The best book club in the entire Bay Area (proud to be part of it) picked this book for Sept. ---Its FABULOUS.......
I'm loving-loving-loving it!!!

I give this book 5 stars---No question its a masterpiece ---(a book hard to ever forget)>>>even with lots of characters!

However---If I could ---I'd really give it 4.5 stars ---not the 5 ---(but its close)

There were a few areas of the book ----that I felt were a 'little' weak --- (the way it unfolded towards the end-- some of it was 'dragging' to me). I was like "come on already".... Ever have that experience when reading a book? Especially when its long and you've been waiting to wrap things up?

......I think I've seen too many movies--often I was 'looking' for trouble in places where there wasn't any ---and then later, it bugged me! lol I thought I would be 'so smart' (ha ha)


This is a GOOD BOOK!!! NO QUESTION

5 stars

I haven’t read a lot of historical fiction books, but from those I’ve read, this one might be the best. I can’t point out why I’m feeling so overwhelmed by it, maybe it was the atmospheric setting, the complex characters, the bookish theme of the book, the beautiful poetic quotes, or most importantly the perfect way of storytelling. All I know that after finishing it I felt so sad and so happy both at the same time. I was experiencing different kind of emotions all at once.

This book made me feel so warm. It gave me the same feeling I got when I sat with my grandmother while she’s telling me old stories about those old times. It was completely captivating, haunting, and overwhelming. This book was just perfect. Even though it was long, I didn’t mind the pacing of the story at all. It gave me time to absorb everything. I felt so connected to those character and everything was making me so freakin emotional. I just love it so much. Such an unforgettable book!

Now I’ll just leave you with a quote that summarize the book perfectly;

n  n    “Well, this is a story about books."
“About books?"
“About accursed books, about a man who wrote them, about a character who broke out
of the pages of anovel so that he could burn it, about a betrayal and a lost friendship.
It's a story of love, of hatred, and of the dreams that live in the shadow of the wind."n  n

It's been a couple years since I read this book so I shouldn't and won't go into details, but the effect has lingered all this time. There's no other book I'm quicker to recommend than this one. It's not that it's particularly important in a lot of the ways "important" books are, it's just that it works as pure reading pleasure (and sometimes, isn't that enough?); so I find reviews from people desperate to discover structural flaws and stylistic cliches to be totally missing the point. Buy it new, breathe in the perfume of those pages, tell your friends and family you're going to be busy for a few days and disappear into it.

Hoy se celebra el 15 aniversario de la publicación de esta maravillosa obra de arte, que no me canso de recomendar.

n  Todavía recuerdo aquel amanecer en que mi padre me llevó por primera vez a visitar el Cementerio de los Libros Olvidados.n

Porque cinco estrellas no me alcanzan para la constelación mayor que quiero armar en este firmamento digital, porque pase las cuatro de la mañana devorando frases, párrafos, paginas, hojas y capítulos como un hombre que ha estado hambriento de arte por bastante tiempo, porque mis ojos rojos prueban que el papel tatuado de palabras es una de las drogas más extrañas y hermosas que ha creado el hombre, porque ame, corrijo amo a Julián, a Miquel, a Nuria, a Penélope, a Barceló, a la Bernarda, a Clara, a Tomas, a Bea, al señor Sempere, a n  Fermínn y especialmente a n  Danieln; porque este es el único cementerio al que quiero regresar, porque a veces nos gusta un libro por su historia, otras por sus personajes, otras por su prosa, otras por sus citas, otras por su magia, y muy pocas veces porque uno alberga todo en conjunto,

n  Mientras recorría túneles y túneles de libros en la penumbra, no pude evitar que me embargase una sensación de tristeza y desaliento. No podía evitar pensar que si yo, por pura casualidad, había descubierto todo un universo en un solo libro desconocido entre la infinidad de aquella necrópolis, decenas de miles más quedarían inexplorados, olvidados para siempre. Me sentí rodeado de millones de páginas abandonadas, de universos y almas sin dueño, que se hundían en un océano de oscuridad mientras el mundo que palpitaba fuera de aquellos muros perdía la memoria sin darse cuenta día tras día, sintiéndose más sabio cuanto más olvidaba.n

...por eso y por cuantas cosas más estoy seguro he olvidado nombrar, recomiendo este libro a todo el mundo.

القراءة الثانية لظل الريح
اول عمل روائى اعيد قراءته منذ عودتى و ادمانى الجميل للقراءة
بالطبع كنت متخوفة لكن كارلوس لم يخذلنى رغم ان انفاسى لم تنقطع كما حدث فى قرائتى الاولى لكن نسيانى للكثير من الاحداث جعل استمتاعى بالرواية كأول مرة تقريبا ولازلت عند تقييمى واعجابى بها ، الفكرة والاسلوب والشخصيات
كانت حقا رحلة ممتعة

حسناً ...
لقد انتهت الرواية ..
كان من الممكن أن أظل معها لـ 500 صفحة أخري ولا أبالي .. وها قد انتهت .. !
إلا أنني واثقة من عدم قدرتي علي كتابة الريفيو . . ولا أظنني سأنجح مهما حاولت ..
فالرحلة مع الرواية طويلة .. والاقتباسات كثيرة .. والافكار مُرهقة للغاية



هي رواية تأخذك بعيداً للغاية .. بعيداً إلي الدرجة التي ربما لا تسمع فيها أحداً بجانبك وأنت تقرأها ..
فهي معك وأنت معهم في عالمهم بعيدا عما تراه في شارعك أو عالمك ..
هناك في مقبرة الكتب المنسية عالم أخر .. أحداث وأحداث غريبة ألتحم فيها الماضي بالحاضر .. وأخذتك معها إلي المستقبل ..
إلي شوارع وأزقة وكتب تُحرق ومذكرات تُروي وجرائم تحدث وقلوب تنبض ..
ولكن ..
كيف يمكن لكتاب منسي بسيط لكاتب مجهول أن يُحدث كل هذه الأحداث ؟
وإلي أي حد يمكن لإعجابي بكاتب ما أن يُقحمني في كل هذه المشاكل .. ؟؟
وهل من حقي أن أنبش الماضي هكذا وأفتح سرداب اغلقه الزمن منذ سنين ؟
لا أدري ...
ولا أدري من أين جاءت للكاتب هذه الفكرة الغريبة ..
كل ما أتمناه أن أجد باقي الأجزاء من هذه السلسلة العجيبة لـ كارلوس زافون ..

فلقد ظننت أن ( كافكا علي الشاطئ ) و ( المكتبة الغريبة ) و( في بلاد الأشياء الأخيرة ) من أغرب الروايات التي قراتها حتي الأن ..
ولكن ها قد انضمت إليهم ( ظل الريح / مقبرة الكتب المنسية ) وتزيد عليهم في الحبكة الواقعية إلي حد ما .. !



/
ملحوظة ... علي الرغم من تقييمي للرواية بـ 5 نجمات .. كفكرة ومجهود وأحداث ..
إلا أن هذا لا يمنع من وجود كثير من التشبيهات أو العبارات التي لم أتقبلها في الرواية .. ولا أدري ما كان الداعي إليها ..
كنت أتمني ألا تكون علي موجودة علي مدار الصفحات بهذا الشكل ..
لكن دون ذلك الرواية رائعة
..

Here is one for those of us who absolutely adore great literature. It is almost as though The Shadow of the Wind was written for book lovers everywhere. An adrenaline laced, pulse pounding, suspense filled, dark and romantic, gothic adventure, peopled with brilliantly developed, colourful, charismatic and ultimately,unforgetable characters. It really should come with a warning as it will keep you reading late into the night and long after you should have put it down. Fantastic! A must read folks. Make room on your book shelves for this one.

n  “It’s a story of love, of hatred, and of the dreams
that live in the shadow of the wind.”n

It should be a crime to write a book as beautifully as this. Characters are so beautifully written with a plot that drives forward every second of the way but still manages to let you enjoy the experience for what it is.

n  “Keep your dreams, you never know when you might need them.”n

There's something whimsical that comes with well-executing a book about books and the writing style brought to life the 1945 Barcelona. As usual, I barely knew anything going into this book aside from the fact that it's so well loved and I can see why. I was not aware that this involved a mystery but it drove the plot forward without feeling like you were only holding on for the plot twist. At the same time, the looming mystery was so investing to watch unfold, especially with the characters... I fell in love with them ohmy

ظل الريح ..
تلك الأسطورة الأدبية الساحرة
التي أسرتني من أول سطورها حتى أخر حرف
فوقعت في عشقها تائهة أتحسس الخطوة لأصل لذروة المتعة
في هذا العالم المتشابك الذي نسجه كارلوس زافون بحرفية منقطعة النظير
من كاتب يملك زمام القلم والسرد فيطوعهما كيفما شاء
لتجد أبطال تم رسم شخصياتهم بانسيابية من يرسم بالسن الفضية تلك الرسوم القادمة من العصورالوسطى بخطوطها الدقيقة التي تضمن دقة وبراعة في خلق ورسم أدق التفاصيل
وبنفس البراعة والإحترافية كتب زافون ظل الريح
ونسج شبكة أبطال لكل منهم قصة مفردة لا تنحرف عن النسق الدرامي الذي أراده الكاتب لها فتظل تُثري العمل وتتفاعل مع بقية أبطاله فلا مجال لك أن تضل أو تفقد الأحداث وتقع في براثن اللغو والملل أو تشعر أن هناك جسد منهم زائد عن الحاجة
فقط تسير خلف كل بطل مبهور تلتقط أنفاسك لتصل معه حتى خط النهاية الدقيق الذي لا تراه ولا تستوعبه ولا تعرف
بدايته ولكنك تسير بهدوء من يعلم لهذا العالم نهاية مسبقة

هكذا سار أبطال زافون في شوارع برشلونة ولكي يمنحك الكاتب تشويقًا لا حد له شكلت أنامله الدقيقة مغامرة بوليسية لها بعد سياسي وعدة جرائم وشخصية غامضة تلتحف الظلام لتشعل النار في كتب قديمة أنتهت طبعاتها تطوي بداخلها قصة حب أسطورية وشخصية كاتب وعاشق لا تملك إلا أن تقع في حبه كما المراهقات
ويستمر زافون في سلب إرادتك وسحب عقلك بكامل إرادتك الحرة معه في هذا التيه الممتع الآسر
حتى يقرر أن يهديك قمره الذي أضاء ظلمات روحك التي تتوق لمعرفة الحقيقة
في الفصل الذي جُمعت فيه عبقرية السرد وذكاء الحبكة
لتعرف ما هية حارق الكتب
وحقيقة مؤلمة خلف قصة حب أسطورية
وتعرف أنك لم تدخل مقبرة الكتب المنسية عبثاً ...

بالتأكيد أن من أهم أسباب نجاح تلك الرواية وصداها المبهر في جميع دول العالم
هو عالم الكتب التي تدور في فلكه أحداث الرواية
فليس هناك مو��وع أحب على قلب أي قاريء من أن يقرأ مؤلف عن الكتب
فما بالك إذا تجاوز النص حدود الإبداع الأدبي وصعد على قمة الفنون جميعها
وخرج كلوحة فنية أو معزوفة موسيقية هى الأروع في تاريخ الفن

ومع ذلك انتقصت من التقيم نجمة لوجود تجديف مزعج في الرواية
أعتدت عليه في النصوص المترجمة ولكنه كفيل أن يخرج النص من دائرة العمل الكامل حسب مقاييسي الشخصية ..

ايه يا عم الفُجر ده!! يخربيت الجمال يعني :)

There's probably nothing much I "learned" in the introspective sense, but this is a novel like a novel ought to be. This is an epic film on paper, gloomy and engaging, smokey, noir with crumbling ruins, young love, disfigurment, lust, torture...the stuff of Dumas, DuMauier and, as of late, The Historian. I woke up at five a.m. and had to sweet talk myself back to sleep: all I wanted to do was read. One Friday, after work, I took sanctuary in The Hotel Biron, those little tables in the dark, pages flickering with candles and drank a glass of wine in solitude, completely enthralled in the world of 1940's Barcelona.
I walked home from the train at night and found myself saying the characters names beneath my umbrella, hoping no one would hear me talking to myself, but they were, quite simply, too beautiful to ignore: Julian Carax, Daniel Semepere, Beatriz...Tomas, Penelope Aldaya and Nuria Monfort.
In a movie this would be too many people, but for this novel they were perfectly seamed, each point of view more entralling and taxing than the one before.
Most refreshing, clearly the author wasn't poisoned with the desire to simply keep the reader in the dark: instead this story, with attention, was something you could figure out--because that's the way life is. The mystery itself isn't supposed to shock you intensely into thinking a book is good, that's a dirty trick. Instead, the STORY carried you. You cared about the story and it was a tragity and mystery all the same, simply because you were invested in these people and what became of them. To know them so intimately from childhood to adulthood and old age, to know them through various degrees of point of view seperation--to hear there is no Penelope, and then to know she is a sister, a love, but to some non-existant...well, it's gothic literature at it's very best.
With a book like this I am almost, ALMOST tempted to give up my most pedantic and pretentious thoughts, paralells and character development--this story is a story and it's just that good. It is the Phantom of the Opera, those dark tunnels and pressure points, a lake with candles or drawing rooms with no fire in the grate and crazy wives being stored in attics over head. This is, quite literally a timeless tale, and yes, reading it will make you smarter, more interested, more cultured (the back of the book includes a walking tour of Barcelona. I missed Barcelona but I am quite determined to go now, with my copy of A Shadow of the Wind in hand, just like wanting desperately to visit Eastern Europe after I finished The Historian and see it all), but more importantly real life simply fades to black as you become completely, totally and fantastically helpless and wrapped up in the lives of others.
While there are fun hybrids--Crash Topics in Calamity Physics, for one, which combine a courses, authors, quotes and plot lines from a thousand famous novels, this book really makes that unnecessary. This is a classic without any help, no cheat cheats necessary. Read it. Read it. Read it.

**I write on books and other stuff at www.snapshotnarrative.tumblr.com

Fifth reading: September 8-11, 2021
I can't believe it's been over 4 years since I last read this masterpiece! Part of me is glad that I waited a bit between re-reads since it let me forget some of the elements of the story, which made rediscovering them even more enjoyable. However, what I didn't forget is how much I truly love this book. And it remains my favorite book ever. I know I'm super biased, but I just think it's fantastic, and I find it hard to believe any book will ever beat this one for me. Even though I can see its criticisms (particularly the lack of well-rounded female characters in this story), my pleasure in falling headfirst into this world every time I read this book is unlike any other reading experience. I can't wait to keep visiting it with the other books in this series soon.

Fourth reading: May 7-17, 2017
Of course I love this book soooo much. It's my all-time favorite. This is the 4th year in a row I've read it, and it never gets old. If you haven't already read this at my suggestion, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!

Third reading: May 14-21, 2016

Second reading: May 23-25, 2015-
Okay, I can confidently say, upon re-reading this, that it is one of my all-time favorite books. It was just as surprising and enchanting and delightful as the first time I read it, if not more so. The writing is impeccable. The weaving together of so many storylines and characters is remarkable. I can't gush enough about this book, so I will just say EVERYONE GO READ THIS NOW PLEASE. You won't regret it.

First read: May 12-17, 2014-
Everything about this novel was captivating. The story follows Daniel, a young boy, whose father is a bookseller. He is taken to the Cemetery of Forgotten Books and allowed to pick out one book that he is expected to 'save' or, in a sense, remember throughout his life. He picks a novel by Julian Carax titled "The Shadow of the Wind," and is immediately sucked into the story. From there, the novel follows Daniel as he begins to learn more about the illusive author, Julian Carax, and about the web of lies and intrigue that he gets trapped in.

The writing is absolutely gorgeous. The book is full of incredible quotes, wonderful, beautifully strung out sentences. I never underline in books. This book, however, required a pencil at the ready at all times, because I couldn't pass up underlining some amazing parts.

Though the plot isn't super strong, there is a mysterious and magical quality to the book that propels you through it, page after page. The characters feel so real, and thus their lives seem to be playing out for you in such a real way that you are concerned and invested, wanting to know what happens next.

I loved the setting of Barcelona. This is also a book translated from Spanish, which is even more impressive on the part of the translator. I think the translation was incredible.

Overall, this is a book that I will return to again in my life, I am sure. It is captivating and a new favorite. 5/5.