Hidden in the heart of the old city of Barcelona is the 'cemetery of lost books', a labyrinthine library of obscure and forgotten titles long out of print. To this library, a man brings his 10-year-old son Daniel one cold morning in 1945. Daniel is allowed to choose one book from the shelves and pulls out 'La Sombra Del Viento' by Julian Carax. But as he grows up, several people seem inordinately interested in his find. Then, one night, as he is wandering the old streets once more, Daniel is approached by a figure who reminds him of a character from the book, a character who turns out to be the devil. This man is tracking down every last copy of Carax's works in order to burn them. What begins as a case of literary curiosity turns into a race to find out the truth behind the life and death of Julian Carax and to save those he left behind.
Hidden in the heart of the old city of Barcelona is the 'cemetery of lost books', a labyrinthine library of obscure and forgotten titles long out of print. To this library, a man brings his 10-year-old son Daniel one cold morning in 1945. Daniel is allowed to choose one book from the shelves and pulls out 'La Sombra Del Viento' by Julian Carax. But as he grows up, several people seem inordinately interested in his find. Then, one night, as he is wandering the old streets once more, Daniel is approached by a figure who reminds him of a character from the book, a character who turns out to be the devil. This man is tracking down every last copy of Carax's works in order to burn them. What begins as a case of literary curiosity turns into a race to find out the truth behind the life and death of Julian Carax and to save those he left behind.
Sold over 350,000 print copies in Spain; and is still in bestseller charts after over two years. Was simultaneously at top of Castillian and Catalan charts in Barcelona - something that has never happened before.
Carlos Ruiz Zafon was born in Barcelona and grew up under the shadow of Gaudi's Sagrada Familia cathedral. For a few years he lived in Los Angeles, working as a screenwriter, and has published four novels for young-adults before escaping everything to write The Shadow of the Wind, a novel that has become an international literary phenomenon in over 20 countries. His work has been translated into 17 languages. Now back in Barcelona, he is working on a new novel. Born in Burma but educated in England, James Wilby studied at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art after Durham University. On graduating he appeared in Another Country in the West End, then films such as Maurice, A Handful of Dust, A Tale of Two Cities, Howards End and most recently, Gosford Park. His most recent television appearance was in ITV's Island At War. Audiobook readings include, Maurice, Around the World in 80 Days and In Patagonia.
'Gothic twists lurk in the shadows of post-war Spain Zafon's atmospheric novel, read by actor James Wilby which will delight fans of Umberto Eco' WATERSTONE'S BOOKS QUARTERLY
'Gothic twists lurk in the shadows of post-war Spain Zafon's atmospheric novel, read by actor James Wilby which will delight fans of Umberto Eco' WATERSTONE'S BOOKS QUARTERLY
Ruiz Zafon's novel, a bestseller in his native Spain, takes the satanic touches from Angel Heart and stirs them into a bookish intrigue ? la Foucault's Pendulum. The time is the 1950s; the place, Barcelona. Daniel Sempere, the son of a widowed bookstore owner, is 10 when he discovers a novel, The Shadow of the Wind, by Juli n Carax. The novel is rare, the author obscure, and rumors tell of a horribly disfigured man who has been burning every copy he can find of Carax's novels. The man calls himself Lain Coubert-the name of the devil in one of Carax's novels. As he grows up, Daniel's fascination with the mysterious Carax links him to a blind femme fatale with a "porcelain gaze," Clara Barcelo; another fan, a leftist jack-of-all-trades, Fermin Romero de Torres; his best friend's sister, the delectable Beatriz Aguilar; and, as he begins investigating the life and death of Carax, a cast of characters with secrets to hide. Officially, Carax's dead body was dumped in an alley in 1936. But discrepancies in this story surface. Meanwhile, Daniel and Fermin are being harried by a sadistic policeman, Carax's childhood friend. As Daniel's quest continues, frightening parallels between his own life and Carax's begin to emerge. Ruiz Zafon strives for a literary tone, and no scene goes by without its complement of florid, cute and inexact similes and metaphors (snow is "God's dandruff"; servants obey orders with "the efficiency and submissiveness of a body of well-trained insects"). Yet the colorful cast of characters, the gothic turns and the straining for effect only give the book the feel of para-literature or the Hollywood version of a great 19th-century novel. (Apr. 12) Forecast: Appealing packaging (a weathered, antique-look jacket), prepublication bookseller events and an eight-city author tour should give this an early boost, though momentum may flag down the stretch. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.
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