Blog written by Lee
“Melissa brought a print out from the ABC’s Book Club program so we had a few other opinions on the book. Meredith, Sally and myself all enjoyed thoroughly the book, Melissa gave it more than her usual 100 pages test, reading on for 200 in deference to it being my choice. But it didn’t qualify as a good read for her. The book is 512 pages so longer than our usual choices and I apologise for that. As a coming of age story with gothic and mystical overtones in true modern Latin style, and a few fascinating characters, particularly Fermin who reckons everyone agreed was the most interesting and well written character in the novel. Someone on the ABC program compared with Sancho Panza as a sidekick to the main character. The story twists and turns and the different ages of the main character Daniel are hard to follow and become a little unbelievable at times. The descriptions of the city of Barcelona are wonderful and draw the reader into the streets and back alleys of the city. There are even a couple of maps to take the keen reader on a walk through the areas mentioned. I certainly will follow the map during my stay in Barcelona this year.
The story comes full circle and then starts again when Daniel has become an adult, but he marries this time with the reluctant approval of his love Beatrix’s father unlike the tragic Penelope, the love of Julian Carax, the mysterious author of The Shadow of The Wind. Everyone loved the concept of the cemetery of forgotten books, and again this story comes full circle at the end of the novel when Daniel takes his young son to the mysterious place, just as his father had done with him which is the impetus of the story. I thought the writing was beautiful, although some in the ABC program protested that it was overly done. The enigma of Julian Carax is finally revealed in the letter to Daniel written by Nuria Montfort, almost a novel in itself and the denouement of the novel.
For me and for the commentators on the ABC program it is quite a page turner. The book has been a huge international best seller both in Spanish and the excellent translation into English and no doubt other languages. I chose it because of the Barcelona setting and was not disappointed. With only four in attendance, we didn’t rank it as statistically it wouldn’t count, but it would probably be about 7.5 if you insist.”
Our next meeting is on May 24 at Sarah's and our book choice is Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan.
