Hi everybody! I am really excited to write my first Journaly post on the book The Shadow of the Wind, although it has been quite a long time since Robin announced the launch of a multilingual book club.

I read the English version of this book. Actually when I read the first few pages, I was kind of reluctant to go on reading, since I had just finished reading a book called Midnight Library, which also had a similar setting in the library. Nevertheless, I decided to give it a try. At the beginning, I was really struggling with many descriptive words and names. I read pretty slow; as a result, I forgot many details by the next day. Then I used Notion to jot down some important characters and plots, and I found that I gradually spliced the pieces of plots and had a better picture of the personality, adventure of the characters. Sometimes I even laughed with Fermín's words.

I think Carlos Ruiz Zafón's language is really beautiful and exquisite, which not only depicts the gloomy atmosphere but also the subtle mental activities of the characters. It is a tough but great experience to pick up some descriptive words.

The story actually is narrated by different characters from different aspects and I can read their different idea of the same thing. Since I have just watched the Spanish TV series El Inocente, I think I have a better understanding of this way of story-telling, which is both intriguing and full of reversals, e.g. Daniel and Fermín thought Nuria lied to them, but actually Nuria helped Julián.

As I read Nuria's manuscript, I began to realize that "the story was piecing itself together like a game of Russian dolls in which each plot and each character led to the next, and that, in turn, to yet another, and so on and so forth" (The Labyrinth of the Spirits, Carlos Ruiz Zafón). Daniel and Beatriz were experiencing similar things that Julián and Penélope had experienced. The Cemetry of Forgotten Books and Inspector Fumero connected Daniel and Julián. And at last, because Daniel and Julián helped each other, they both could have a happy ending. Daniel even named his son after Julián, and took his son to the Cemetry of Forgotten Books; in this way, the ending echoes the starting and forms a circle -- I keep wondering what will happen to this young Julián.

To sum up, I really enjoy the whole process of reading this book and appreciate Zafón's mastery in language and storytelling. Looking forward to the next book recommendation. Hahaha.

Evan

My Reading Review of The Shadow of the Wind