The Shadow of the Wind (Cemetery of forgotten books #1)
By Carlos Ruiz Zafón
Translated by Lucia Graves
When I read the first few pages of TSOTW, I thought that the book is yet to start. I am just reading an introduction here, on how the author got into writing. It starts with a first person account and the name of the narrator comes little late. The pages were immersive, vivid, It felt real. When the story kept on going, I thought to myself - how long is this introduction chapter. I looked at my Kindle to confirm this, only to realize that the novel has started.
It hit me. My first reaction was - wow the writing is so good! Kudos to Carlos Ruiz Zafon and also to the translator Lucia Graves for this.
TSOTW follows a story within a story format. Told in first person, our narrator has found an obscure book, loved it so much that he is intrigued, and wants to know more about the book's author. It is his journey to find the author, and in the process, he traces the author's journey. His own journey and the author's journey has some similarities. The journey arcs unfold by various characters, and it is interesting how many characters are related to each other.
The book is a fantastic read. It is a page turner. The pacing is great, characters are likable, a lot of suspense and the book takes time to reveal each mystery. But then the mystery is revealed, it leads to few closures but also adds more to the intrigue. There is no murder, yet this is a thriller novel,. There is no ghost, yet the book has shades of horror. There is no detective, yet this is a mystery novel
It is originally written in Spanish. I stumbled onto this as I was looking for a good gothic fiction to read. Gothic fiction that is not YA. TSOTW was recommended in few blogs and it being of non-English origin, I picked it up. I am thankful to have done so.
Rating - 4/5
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