Average Bufph Rating: 5.0 / 5.0
Carlos Ruiz Zafón
2004
Hidden in the heart of the old city of Barcelona is the 'cemetery of lost books', a labyrinthine library of obscure and forgotten titles that have long gone out of print. To this library, a man brings his 10-year-old son Daniel one cold morning in 1945. Daniel is allowed to choose one book from the shelves and pulls out 'La Sombra del Viento' by Julian Carax.
But as he grows up, several people seem inordinately interested in his find. Then, one night, as he is wandering the old streets once more, Daniel is approached by a figure who reminds him of a character from La Sombra del Viento, a character who turns out to be the devil. This man is tracking down every last copy of Carax's work in order to burn them. What begins as a case of literary curiosity turns into a race to find out the truth behind the life and death of Julian Carax and to save those he left behind. A page-turning exploration of obsession in literature and love, and the places that obsession can lead.
This labyrinthine story of a forgotten novel and its mysterious past drew me into Barcelona's City of Lost Books with every turn of the page. Zafón's prose has a certain charm, reminiscent of the atmosphere one finds in a quiet library. There's a nostalgia here that feels personal, as if each chapter is a room in my own cherished library, filled with the ghosts of stories past. It's a novel that speaks to the heart of a librarian, and the plot's complexity reminded me of the intricacies one finds in a well-loved film noir.
