""The Shadow of the Wind" by Carlos Ruiz Zafón captivated me to the core. Long after reading, scenes and plots linger in my mind. The lessons each character learns, embedded in a mesmerizing gothic style, elevate this novel to unforgettable heights. Zafón's storytelling prowess, intricate characters, and thematic richness ensure the narrative's enduring impact. Each page resonates with emotional depth and a timeless exploration of the power of literature. This book is not just a read; it's an immersive experience that continues to leave an indelible mark on my literary journey." -- Amanda, Starry Ferry Books
"The Shadow of the Wind opens in 1945 in Barcelona, bleak and still shattered by the Spanish Civil War. Throughout, in fact, the residue of the war's fraternal horror is the grave thematic substratum beneath capers and mystifications … Ruiz Zafón gives us a panoply of alluring and savage personages and stories. His novel eddies in currents of passion, revenge and mysteries whose layers peel away onionlike yet persist in growing back … The melodrama and complications ofShadow, expertly translated by Lucia Graves, can approach excess, though it's a pleasurable and exceedingly well-managed excess. We are taken on a wild ride — for a ride, we may occasionally feel — that executes its hairpin bends with breathtaking lurches.." -- RICHARD EDER, THE NEW YORK TIMES
“Anyone who enjoys novels that are scary, erotic, touching, tragic and thrilling should rush right out to the nearest bookstore and pick upThe Shadow of the Wind. Really, you should.”—Michael Dirda, The Washington Post
“Gabriel Garcia Marquez meets Umberto Eco meets Jorge Luis Borges for a sprawling magic show.”—The New York Times Book Review
“Wonderous . . . masterful . . .The Shadow of the Windis ultimately a love letter to literature, intended for readers as passionate about storytelling as its young hero.”— Entertainment Weekly (Editor's Choice)
“One gorgeous read.”—Stephen King
"The Shadow of the Wind will keep you up nights—and it'll be time well spent. Absolutely marvelous." — Kirkus (starred review)
"The 1940s Barcelona of Carlos Ruiz Zafón's new novel is by no means the trendy tourist destination of today; rather, it's a city shut down for the duration in death and fear. Its buildings pockmarked by gunfire or abandoned by bankrupt dynasties, it is a place in material and metaphorical ruins. Survivors of civil war, its people hang on grimly, with no apparent expectation of better times … This is the standard stuff of doctrinaire postmodernism. That this elaborate nest of narratives stacks together so neatly is impressive; that the cogs which drive the action whir quite so swiftly and smoothly is little short of miraculous. Zafón's real virtues are more old-fashioned ones, though: what makes this novel so irresistibly readable is the emotional energy generated by the ups and downs of a big and varied cast of memorable characters." -- MICHAEL KERRIGAN, THE GUARDIAN
"It is a long novel that will remind readers of a good many other novels. This isn't meant as criticism but as an indication of the story's richness and architectonic intricacy. Before everything else, Carlos Ruiz Zafon's European bestseller is a book about a mysterious book, and its even more mysterious author … As the reader tries to figure out the links between modern Spanish history, two passionate and forbidden love affairs and an enigmatic novelist, Carlos Ruiz Zafon periodically lessens the tension of his dark melodrama by introducing humorous interludes or eccentric secondary characters … Suffice it to say that — and here's yet another critical formula — anyone who enjoys novels that are scary, erotic, touching, tragic and thrilling should rush right out to the nearest bookstore and pick upThe Shadow of the Wind." -- MICHAEL DIRDA, THE WASHINGTON POST
"Clearly, Zafon is using the city as a vast amorphous symbol for the legacy of guilt, misery, unresolved conflict and social disruption left by the Civil War. Fumero, who switches sides handily more than once during the fighting — and ends up as a postwar fascist executioner in a grim hillside castle — is proof enough of that. The trouble is, Zafon is not a whole-hogging magical realist like Gabriel Garcia Marquez. What he sets out to write — and manages to do so quite brilliantly — is a complex generational family mystery. But the thing about mysteries is that, to convince, they have to be bedded in acceptable fact. The compulsive fascination of Zafon's plot keeps bumping up against the implausibility of its context and background … Beautifully translated by Lucia Graves, it's a compulsive page turner: Never mind the improbabilities; the reader gets hooked by Daniel's strange odyssey and the innumerable offbeat characters he encounters along the way." -- PETER GREEN, THE LOS ANGELES TIMES
