on. its just my cheapskate way of ensuring that the reading length is worth the money spent. i wont bother with books that i can finish reading in 30 seconds. okay, thats a bit exaggerating. maybe 30 minutes.

aaaand, as long as i could remember, since i was in my teens, my taste in books, i mean fictions, has always been inclined towards non-simple story lines. i like plots that make me think, take me traveling, give me insights into a distant place or event or time, widen my knowledge in general, and have twisted ending.

for the reasons above, it is no wonder that this book: the shadow of the wind by a spanish writer, carlos luis zafon, became one of my favorites.



i actually picked it up from the friday bazaar at cyberjaya's street mall a few years back. i have read it thrice since then. my depleting finances do not allow me to indulge the bibliophile in me, so now i recycle what i already have on my bookshelves. poor me.

back to zafon's writing.

this debut novel of his, with Barcelona in the post-spanish civil war era (did u know, the 3-year civil war which ended in 1939 was the chief reason why spain did not officially align herself to either the axis powers or the allied forces in the world war 2?) as the background setting, is a story within a story.

now does that sound complicated to u? good. challenge yourself. read on.

it is a gripping tale about a 13-year old boy named Daniel Sempere, who found a book entitled (surprise surprise!) The Shadow of the Wind, in a secret place called Cemetery of Forgotten Books (doesnt that sound exotic? mysterious and exotic), written by Julian Carax, an unknown author, who seemed to have a mysterious past enshrouding him. Daniel soon learned that the book in his hand was priceless, as he heard stories of a mysterious man who looked for books written by Carax, only to burn all of them. thus began Daniel's life-long quest to unravel the mystery behind the disappearance of Carax 30 years prior in Paris, and the subsequent destruction of his novels.

his investigation, aided by his older friend with a shady past, Fermin Romero de Torres, made him realize the congruity of his love story with that of Carax, which was very far from fortunate. however, by finding out the truth about carax enabled daniel to take a different path, which led him to have a different ending than that of the mysterious writer.

Carax's love story was a tragic one, brought by disparity in social classes, and an illicit affair swept under the carpet (which only served to prove why extra marital affairs are a big no-no).

also highlighted in the story is a parent's enduring love towards his child, regardless of years of animosity between them, and also of a lasting loyalty of a friend, who sacrificed himself in the name of friendship.

and also of unrequited loves.

sigh.

i'm running out of words now. u can google for the synopsis of this novel yourself.

bottom line is, i tell u, this is one heck of a gut-wrenching tale that u should not not read.

nuff said.

till the next book.

[mimiさんの感想 · 2010年4月10日]

舞台は終戦後のバルセロナ。
戦争の爪痕を残すこの街で、
１０歳の少年は一冊の本「Shadow of the wind」と出会う。

本の著者、Julian Caraxについて調べる内、
Caraxを巡る悲恋、父と子の物語が明らかになっていく。

私が要約すると薄くなってしまうのですが、
本当に愛憎、悲哀、色んな感情がとても深く心に突き刺さる話でした。
それでいて思わず笑ってしまうようなユーモラスな部分もあって、
一言ではこの小説を言い表すことができません。

私が読んだのは、
スペインでベストセラーになった本の英訳版です。
Amazonで評判が良かったので買ってみたのですが、
本が届いたときにその大きさにびっくりしてしまいました。

これじゃ持ち運べないじゃん。。と思いながら読んで、
途中から止まらなくなりました。
読み終わるのがもったいないほど面白かったです。