Bookclub Books:

When I chose this book I will freely admit that I was going on the hype - although when I saw the phrase "popular masterpiece, an instant classic" written on the front cover I very nearly changed my mind. Having spent hours trying to decide what to buy, though, I felt I should stick with my choice and duly carried the seven copies to the check out and suffered the usual raised eyebrow of the clerk. Muttering "bookclub" at him to explain the number of copies I took my dubious choice home, nearly breaking my arms in the process. This book is not small!

I'm really not sure what I expected from The Shadow of the Wind but a thriller was the last thing I would have thought of. The book's opening is fantastic with our protagonist Daniel, at the age of ten, being taken to the "Cemetery of Forgotten Books," where he was allowed to save one soul. The cemetery is a guarded vault filled with a labyrinth of shelves, covered, top to bottom, with volumes wasting away in obscurity. Daniel is told to take one book, read it, and protect its story for the rest of his life.

The novel Daniel picks transforms him. It was written by Julian Carax and Daniel goes on a quest to find out more about the author. He is surprised to learn that other volumes of Carax's books have been disappearing and that a mysterious stranger is determined to burn the last remaining few. This quest of Daniel's will end up taking over his life and very nearly ending it.

Zafon is definitely a romantic and I think this is where his Spanish blood comes through. His characters are completely implausible, homeless men are brilliant heroes, prostitutes are sweethearts and everyone falls in love with everyone.

Although I believe there are flashes of brilliance in here, Zafon tests the reader's patience by over-explaining and pages and pages of Daniel pacing around the city. Another annoyance, which may be the fault of the translator rather than the author, was that certain phrases do not mirror with the images of Barcelona in the early 1940s. All in all this book is far from an instant classic but it does have appeal. 3/5

What the other femmes had to say

"The story was quite a page-turner but the 'inauthentic' characters, writing clichés (something lost in translation maybe?) and rambling narrative took away from this book. It failed to live up to the hype and was disappointing." 2/5

"At first I thought it was poorly translated, but I suspect the original would have left me just as disinterested. An intriguing idea and a passable plot wasted on a cast of one-dimensional characters." 2/5

"I couldn't put it down. A suspenseful experience that felt like a big budget epic film." 3/5

"An interesting story, but not one I would recommend. The author chose to repeat 'the story so far' in case anyone missed it the first or the second time around. At one point I felt I was reading Mysteries for Dummies." 3/5

"Rather than try to dig for positives it is easier and more accurate to denounce this as a mediocre market-led genre straddler." 2/5

"Enjoyable. Trashy page-turner to get lost in, with out stubbing your toes on the all of trappings normally found in such shallow format. Although some of the femmes felt it was poorly translated, I would disagree. Great beach read (despite the winter setting), would recommend it if you're looking for something fun." 3/5

"This was a rip-roaring read! Although stuffed with totally implausible characters and a plot which loses it's direction about two-thirds of the way through, I totally enjoyed it. A perfect book for when you don't want to use your brain very much and instead wallow in sentimental nonsense." 3/5