The Shadow of the Wind

"The Shadow of the Wind," by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, is the book I am reading now. I don't want to finish it, because I'm afraid I will never again read anything that is quite so delicious. I'm about three quarters through it, and so far I have vicariously experienced:

* A character who may or may not be the Devil himself,

* forbidden love,

* Barcelona, half a century ago,

* childhood friendships turned deadly later in life,

* a mysterious book with some sort of unspoken power (or else why must he burn it?),

* a haunted mansion,

* rise and ruin,

* a blind, heart-breaking femme fatale,

* an unidentified corpse,

* a secret underground library...

and, I don't know how to put it, but the whole thing is so gothic, in a good way. I haven't been so taken with a book, so entranced into its world, since I read Hermann Hesse's "Demian" when I was a teenager.

I'm sad to see how it ends. I'm thinking everyone will just die in some way that reveals all mysteries. I won't tell you if I'm correct in my prediction, though- you'll have to read the book.

P.S. Completely unrelated- congratulations to the folks at "The Best Life Ever"! They named her "Byrdie". Fly away, fly away, and back again home. I like the name.