The Shadow of the Wind

Zafón, Carlos Ruìz. The Shadow of the Wind. Penguin Group: New York, 2001

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Magical Realism

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruìz Zafón is the tale of The Shadow of the Wind by Julìan Carax. This magnificent myriad of colliding lives is told from the perspective of a young Daniel Sempere, the son of a rare book salesman. Daniel, curious in his adolescence, realizes Carax appears to be a ghost author-no one seems to know who he is, and his books are apparently being systematically destroyed. He follows his inquisitive nature on a hunt for the truth; along the way he discovers a labyrinth of human connections surrounding the author, falls in love, and stands up to the brutality of an unjust regime.

Daniel’s adventure is set in 1945, against a backdrop of post-Spanish Civil War political fallout. When Daniel is eleven his father reveals to him Barcelona’s biggest kept literary secret: the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. Here Daniel finds The Shadow of the Wind by Julìan Carax, and its story captures his imagination so completely that he searches for more books by Carax. He quickly finds that they are being destroyed- and sets out with pertinacious curiousity to understand why. His travels pair him with a former government agent- that is from before Franco took power. With Fermìn’s help, Daniel follows the trail of Carax’s literary oblivion and uncovers the very real human drama of Carax’s life.

Although The Shadow of the Wind is technically magical realism, Zafón’s skill as a writer allows the tale to swing through several genres. The horror of the tale chills the spine at a description of an abandoned house. When Carax’s childhood lover’s father went to visit the mansion for the first time “The dark shadow of Marisela’s blood still covered the walls,” (Zafón, 235) after the owner had just barely recovered from his own attempted murder. Veering away from horror, the tale becomes one of romance as Daniel remembers “…that bewitchment of pale, tremulous skin, that first brush of the lips, or about the mirage that seemed to shimmer in every pore of the skin,” (Zafón, 241) when he first falls in love with Bea, his love interest in the second half of the novel. Then, broken family relations inspire tragedy in the tale when an old man reflects that the letter he is giving to Daniel is “‘The story of a woman I never knew, even though she bore my name and my blood,’”

(Zafón, 357) eliciting emotional response over the estranged father. Zafón’s use of more than adequate imagery in settings of horror, romance, and tragedy enable the story to peruse a vast selection of genres.

The Shadow of the Wind wins itself its genre of Magical realism however, mostly in Daniel’s ‘last’ act. In a fit of pusillanimous revenge, Carax’s antithesis, Inspector Fumero, attempts to shoot him. Daniel jumps into the path of the bullet and it “…went through [his] ribs.” (Zafón, 464) killing him. In spite of this, Daniel awakens a few days later and recovers well enough to marry Bea and have a child. In fact, he lives on to write a memoir of his investigation into the mysterious Carax. This magic is portrayed seamlessly, no reference is made to how or why this unreality is possible. This simplicity allows the fantastical to fit exactly into the surrounding realism.

I quite enjoyed the novel, finding its quiet wisdom concerning adolescence, family, love, and life well placed amidst the deftly crafted legend of the enigmatic author. The suspense kept me reading, and the happiness and humor kept me from becoming frustrated. The variety of technique and genre lifted The Shadow of the Wind above its contemporaries, displaying Zafón for the masterful writer he is. Being a bibliophile myself, this tale of a copious love of literature strikes a particular chord with me, allowing me to connect personally. If you like reading, and even if you do not, this book has more than a little bit for any reader.