"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.
I'll have to look into getting a copy of this book for myself... sounds incredible!!
ReplyDeleteI read shadow last October and enjoyed it immensely. I also wrote about it in a letter to One-Pot.... For Cellar, parts were really great, as you already know, and I have no clue how it ended so I could easily reread it!!!
ReplyDeleteI love this book- you are right-it is so "gothicky"
ReplyDeleteYou've convinced me, it's on my library book list. :)
ReplyDeleteI've seen this book enticing me from the bookshelves - and will now go out and buy it!
ReplyDeleteI love delicious books.