The Shadow of the Wind (1st/1st)
by Zafon, Carlos Ruiz
- Used
- near fine
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Near Fine/Near Fine
- ISBN 10
- 029784752X
- ISBN 13
- 9780297847526
- Seller
-
Birmingham, West Midlands, United Kingdom
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
Synopsis
"Gabriel García Márquez meets Umberto Eco meets Jorge Luis Borges for a sprawling magic show." -- The New York Times Book Review A New York Times Bestseller Barcelona, 1945: A city slowly heals in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, and Daniel, an antiquarian book dealer’s son who mourns the loss of his mother, finds solace in a mysterious book entitled The Shadow of the Wind, by one Julián Carax. But when he sets out to find the author’s other works, he makes a shocking discovery: someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book Carax has written. In fact, Daniel may have the last of Carax’s books in existence. Soon Daniel’s seemingly innocent quest opens a door into one of Barcelona’s darkest secrets--an epic story of murder, madness, and doomed love. “ Anyone who enjoys novels that are scary, erotic, touching, tragic and thrilling should rush right out to the nearest bookstore and pick up The Shadow of the Wind. Really, you should.” -- Michael Dirda, The Washington Post " Wonderous... masterful... The Shadow of the Wind is ultimately a love letter to literature , intended for readers as passionate about storytelling as its young hero." -- Entertainment Weekly (Editor's Choice) "One gorgeous read." --Stephen King
Reviews
Rarely will a novel be critically acclaimed, a huge commercial bestseller and a cult classic, yet Carlos Ruiz Zafon accomplished this literary hat trick with his novel "The Shadow of the Wind." First released in Spanish in 2001, and translated into English in 2004, The Shadow of the Wind is the first of a series of four planned novels revolving around the city of Barcelona. To date, the novel has sold 15 million copies worldwide, and the most common reaction of readers was that they were sad to see the story end. It is one of those books you wish would go on for another 500 pages, and one you buy multiple copies of to give to friends (I gave a copy to my uncle just yesterday).The novel is the story of Daniel Sempere, who at age 10 is taken by his father, a Barcelona bookseller, to the amazing Cemetery of Forgotten Books. While there he chooses a book called "The Shadow of the Wind" by Julian Carax. He is so enthralled by the novel that as he enters adulthood he sets out to find every book Carax has written, but encounters a sinister obstacle. Every copy of every book the author has written is being tracked down and burned by a disfigured man who bears a striking resemblance to a character in Carax's novel. Daniel's quest to save the remaining copies is intertwined with the story of Barcelona and its recovery from the Spanish Civil War.But "The Shadow of the Wind" is much more than a literary mystery. It is a Gothic masterpiece, filled with action, romance, mystery and, of course, books. One reviewer has called it a "love letter to books," because it examines the power of books to change our lives in ways we often don't even realize. One quote from the novel sums this up:"Every book has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it. Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens."This is not something we often consider in our electronic, Kindle e-book reader world. Books, real ink and paper books, matter. They challenge us to examine our inner selves and the world around us, and they can change us, hopefully for the better, while at the same time being a tangible creation, a contract of sorts between writer and reader. The Shadow of the Wind is such a book. It is a novel with a very strong soul, and books like this don't come around nearly often enough. It is a modern-day classic that everyone should read.
When young Daniel enters the "Cemetery of Forgotten Books" you're hooked! Intrigue, passion, murder and more whisk you through this story about a boy's literary curiosity in Barcelona, Spain. Don't read it too fast, though, as the writing is beautiful.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Durdles Books (IOBA) (GB)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 007653
- Title
- The Shadow of the Wind (1st/1st)
- Author
- Zafon, Carlos Ruiz
- Format/Binding
- Hardcover
- Book Condition
- Used - Near Fine
- Jacket Condition
- Near Fine
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- 1st Edition 1st Printing
- ISBN 10
- 029784752X
- ISBN 13
- 9780297847526
- Publisher
- Weidenfeld & Nicolson
- Place of Publication
- London
- Date Published
- 2004
- Pages
- 416
- Size
- 8vo - over 7¾ - 9¾
- Keywords
- General
- Bookseller catalogs
- Modern Fiction;
- X weight
- 1200 g
Terms of Sale
Durdles Books (IOBA)
About the Seller
Durdles Books (IOBA)
About Durdles Books (IOBA)
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Gilt
- The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
- Text Block
- Most simply the inside pages of a book. More precisely, the block of paper formed by the cut and stacked pages of a book....
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...
- Edges
- The collective of the top, fore and bottom edges of the text block of the book, being that part of the edges of the pages of a...
- Spine
- The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Tight
- Used to mean that the binding of a book has not been overly loosened by frequent use.