Goodreads Ireland discussion

Looking forward to starting this one but I have to get finished first :-)

Early days for the group but I think this is one of the best translated works I have read. Its done so well, with the atmosphere and characters coming across so well

No worries Emma :-)

My fault. Hit wrong thread. Have deleted.

Big spoiler in this post incase folks look be accident.

Aside from all the deeper questions on my mine about this book, were any of you convinced Daniel was going to die? I was. It just felt like it could be the atypical book where the protagonist dies, and to be honest, him dying would have fit the story though not the sequel. :)

Just finished this today, what a beautiful story. I think Paul asked in the other thread what genre you'd put this in. The only one that stands out is that it's a love story. Young love, parental love, friends love. So good!!
I was convinced Daniel was dead Kevin, convinced two romances had been doomed. Glad I was wrong

Thats a great answer to my question:-). Definitely see what you mean. The motivation of almost all the characters is some form of love.

And it's such a really good character driven story. I loved fermin, he had some of the best insults I've read. Also the hatter really developed throughout the story

Fermin is brilliant. One great reason to continue with the series is book 3 deals with his past .

Daniel grew on me and his loyalty is a good trait. While he is weak in some ways he dies have that.
I think like you Emma I was waiting for Bee's death . It felt the inevitable climax for a while.

I agree, the link between Daniel and Bea is an odd one. I'm not sure I agree with their connection though. It seemed a little loose for them to suddenly become involved with eachother when their relationship prior to that moment was Daniel being Thomas' close friend. The weak link doesn't annoy me because I'm willing to dispel it for the sorry, but it's very apparent.

*story, not sorry

I actually felt their relationship was inevitable. As his friendship with Tomas progresses he tells of the teasing and fear between himself and Bea. In young kids that's often the sign of a little crush and as they get older and hormones develop......it worked for some reason

I liked Daniel aswell, I thought he was a very honest character. A young man who's decisions weren't always led by his head but his desires. When fermin gets attacked, he doesn't overly fight to help him, afraid of getting hurt himself. But he proved himself in the end

I'm just not getting into this story on audio so I'm going to leave it for a while then go back to it. I don't know what my problem is, I should love this! Maybe it's just ne of those books that doesn't tranlate well to audio.

I spotted a copy of it in second hand shop at weekend and picked it for my son. Got it home and discovered a news paper clipping inside from The Times. Here is a link, but unfortunately you have to be a subscriber to see the articlehttp://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/travel/...
Is the prediction correct? Does anyone know if there are Shadow of the Wind tours in Barcelona?

I dunno margo but I know the end of my kindle copy has a tour guide you can follow showing settings of the story. It's a really cute idea

I just finished this today, and I honestly wasn't knocked out by it. The tone just seemed dry to me and I had to force myself to keep going.

I'm almost halfway through. There are some parts that get really interesting then the story drops and goes somewhere else. It's kind of frustrating. It's like you're set up for an interesting story then you hang. I hope it all comes together somewhere.

It's worth it sherry, i'm still surprised by the polar reactions to this. I loved it, margo had to give up on it and Donna really didn't like it. I really thought it'd be all positives

Keep going Sherry, it is so worth it. This is the story that keeps giving. The sequel and especially the third part are amazing too. If Zafon writes a fourth part I will be among the first to read it.

I loved this novel so much ! I couldn't put it down when I read and it has stayed with me .It was just magical to me.I loved the other two parts and really hopes he writes a forth and I will read as soon as possible if he does.

I'm staying with it. I want to see where it goes. It takes awhile to get off the ground but I know it's necessary. It's a slow process but I'm interested in the faceless devil and the story about stealing dolls and taking their eyes out which I'm sure must be related to the beautiful blind girl. There's too much intrigue to stop reading.

I'm still reading but the story I mentioned in the above post is long gone! I almost forgot about it. It seems abandoned but I'm hoping all loose threads tie up. I'm enjoying the mystery of Julian Carax.

I thought it was a bit clunky to be honest. The format was all over the place and I couldn't really take the whole scenario seriously. Far too melodramatic for such a slight concept of misplaced love. There were whole chapters dedicated to one character relaying what some other character had just told them that afternoon or whole manuscripts written by others that took an age to convey yet were conveniently stuffed into coat pockets. I had to suspend my belief throughout and rushed it towards the end. Disappointing. Glad it's off my shelf now though!

Jon, I couldn't have said it better myself. I should have known that my expectations were way too high, given how much so many people loved it.

I'm finally in the 4th quarter. I understand that Julian's mother was threatened to keep her mouth shut about his father but I think that as soon as she found out about Julian sleeping with Penelope that Sofie would tell him he had sex with his sister! She told his best friend so why not tell her son? I'm sorry but it would be instinct to at least let him know in secret that they're siblings. When Julian was spending so much time at their house wouldn't any other mother say something? He was going to a house with a pretty girl close to his age. He was a teen. I think it's unrealistic for her not to secretly say something to him. She could have told him it would be dangerous for him to let on that he knows.

...sorry lol but I had to say it!
I am staying with it until the end because I'm by no means bored. I noticed that the author likes writing about flatulence and incest. There are 2 incidents of incest. Fumero's mother is a piece of work.

You sound hooked sherry?

Sherry wrote: "I'm finally in the 4th quarter. I understand that Julian's mother was threatened to keep her mouth shut about his father but I think that as soon as she found out about Julian sleeping with Penelop..."

These are very good points.

Seraphina wrote: "You sound hooked sherry?"

Yes I am Seraphina. I need to see this through lol!
I really didn't see part of this coming. I suspected Julian was alive but I didn't predict that he was the Diablo that Daniel saw earlier in the book. So sad. I'm still in the flashback so I don't know how Fermin is!

I complained a little but it's a good story with a good ending. There were parts I felt were disjointed for the first half but it all tied together. I like a happy ending. :)
I suppose if Julian's mother told him the truth there would be no story but I still think most mothers would say something.

The only thing is none of them knew they were spending time together except the nanny or whatever her title was and she didn't know they were siblings. He was meant to be there to learn about business and impress the father so they were all too naive to predict anything like that

Julian's mother knew that Penelope was a pretty girl close to his age. Sofie wasn't naive in the least. She knew he spent a lot of time there. She wasn't naive but the maids were. I think that Penelope's highly sexed father could have maybe seen it coming but he wasn't paying attention. I think Jacinta was just helping lovers in love. She had no idea.
Sofie didn't even tell Julian after the fact. She wasn't very likable anyway.

I agree about Fermin. He's a great character. I wish Daniels father would have asked that woman out (forgot her name) He seems so sad.

So while I found this to be a solid read, it didn't enchant me in the same way it did when I first read it 10+ years ago. Since finishing the few days ago I've been trying to figure out why that's the case. I think there's a couple factors at play. (1) The book was a first of it's kind and like nothing I had ever read before at my initial reading, (2) The book relies upon a sense of mystery,. When you have vague memories of what's going to happen next based upon previously reading it, you aren't as compelled to read further.

I think the second book in the series, The Angel's Game may be a better candidate for rereading.

On the plus side, Carlos Ruiz Zafón is a master at setting. The city of Barcelona is a really another character within the book.

I disagree with the person above who said they thought Daniel wasn't worthy of Bea. I find him to be overly idealistic but fiercely loyal to his family and friends.

Fermin is a delightful character and his story is a bit further fleshed out in the third book of the series, The Prisoner of Heaven.

What did everyone think of the Inspector Fumaro character as a villain?

I thought Fumaro was a proper villain. He didn't seem to have boundaries or lines he wouldn't cross. He was driven and vindictive. He gave me goosebumps.

Ya I agree, he was an excellent villain. I really despised him throughout the story, even when you find out his back story, still never had empathy towards him. You just wanted someone to knock him on his ass

Fumaro is like the serial killers we hear about. His upbringing is unwholesome and abusive. They still have choices. Even if someone chose to be nice to him, he still turned on them. He was a bad villain which is good for the story. No tears for his death.

I have to say this will be one I will read again in a few years time.

I loved the story and found Dainel and Julián relationship interesting but creep all at the same time lol

I really liked this book too Karen, I kinda see what you mean about creepy. It was a little stalker-like but he meant no harm. It's a good book though!