Monday, December 22, 2014

Carlos Ruiz Zafón's "The Shadow of the Wind"

Spanish writer Carlos Ruiz Zafón's thrilling novel "The Shadow of the Wind" is one of the best reads. Translated into English by Lucia Graves, this novel of epic proportion pays homage to writing and creative process.

Daniel is a young bookkeeper who stumbles across a novel named "The Shadow of the Wind" by an obscure writer Julian Carax. After being fascinated by the novel, Daniel looks for other works by the writer but finds that someone has been destroying every copy of every novel the writer has written. Even Daniel's life  is put on edge various times during his search for the elusive writer. A fearsome police officer Xavier Fumero threatens Daniel's life as there is a history of hatred between Fumero and Carax. But the revelation of the book-destroyer towards the end comes as a shock to the reader .

The novel is not trapped into the conventions of the genre as its lyrical style and play with various emotions testify. Multiple stories are nested within one another and they unravel in a fascinating manner. Never does the reader come across a dull moment in the novel. Highly recommended!

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