book
pick
Without a
shadow of doubt
Penpniıec’s k
SOME AUTHORS MIGHT shrink under the weight sages. It’s where Daniel Sempere, an antiquarian
of comparisons to some of literature’s giants, includ- book dealer’s son, discovers the rare book ( The
ing Gabriel García Márquez and Charles Dickens. Shadow of the Wind) that launches his obsessive
But Carlos Ruiz Zafón, author of The Shadow of the quest to discover the truth about its mysterious
Wind, seems to be taking it all in stride. “I don’t author, Julián Carax.
mind the comparisons, which are flattering. “All of my novels have been born of an initial
Another matter would be what Mr. image, some kind of visual metaphor
Dickens and the others would make of that encapsulates the spirit of the
them,” he laughs. story I’m going to tell,” says Zafón. “In
One suspects they might do as this case, the vision of this fantastic
readers around the world have done: location was a response to a feeling I
embrace the book, a heady coming-of- had about all the things we keep forage tale, love story and Gothic mystery getting, about the destruction of
all rolled into one. The Shadow of the memory and the loss of identity.”
Wind spent two years on the bestseller Zafón honed his strong visual
list in Zafón’s native Spain and has been sense in jobs that revolved around sto-published in more than 20 countries. rytelling: directing stage plays and
Zafón, 41, who recently returned television commercials, and working
to Barcelona after living in Los Angeles as a screenwriter. Although he’s had
for 10 years, believes the book’s global Carlos Ruiz Zafón several requests to sell the film rights
appeal lies in the universality of its to The Shadow of the Wind, he refuses
characters and their stories. “People who love books, to do so. “Nothing can tell a story with the depth,
language, stories and ideas are the same everywhere, the thrill and the intensity of a novel when it is done
whether in Norway, Australia, Peking or New York,” right,” he says. “The best movie theater in the world
he tells The Connection. “Literature doesn’t ask for is in your mind.”
your passport, and doesn’t care. Readers are a nation A self-described night creature, he writes from
of their own, without boundaries or limitations.” midnight to dawn and is currently working on a
Although in the United States he’s often her- new novel, part of the quartet begun by The Shadow
alded as a first-time novelist, Zafón is also a success- of the Wind. Does he feel any pressure to make the
ful author of fiction for young adults. Almost too new work as successful as the original? “Not really,”
successful, he says. “I became a writer for younger he says. “The pressure comes from myself, from try-readers by accident and remained in the genre for ing to produce something that is worthy of my read-longer than I wished,” he admits. “Finally, I felt I had ers’ time.” C
to draw a line, which led me to begin work on The
Shadow of the Wind.” Jennifer Pirtle is a features writer based in London.
Carlos Ruiz Zafón evokes past literary
masters with The Shadow of the Wind
By Jennifer Pirtle
JORDI BELVER
FRANCE FREEMAN
Pennie Clark Ianniciello
Costco Book Buyer
THIS MONTH’S pick, The
Shadow of the Wind, by
Carlos Ruiz Zafón, has a
little bit of everything.
From fear to desire, joy to
sorrow, it induces the full
spectrum of emotions.
Set in 1945 Barcelona,
a young boy, Daniel
Sempere, mourns the loss
of his mother. As a distraction, his father takes
him to a secret library
where Daniel is allowed
to select one book.
The book he selects
was written by Julián
Carax, who is rumored to
have fled Spain under
murky circumstances, and
later died. As Daniel
searches for other works
by his new favorite
author, he discovers that
they have all been
destroyed.
The Shadow of the
Wind is available in most
Costco warehouses and at
costco.com. C
The result? A nearly 500-page novel that brims
with Dickensian descriptions of Barcelona’s narrow,
winding streets, darkened doorways and echoing
corridors. Like the great Victorian novelist, Zafón
uses his own city as a character—not simply a backdrop. “I’ve always been very interested in the way
great authors created organic worlds out of cities,
settings that became part of the story,” he says. “I
wanted to explore that approach in my own work.”
One of the book’s most evocative images is the
Cemetery of Forgotten Books, a dusty repository
crammed with bookcases and labyrinthine pas-
News about scheduled book signings
at Costco and a book giveaway can
be found in “Book Look,” only in the June Online
Edition at costco.com under “Costco magazine.”
Signed book
No purchase is
necessary. Entries
giveaway must be received
or postmarked by
midnight, July 1,
COSTCO HAS 10 copies of Carlos 2006. Void where
Ruiz Zafón’s The Shadow of the prohibited. Employ-
Wind with autographed bookplates ees of Costco and
to give away. their families are not
To enter, print your name, mem- eligible. Winners will
bership number, address and day- benotified by mail.
time phone number on a postcard or One entryper household.
letter and send it to: The Shadow
of the Wind, The Costco Connection,
P.O. Box 34088, Seattle, WA 98124-
1088; or fax it to (425) 313-6718.
Send your feedback
on this month’s book to:
discussionquestions@costco.com
