The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos zafon

Plot Summary

Where does one begin when in a review of one of the most successful novels of the past decade? A novel lauded both by critics and non-critics alike on a global level? Just like this, I suppose, when the novel in question is Carlos Ruiz Zafón's haunting and beautiful novel The Shadow of the Wind. The book and its story of a lovelorn boy coming of age in Spain has connected with so many readers across the world and very little question can be raised as to why.

The novel is actually a story within a story, the boy, Daniel Sempere, in his quest for discovery of Julian's other works thus treads upon the entire history of the man, Julian. His friend Fermin Romero de Torres, who was held up and tortured in Montjuic Castle for having been involved in an espionage against the Anarchists, during the war, himself being a Govt. Intelligence Agent; helps Daniel in a number of ways, but their probing into the murky past of a number of people, who have either been long dead, or long forgotten, unleashes the dark forces of a murderous Inspector Fumero ("Books And Arts: Come the Catalan; Fiction in translation;. , 2004).

Thus, unravelling a long story that has been buried within the depths of oblivion; Daniel and Fermin come across a love story, the beautiful, yet doomed love story of Julian and Penelope, both of whom seem to having been missing since 1919, that is nearly thirty years earlier. Julian, the son of Antoni Fortuny, the hatter and his wife Sophie Carax, who preferred using his mother's last name and Penelope Aldaya, the only daughter of the extremely rich and wealthy Don Ricardo Aldaya and his beautiful and narcissistic American wife.

It turns out that the fictional Shadow is very rare. Julian Carax's books never sold much in the first place, but it was rumored that some mysterious man had been buying them up and burning them. The day of his 16th birthday, Daniel meets the devil he saw from his balcony. The man has a burned face, and he intimates he wants to buy The Shadow of the Wind from Daniel and burn it. This frightens Daniel, and he goes back to the Cemetery to hide the book once again.

Character Analysis

Daniel Sempere

The narrator, Daniel Sempere, lost his mother when he was four. He is close to his father, a second hand book merchant. The Shadow of the Wind is a book Daniel discovered a day his dad to him to a book store “The Cemetery of Forgotten Books”. From a very young age he has helped his father in the shop and was told to keep it a secret from anyone he knew.Daniel doesn't have very many friends. His only true friend is Tomás Aguilar and later Fermín.Many years later he goes on an expedition is search of Julian Carax, writer of his favorite novel.In the end the reader notices how Daniel and ...