Book Group

Last night we met to talk about The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón. This is a long and dense novel, written in a very flowery, old-fashioned style (I'm assuming that the translator was true to the original in this respect). Here's the description from Amazon: 

Barcelona, 1945: A city slowly heals in the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War, and Daniel, an antiquarian book dealer’s son who mourns the loss of his mother, finds solace in a mysterious book entitled The Shadow of the Wind, by one Julián Carax. But when he sets out to find the author’s other works, he makes a shocking discovery: someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book Carax has written. In fact, Daniel may have the last of Carax’s books in existence. Soon Daniel’s seemingly innocent quest opens a door into one of Barcelona’s darkest secrets—an epic story of murder, madness, and doomed love.

The feel of postwar Spain is convincingly conveyed, and the characters are very real and very interesting. The plot takes a million little twists and turns, which made me want to keep reading despite the fact that I found it to be really too long and drawn out and just plain "overwritten." It reminded me a lot of The Name of the Rose, with its many mysterious characters and seemingly supernatural events and intricate plot, but it wasn't as much work to get through.

I did end up liking this book, but I don't know exactly what type of reader I'd recommend it to—it's too florid and romantic for someone who likes their mysteries on the gritty side, yet there is enough eerie and violent content to turn off anyone who's looking for a light escape. If you've read it, what did you think?

Also: We haven't yet picked a book for next month's meeting—got any suggestions for us?

Comments

[Lauren]

Defending Jacob!

[Karen]

I suggested that, but no one is willing to read it -- we are all moms of 13-year-old boys, and I think everyone is too afraid to read it! I'll let Andy read it first and ask him what he thinks.

[Steve]

It wasn't until I was halfway through your post that I remembered I read this book a couple of years ago - if that says anything about it. I remember liking it..?

I am typically reading five books at a time (my iPad for downtime such as waiting rooms, an audio book in my car, the book I read weekly with my blind neighbor, whatever I'm reading for pleasure at home, and something in French) and yet I can't think of a single book to suggest. Getting old sucks.

[Wendy]

I read the Zafon book fairly recently, and did not love it -- I did love The Name of the Rose when I read that, and I wouldn't have thought of comparing them, I have to say. I agree that the book did seem evocative (to the extent I know) of early/mid-century Spain, but the plot just didn't hold me very well, and I got irritated by the grotesques. I suppose you all have read Wolf Hall? Dang, I loved that book. Nonfiction? Do you all go there? Have you read any Jeanette Winterston?

[Nancy]

"Lean In," of course!

[Sheila]

I loved this book--but I lived in Barcelona for several years and read it in Spanish, so I´m sure that made a difference. I actually bought the English translation to see how the translator handled assorted dialects and registers--very interesting.(BYW her name is Lucia Graves--she is the daughter of poet and "I, Claudius" author Robert Graves--and she wrote a wonderful memoir called "A Woman Unknown" about growing up as a female and a foreigner in Spain under Franco.)

[Sandy]

"Tell the Wolves I'm Home." My book group read and loved this. It's easiest to describe this as a coming of age story, incredibly evocative of late '80s NYC & suburbs...but that doesn't quite do it justice. It's a good read, with lots to talk about.

[Janeen]

Tenth of December by George Saunders. The Times called it the "best book you'll read this year" and it was published in January. Normally, I'd roll my eyes at a statement like that so early in the year, but after reading it with the Rumpus book club, I might have to agree.