The Shadow of the Wind - [short] Book Review
Is it possible for the lives for two distinct individuals to be identical with one another? It would likely be so only if both of their lives are entangled together. The Shadow of the Wind by Ruiz Zafón is accounted by Daniel, who possesses a book similar to the title of the novel and goes on to uncover the truth behind its mysterious writer.
Just like Daniel, we too are slowly learning the reality with him. We journey different places together— whether it to an abandoned mansion or a psychiatry hospital. Despite pursuing the truth together, I’ve never cared for him one bit. The reasoning behind my disinterest has to do with his character and his actions. There really isn’t any depth to his character — he has no interests apart from chasing the truth behind the writer of the book; his relationship with his father is supposedly based on trust yet he never really shares anything with him about his endeavors; we don’t really know his story because he is only focused on his sole aim.
Due to this single objective, his story appears as a reflection of Julian Carax’s, the writer. As put by Ruiz Zafón — “a book is a mirror that offers us only what we already carry inside us”. He shows this using Daniel’s forbidden affair with Bea, his best friend’s sister, which mirrors that of Carax’s love for Penelope, who also is a friend’s sister. Moreover, the “Victor Hugo pen” that Daniel is so entranced by and wishes to hold was once admired by Carax, and both of them are gifted the same pen by someone who loves them.
While the book did make me shed a few tears here and there, most of what I felt towards the story is quite negative. Ruiz Zafón’s writing most certainly has a flow which makes you want to continue instead of putting away the book for another day. But I found Zafón’s use of immense descriptions to be very unnecessary. The book would be half its size if he had edited those thick descriptions. It’s nice to add narrative where needed but nobody really wants to know the myth behind a psychiatry hospital or what breakfast a character has every day. Not only were there a lot of characters that one couldn’t care less about, but each of them have personality like that of Daniel — dull, and yes, this includes Fermin (no matter how good of a friend he is to Daniel, I have to acknowledge that he’s the most annoying character I’ve read thus far).
Within the book, we get two perspectives — one of Daniel’s and another Nuria’s. The two perspectives dissatisfied me in many aspects. Firstly, we are only looking at things from only one (or two) perspective, which somehow makes the reader biased. It doesn’t have to but we are led to believe what Daniel is doing is good when his obsession had got to a point where it killed many people. However, if one looks closely, most of what he finds is from other people that give us new perspectives but we never learn of Carax’s perspective — the person who he has been chasing. We hear many people tell his story but we never really hear from him; perhaps that’s the reason he’s the “shadow”.
Secondly, I was let down by the disappointing “truth” which is accounted by Nuria. I was so upset that Daniel, who has been chasing the authenticity behind the life of Carax for more than 300 pages, was finally just “given” the truth by Nuria in a written manuscript. Just like Daniel, I sat there reading Nuria’s manuscript, but unlike Daniel, I was thoroughly displeased with the manner of learning the truth. One would argue that Daniel is being given truth bit-by-bit from different characters, but that is precisely my point. He is going out there to discover it, not given truth on a silver platter. It feels like such a cheap move from Ruiz Zafón. I suppose he just wanted to end the story and write whatever felt right. Furthermore, despite having two different narrators, it felt as though I was reading only one person with the same voice. Just like Daniel, Nuria also describes each and everything and everyone, so it didn’t feel like two different speakers.
Throughout the novel, I was so engaged with the mystery that I wanted to know more and learn more, but after reading through Nuria’s perspective, not only did everything become clear but it became predictable. I wouldn’t say that the book didn’t live up to the mystery it was building, because that twist was one of the most shocking turn of events I’ve ever read, but I had expected more from the ending of a story that had started so good. I suppose it’s nice to read happily ever after’s but somehow I didn’t enjoy the ending. I did, however, enjoy the fact that the book’s title is within the text, which shows how Carax’s The Shadow of the Wind is different from Ruiz Zafón’s. As I read the book, I’m taking into account whose “text” is the “original one” because in the book it reads that there is only “one” The Shadow of the Wind remaining, but then there is Ruiz Zafón’s text as well, which implies there are two copies. However, it is to be noted that it is Ruiz Zafón who could be identified as the real author because he has written both the books — a text within a text. I love it when you discover such minute details in books.
The Shadow of the Wind is an incredible read despite its flaws. Not only would I recommend it to everyone but I’d like to read it again someday. The story is not only about finding out the truth, but to get justice alongside it as well. While it’s said that Carax has been hiding in the shadows, it should be realized that he was in the light all along as we discover him little by little.
