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Old 08-19-2012, 08:28 AM   #1
WT Sharpe
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August Discussion: The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (spoilers)

Let's discuss the August MobileRead Book Club selection, The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon. What did you think?
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Old 08-20-2012, 07:44 AM   #2
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I haven't even started and I'm god knows how far away from starting.

So...far...behind.
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Old 08-20-2012, 11:21 AM   #3
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I''ve started, but I haven't finished. It's an enjoyable journey so far.

I'll return to this thread when I'm finished.
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Old 08-20-2012, 11:32 AM   #4
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Great book! I read the English version. I'm going to add Zafon to my TBR list.

Thank you WT Sharpe for nominating it.
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Old 08-20-2012, 11:36 AM   #5
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It's a very nicely written book. It has a sense of style to it and I like that a lot.

I really was absorbed by the atmosphere of the story, the setting, the characters, the interwovenness. I liked a lot about this book, but every now and then I'd read a passage that just seemed wrong to me and the ending just left me flat. Especially the falling action which drained away too much of the atmosphere that had been built up. I was left with nothing of the magic the story had started with.
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Old 08-20-2012, 12:21 PM   #6
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I really enjoyed the book.
I liked how the story was told up until the end. The end was too much of a Hollywood happy end. I don't mind happy endings at all, but they really don't have to be spelled out so much, but rather implied, left more to the reader to kind of make what they want of.
There is a (relatively small) thing in the story that doesn't add up to me and therefor bugs me a bit. I won't mention it right now, because I want to see some more general views first.
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Old 08-20-2012, 07:20 PM   #7
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I''ve started, but I haven't finished. It's an enjoyable journey so far.

I'll return to this thread when I'm finished.
I've 90 pages left.
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Old 08-22-2012, 04:54 PM   #8
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I read this mid-2011, so my memory is a bit hazy, but I did give it 4 stars on GR at the time. I do remember enjoying it a lot, particularly the secret Cemetery of Forgotten Books section. I didn't particularly like the love story of Julian and Penelope, which I found unsatisfying and unfulfilling, but overall a great read.
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Old 08-23-2012, 12:21 PM   #9
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I did finish The Shadow of the Wind and it was not bad overall. It was slow in parts. Some of the back story of Julián Carax was rather slow. There was too much of it (overall). For example, near the end, the letter that was written to tell the truth was a bit slow.

The ending was a bit of a deus ex machina. But after that, it was good.

Some of the time I just wanted to slap all of them.
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Old 08-26-2012, 11:07 AM   #10
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Still reading it (had a lot on my reading list since it was back to school month) and really have found it captivating so far. The beginning has just the right touch of mysterious to pull a reader in....and makes me loath to put the book down.
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Old 08-26-2012, 09:55 PM   #11
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Still reading it (had a lot on my reading list since it was back to school month) and really have found it captivating so far. The beginning has just the right touch of mysterious to pull a reader in....and makes me loath to put the book down.
There are parts in the middle that may slow you down. But nearer to the end, it does pick up.
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Old 08-28-2012, 08:46 AM   #12
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I really enjoyed the book.
I liked how the story was told up until the end. The end was too much of a Hollywood happy end. I don't mind happy endings at all, but they really don't have to be spelled out so much, but rather implied, left more to the reader to kind of make what they want of.
There is a (relatively small) thing in the story that doesn't add up to me and therefor bugs me a bit. I won't mention it right now, because I want to see some more general views first.
I found the ending most satisfying. Yes, it was a happy ending, but not a perfect ending. It was plain that his father-in-law would never be completely accepting of Daniel even though he went through the motions. It was also plain that despite the letters from Tomás to Bea which always included regards to Daniel, the two old friends would never completely reconcile. I'm glad the author took the time to follow up on the fate of the characters as he did.
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Old 08-28-2012, 08:59 AM   #13
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I must admit I was perplexed by the level of Mr. Aguilar's hostility to Daniel, but even more so by the hostility of his son Tomás. Up to his announced wedding to Bea I was half-expecting an unpleasant surprise of the sort that we discovered about Penélope and Julián Carax.
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Old 09-03-2012, 04:29 PM   #14
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I'm still reading our August book, only halfway through. I settled into a routine of reading only a few chapters at a time although not for lack of enjoyment.
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Old 09-05-2012, 04:52 PM   #15
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This is my first participation in a Mobileread book club discussion. I've wanted to participate for some time. I read Shadow of the Wind on my vacation a couple weeks ago. I wasn't as impressed as I was hoping. I found I could have done without much of the meandering around through the middle of the book. I also found - and this may be a translation thing - that there was a lack of good dialogue and too much lengthy narrative.
I was actually okay with the happy ending, although I would have liked more interaction between Thomas and Daniel. I found that entire relationship to be unsatisfactory. It needed to be there for the story to work the way the author wanted it to, but because they hardly interacted with each other it was hard for me to see them as best friends and Thomas's ignoring of Daniel just seemed childish and inconsistent with what we were to believe of him.
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