The Shadow of the Wind – Carlos Ruiz Zafón

100-Word (or Less) Synopsis: This Barcelona set story within a story seeks to unravel the mystery of why a talented writer suddenly stopped publishing, and the remaining copies of his books end up in flames.

Expectation: A folksy tale of second chances.

Reality: A soap opera of confusing plots, overly sexualized characters and an insane amount of fart jokes.

Recommended For: Those seeking out Zafón’s work given his recent death.

Why I Read It: When it comes to road trips, I usually pick the book. However, on our most recent trip I gave the power to my husband. This was the result.

My Take:

One thing I learned from my experience with Amor Towles’ “A Gentleman in Moscow,” is that no matter how beloved a story might be to others, if you aren’t feeling it just give up.

So, I did, at 74 percent completed.

At first I was intrigued by the premise, which felt like part Markus Zusak’s “The Book Thief,” part Anthony Doerr’s “All the Light We Cannot See” and part Donna Tartt’s “The Goldfinch” even though it pre-dated all those novels.

Whereas those stories effectively weaved together world events, a cast of colorful characters and a mystery framed around art, “Shadow” regularly lost focus, and it started to feel like a soap opera, continually ending on cliffhangers and jumping from plot-to-plot with a loose connective thread between the characters and situations.

At first the creative flourishes Carlos Ruiz Zafón gave to the language added, rather than detracted as this was clearly a book written by and for booklovers. As the hours dragged on and the mystery deepened any goodwill he earned was lost, primarily because of his repeated use of fart jokes.  

It’s a shame too, because the first third of the book with Daniel exploring “The Cemetery of Forgotten Books” and his quest to find out what happened to author Julián Carax all while navigating a changing Spain in the 1940s, was charming.

But as more characters were added — specifically Fermín Romero de Torres who ended up feeling like a real-life Disney movie animal sidekick — and the plot alternated between past and present, I couldn’t help but wonder why the hell Daniel cared so much about solving the Carax’s mystery. With a tighter narrative, maybe this would’ve landed for me.

Ironically, the audiobook narration by Jonathan Davis is fantastic. Honestly, one of the best I’ve heard this year. He sells the story, giving each character a unique voice and even incorporating some of the vocal ticks that Zafón notes in the text.

But the production of the audiobook is horrendous. There is a piano sonata that randomly starts to play (usually when something romantic is occurring) and it was so damn distracting. Whoever thought that was a good idea, should never produce another audiobook.

All-in-all, this one is firmly in the “not worth the time” camp.

Rating (story): 3/5 stars

Rating (narration): 5/5 stars

Formats: Audiobook (library loan)

Dates read: September 24 – October 7, 2021

Multi-tasking: Not recommended as the story requires quite a bit of concentration. Even mostly listening while driving, I had a hard time keeping everything straight.