The Shadow of the Wind (The Cemetery of Forgotten Books #1) by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

"A beautiful and haunting mystery of a young boy's quest to find out more about the author of his favorite book. A quest that is far more intricate, sinister and deadly than he ever could have possibly imagined."

4 Stars.

Pros: Fermin is a great character/The language of the book, some of the quotes, they are truly remarkable and beautiful.

Cons: The mystery of Julian Carax is intriguing but there are a LOT of twists and turns and people to keep track of/Everything that happens is just a little too "convenient."

Full Review:

As I sit here trying to think of what to write without giving anything away, I feel that the task is impossible. From the moment that Daniel visits the Cemetery of Forgotten Books with his Father and chooses his novel, The Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax, the plot explodes. Everything that happens, every character that Daniel meets is important, down to the watchmaker who lives on the same street as Daniel. The mystery behind Julian Carax and Daniel's obsession with finding out what happened to the author is so extremely intricate and involved that, I can't go into detail for fear of giving something away.

Suffice it to say, this book was engrossing. You followed Daniel on his mission of finding out more about Julian Carax and you were a spectator as he went from a ten year old boy to a nineteen year old man. The book follows him through his first crush of the blind niece of Gustavo Barcela, to his fateful meeting with a beggar named Fermin. Every step that he takes is important and every mystery that he solves is eye opening.

The real zinger came three quarters of the way through the novel and it left me stunned. I wasn't sure how Ruiz Zafon was going to handle that but with everything in this book, he did so with grace and elegance. It took me longer to read this book than most others because I've been catching up on a Comic Book series at the same time. But every time I turned back to this novel, I picked it up and had to fight to put it down. It was truly beautiful and the ending, like the beginning, left the reader intrigued and excited for what would happen next.

Comments

Zen in the Art of Writing by Ray Bradbury

"Obviously targeted to writers but honestly, anyone could benefit from Bradbury's practical yet poetic advice, this was a collection of esasys by Bradbury about his writing process and reflections on some of his greatest works." ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Pros: Bradbury, duh, though I'm biased, to me, the man's prose is pure poetry, every word beautiful/Since writing is not my career, it was an interesting way to view Bradbury's life. Writing was his job and he was the only income. If he did not produce material, he would not get paid. It help put things into perspective. Cons: The man can go on for a bit 😂/Bradbury's insane work ethic and endless endurance to just produce story after story seems insane and overwhelming but then again, this was his livelihood, so I'm sure it was insane and overwhelming. If he didn't write and get paid, they'd starve, so, it was a life or death situation. Full Review: This was essentially a collection of essays written by Bra...

Rita Hayworth and Shawshank Redemption by Stephen King

“The tale of Andy Dufresne and how he served his time at Shawshank prison, as told through the eyes of his friend and fellow inmate, Red. Dark and disturbing but also compulsively readbale. I finished it in 2 days. Also enjoyable is Frank Darabont's 1994 film adaptation, "The Shawshank Redemption." ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Pros : Red has a soothing, drawl, making the reading easy and flowing/Since I saw the film first, I couldn't help but compare the book though I was pleased to find that the two were very similar. Cons : Things got a bit rambling a bit at the beginning/Since I saw the film first I couldn't help but compare the book but this ended up not being a con. Full Review: The state of Maine has a prison. Shawshank Redemption. And Red is the guy that can get you things. He also happens to be the only guilty man in Shawshank but that's netiher here nor there. He meets Andy Dufresne for business purposes at first and he finds him to be a calm, cool man and Red likes him i...

Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick

“Rick Deckard is a Bounty Hunter who's on the trail of six "Andys" (Androids) who have come to Earth illegally. His job is to track them down and "retire" them. Something he found easy to do until he met her, Rachael Rosen. The Android that does the impossible, passes the "Voight-Kampff" test. The story quickly devolves into a slow, drawn out and frankly boring mystery that was putting me to sleep by the end." ⭐⭐ Pros: I was more interested in comparing it to the film, "Bladerunner."/At first I kind of liked the drab, dreary atmostphere but it soon became soporific. Cons: I had no real idea what was going on with Mercerism/The end there had me blinking in bewilderment, like with Herbert's 29th Dune Book/There was a lot of idle chit-chat while they were in murderous/intense situations, it just seemed odd. Full Review: Rick Deckard, a Bounty Hunter, contracted with the San Francisco Police Department hunts down and retires rogue ...

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