Journal Entry 1 by gypsysmom from Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada on Wednesday, July 28, 2010

My work book club has chosen this book to read for our September 2010 meeting. I could have borrowed it from the library but I had to place an order with Chapters anyway so I slipped in a new copy of this book. Earlier this year I listened to Zafon's The Angel's Game and I was captivated by it. Many people said this book was even better. So we'll see. 

Journal Entry 2 by gypsysmom at Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada on Tuesday, August 10, 2010

This book reminded me a lot of The Angel's Game (which as I said in the first post I listened to earlier this year) in that it deals with a book from the Cemetary of Forgotten Books that changes the life of the person who takes it out. I thought this book was not quite so dark as The Angel's Game but there are still quite a few sad and tragic scenes.

Daniel Sempere is 10 years old when his father first takes him to the Cemetary of Forgotten Books. His mother died when Daniel was quite young so there has just been the two of them for a long time. Sempere Senior is a bookseller and Daniel certainly has picked up his love of books. In the Cemetary of Lost Books Daniel chooses The Shadow of the Wind by Julian Carax. He devours the book and wants to read more by the author but his books are nowhere to be found. In fact, it appears someone has been burning all of Julian Carax's books. The author is also an enigma even though he lived in Barcelona until he was 18. Daniel mentions his quest to discover more about Carax to another bookseller, Don Gustavo Barcelo, and Barcelo introduces him to his niece, Clara. Clara is twice Daniel's age and is also a devotee of Carax' fiction. Clara is blind so Daniel offers to read the book to her. He becomes quite smitten with Clara despite the age difference and he gives the book to her. Then a mysterious stranger approaches Daniel and wants to buy The Shadow of the Wind. Daniel has no doubt this is the person who has been burning all of Carax' novels. He goes to retrieve the book from Clara and finds her making love to her piano teacher. His heart broken he finds the book and is thrown out of the apartment by the piano teacher. Slightly injured he is given a drink by a beggar who has been taking refuge in the doorway to the building. They have a conversation and the beggar introduces himself as Fermin Romero de Torres. After a short conversation Daniel leaves and returns to the Cemetary of Forgotten Books to hide The Shadow of the Wind there once again. But he doesn't forget about the book or the author and he continues his quest to find out more. He is aided by Fermin who Sempere and Sons have hired to help out in the bookstore. The more Daniel finds out the more he realizes his life is paralleling that of Julian Carax. Can Daniel break the cycle that Carax was never able to? That's what the rest of the book is about.

Somewhere about the middle of the book I was having trouble keeping the events of Daniel's life separate from the events of Julian Carax's. I'm not sure if this was a result of a deliberate choice by Zafon or if I was just being obtuse. There certainly was lots of overlap. And sometimes that seemed a little too contrived. Nevertheless I enjoyed the book and I'm glad I read it after hearing so much about it. I really loved the character of Fermin and I think Zafon should do another book with Fermin as the main character. I also found the descriptions of Barcelona intriguing although perhaps it wouldn't be a place to visit in the winter. At the back of this book there is a walking tour of Barcelona to visit the spots mentioned in the book. That would be interesting.

I'm now going to pass this book on to BellBelle so she can read it for our book club meeting.