'Shadow' tale captivates

Eric J. Blommel, Special To The News

Friday, April 30, 2004

Excellent works of literature represent many things at once, just like the life they aim to emulate. The Shadow of the Wind represents at once mystery, historical fiction, romance, suspense, tragedy, humanitarian essay and nostalgic coming-of-age tale about a boy growing up in post-World War II Barcelona.

Daniel Sempere is the quiet and modest son of an antiquarian bookshop owner. Both he and his father tend toward the sullen, as they lost Daniel's mother to cholera near the start of the Spanish Civil War.

To cheer him up one day, Daniel's father initiates him into a secret kept by himself and only a few faithful - the location of a cache of books called the Cemetery of Forgotten Books. Upon introducing him to the place, the elder Sempere says:

"'This is a place of mystery, Daniel, a sanctuary. Every book, every volume you see here, has a soul . . . In this place, books no longer remembered by anyone, books that are lost in time, live forever, waiting for the day when they will reach a new reader's hands.' . . .

" 'According to tradition, the first time someone visits this place he must choose a book, whichever he wants, and adopt it, making sure that it will never disappear, that it will always stay alive. It is a very important promise. For life,' explained my father. 'Today it's your turn.' "

Eleven-year-old Daniel allows himself to gravitate toward one of the books as instructed and it turns out to be a book called The Shadow of the Wind by a man named Julián Carax. He vows to keep the secret of the Cemetery, and to protect the book. After reading it, his attraction to its content solidifies his commitment.

This commitment marks a major turning point in Daniel's life, as he must immediately defend the book against a shadowy figure intent on burning all of Carax's works. To protect his book, Daniel must now solve the mystery of why someone wants to burn it.

Meanwhile, he is also a boy growing up in Barcelona who is trying to relate to his father, his friends, his missing mother, his new interest in girls and the increasing demands brought about by solving the mystery.

He is helped along the way by the somewhat comical character Fermín, a former beggar now working at the bookshop, who claims to have been a spy. Daniel and Fermín's efforts to solve the case are thwarted at times by an archetype of evil, the ruthless and brutal police inspector Fumero.

As events unfold and a tale of tragic, lost love emerges, Daniel and Fermín take on more risk, facing more danger. The line which ordinarily seems to separate the author from the reader becomes systematically erased as the plot thickens. It becomes clear that not only are events in Daniel's life beginning to parallel those he discovers of Carax's earlier life, but that their current fates are becoming increasingly intertwined.

The result is an almost hypnotic drawing-in to the story, as it invites the reader to imagine what it would be like to not only observe events from a safe and voyeuristic distance, but to also get involved in the action, take some risks and affect the eventual outcome.

As mentioned, Carlos Ruiz Zafón's novel manages to support many themes and attitudes through the major plot, but a highlight is the humanity and the passion with which he imbues his characters. While it is difficult to summarize this attitude in a few words, perhaps ending on a brief passage depicting the pluck of one character will help.

Fermín is being treated by a doctor at the house of a friend, after being beaten by the evil police inspector Fumero. Daniel narrates:

". . . Doctor Soldevila poked his head round the door of the study looking tired and out of breath.

"'Please excuse me. I'm leaving now. The patient is well, and, for lack of a better expression, he's full of beans. This gentleman will outlive us all. He's even saying that the sedatives have gone to his head and given him a high. He refuses to rest and insists that he must have a word with Daniel about matters he has not wished to explain to me, claiming that he doesn't believe in the Hippocratic, or hypocritical oath, as he calls it.'

" 'We'll go and see him right away. And please forgive poor Fermín. His words are obviously the result of the trauma.'

" 'Perhaps, but I wouldn't rule out shamelessness. There was no way of stopping him pinching the nurse's bottom and reciting rhymed couplets in praise of her firm and shapely thighs.' "

Like the irrepressible Fermín, each of the characters displays a distinctive human side in their lovable foibles. Readers may find, as they are hypnotically drawn in by the blurred layers of reality and easy identification with the characters, that they are exploring The Shadow of the Wind in the company of new friends.

Eric J. Blommel is a freelance writer living in Centennial.