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The Shadow of the Wind: A Novel | 
 enlarge | Author: Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Creator: Lucia Graves
Publisher: Penguin Press HC, The
Category: Book
List Price: $24.95
Buy Used: $3.94
You Save: $21.01 (84%)
New (32) Used (60) Collectible (22) from $3.94
Avg. Customer Rating:  516 reviews
Sales Rank: 86921
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 486
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.9
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.4 x 1.6
ISBN: 1594200106
Dewey Decimal Number: 863.64
EAN: 9781594200106
ASIN: 1594200106
Publication Date: April 12, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: Expedited shipping available
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: mass market pbk. Ok reading copy. Corner cover crease.
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Product Description
The international literary sensation-a runaway bestseller in Spain, rights sold in more than 20 countries-about a boy's quest through the secrets and shadows of postwar Barcelona for a mysterious author whose book has proved as dangerous to own as it is impossible to forget.
Barcelona, 1945-just after the war, a great world city lies in shadow, nursing its wounds, and a boy named Daniel awakes on his eleventh birthday to find that he can no longer remember his mother's face. To console his only child, Daniel's widowed father, an antiquarian book dealer, initiates him into the secret of the Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a library tended by Barcelona's guild of rare-book dealers as a repository for books forgotten by the world, waiting for someone who will care about them again. Daniel's father coaxes him to choose a volume from the spiraling labyrinth of shelves, one that, it is said, will have a special meaning for him. And Daniel so loves the novel he selects, The Shadow of the Wind by one Julian Carax, that he sets out to find the rest of Carax's work. To his shock, he discovers that someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book this author has written. In fact, he may have the last one in existence. Before Daniel knows it his seemingly innocent quest has opened a door into one of Barcelona's darkest secrets, an epic story of murder, magic, madness and doomed love. And before long he realizes that if he doesn't find out the truth about Julian Carax, he and those closest to him will suffer horribly.
As with all astounding novels, The Shadow of the Wind sends the mind groping for comparisons-The Crimson Petal and the White? The novels of Arturo Perez-Reverte? Of Victor Hugo? Love in the Time of Cholera?-but in the end, as with all astounding novels, no comparison can suffice. As one leading Spanish reviewer wrote, "The originality of Ruiz Zafon's voice is bombproof and displays a diabolical talent. The Shadow of the Wind announces a phenomenon in Spanish literature." An uncannily absorbing historical mystery, a heart-piercing romance, and a moving homage to the mystical power of books, The Shadow of the Wind is a triumph of the storyteller's art.
Translated by Lucia Graves.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 511 more reviews...
 This book will crack you out... November 26, 2008
So it was recommended to me by my fiancee who loved the book so I figured I'd give it a try. It turns out this is probably one of the 5 best novels I've ever read. It's simply an incredible book with beautiful writing, amazingly crafted story and just so F-ing good that it had me cracked out each night for 3 days while I tried to put it down. It's on par with Victor Hugo, Garcia Marquez, etc. and some of the finest writing ever. It's hard to describe but it's about as intense a novel as you'll read.
I'm not going to give the story away, but go get the book. If you're looking for a masterpiece, this is it. This book is going to be an instant legend. It's his first novel and I can't imagine how Zafon can follow it up.
One of My Favorite Books! November 25, 2008
I didn't want this book to end. I read it slowly to savor every word. When I find books like this, it spoils me for other books and I have a hard time finding what to read next--because nothing seems as good as this one. I can't wait until 2009 when this author will publish another book in English. If you liked The Historian, you'll love this book!
 Have you gushing 5-star reviewers actually read this book? November 23, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Dear Lord The Shadow of the Wind is a stinker.
I had bad feelings about it even before I started reading it...just looking at those absurdly gushing reviews on the back book cover from various newspapers in Germany, I had a premonition that the readers were blowing smoke.
If this yawningly stupid and overwritten book had not been given to me as a birthday present, I wouldn't have even bothered opening it up. But, to be fair to my friend, I decided to give it a try. Okay, I've given it a try and now I say, Phooey. I've read a little over half of this nightmare and have no intention of finishing it. I don't care about any of the characters, what their problems are or what happens to any of them. Good riddance.
Amazon, you need a rotten tomato or a stinky-looking fish to click on for those of us who really dislike something and want to warn the public.
And now there's going to be prequel? Yikes.
The Shadow of the Wind November 22, 2008
This is a wonderful novel built in a candid and poetic rithm that almost reinvents the art to tell a story. If you are that kind of people that sometimes miss old good books, this is a mordern one that for sure it will make you feel rewarded. Take your time very consciouly, after the first few chapters, I dare you are able to give it up and then...enjoy the surprising story end.
Fantastic read! November 14, 2008
I loved this book. Have recommended it to a number of my friends who also loved it!
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