Why did I let "The Shadow of the Wind" sit unread on my shelves for six years?!

Read it! (Seriously, read Carlos Ruiz Zafón's "The Shadow of the Wind" – you won't regret diving into this amazing book.)

Wow. I don’t know who I was before *The Shadow of the Wind* by Carlos Ruiz Zafón blew into my life like a storm, but I don’t miss that person. This book review doesn't even feel adequate to express how much this novel impacted me.

4.5/5 starsAn astonishingly engaging story within a story; the passion for books and reading introduced in the first chapter was just an appetizer before all the interconnecting twists and turns.I’ve been having a lot of good luck lately in reading books outside of epic fantasy—my favorite sub-genre. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón is a novel that I’ve heard so many positive things about for several years; it is one of those books that’s often recommended by readers, regardless of th...

This is a book about books, a story about stories. It starts and ends in a library of sorts, themes and plots are echoed across decades, tied together by actors who find their roles changing, and by a pen that links two cycles of the story and has its own tale that started before and goes on beyond. "the art of reading is slowly dying, it's an intimate ritual, a book is a mirror that offers us only what we already carry inside us, when we read, we do it with all our heart and mind, and great re...

Yes... there are prisons worse than words. Prisons of memories... the frost of failure. When fictional characters leap off the pages of books... to correct your perceptions, darken your life, and force your eyes open. Writing is but a mirror in which we see what we possess inside... and reading compels us to engage both heart and mind. Two currencies that are rare these days! I was drawn to it from the moment I read Mohamed Arabi's English review of it and saw that dark, mysterious drawing of ...

The truth is, I'll never be able to write a *real* review for this book. Here's why:1. I'm not good enough.I'm not now, and I'll never be. It doesn't matter how many books you've read or how smart you are; you'll never be good enough for this one. You won't be able to find the exact words, and it's not just you. The only person who can is Carlos Ruiz Zafón himself, but I think he already said everything he wanted to say.Don't believe me?- "Books are mirrors—you only see in them what you already ...

I honestly can't believe someone published *The Shadow of the Wind*. What's even worse, in my opinion, is that *The Shadow of the Wind* is on the New York Times Bestseller List. How is that even possible? It must mean there are a lot of people out there who think very differently than I do. Don't be one of them. Seriously. Don't be fooled by this book. It's just insipid, lame, and poorly written. First. The prose is so overblown. Carlos Ruiz Zafón uses three adjectives for every single noun. Co...

After reading The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, I was left with somewhat mixed feelings. On the one hand, this is such a beautifully written book, and is in essence an ode to literature. On the other hand, there are some serious flaws which distract from the whole experience. If you're looking for book reviews, this one might help you decide! The best thing about The Shadow of the Wind, in my opinion, is Zafón's skill in artistic writing. It reminds me of why I love to read in the fi...

I read the opening few pages and instantly knew 3 things: 1. I was going to love this book. 2. I needed a whole pad of post-its to mark quotes. 3. I wanted to read this in Spanish for the rich poetry the language would add. A young boy Daniel is taken by his father to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books and told to salvage a book which he must take stewardship over. He chooses a novel—or maybe it chose him—that touches him, stirs his desire for literature, and forever entangles him with the fate of...

I probably didn't "learn" anything profound in the introspective sense, but this is the kind of novel that reminds you what a novel *should* be. It's an epic film on paper: gloomy, engaging, smoky, noir, with crumbling ruins, young love, disfigurement, lust, torture... the stuff of Dumas, Du Maurier, and, more recently, *The Historian*. I woke up at five a.m. and had to sweet-talk myself back to sleep because all I wanted to do was read. One Friday after work, I took refuge in The Hotel Biron, t...