The Shadow of the Wind

 "Books are mirrors: you only see in them what you already have inside you," answered Julian.(p.209)

 The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon is the story of a young boy, Daniel, that discovers a book by Julian Carax that may very well be the last of it's kind. As Daniel begins to search for more of the author's work, he discovers that they are being destroyed and that no one seems to have much information on Julian Carax. As Daniel grows up he feels he must uncover the truth, and the mystery that he unravels is an intricate web of deceit, murder, love, and revenge.
It is funny to me that I read two books sequentially that deal with authors and the ways in which they tell their own stories. Though these two novels have similarities, the differences are what linger with me. The Thirteenth Tale was based on the premise that the author desperately wanted to tell her story before she died whereas the characters in this book will stop at nothing to hide the truth and it's possibilities for destruction and/or redemption. The Thirteenth Tale seemed to be veiled with mystery and curiosity but the tone of The Shadow of the Wind felt more ominous to me, as if danger were awaiting the reader around every corner.
I really loved the ways in which Carlos Ruiz Zafon described the relationship between readers and books,as seen in one example above, but also the effect that reading can have on individuals,as seen in the following two excerpts,
"I heard a regular customer say that few things leave a deeper mark on a reader than the first book that finds its way into his heart. Those first images, the echo of words we think we have left behind, accompany us throughout our lives and sculpt a palace in our memory to which, sooner or later--no matter how many books we read, how many worlds we discover, or how much we learn or forget--we will return."(p.8)

"...soon I forgot myself and was submerged once more in the narrative, discovering cadences and turns of phrase that flowed like musical motifs, riddles made of timbre and pauses I had not noticed during my first reading. New details, strands of images, and fantasy appeared between the lines and new shapes revealed themselves, as in the structure of a building looked at from different angles."(p. 41)
With passages like that, how could this book not be worth reading!?

The Thirteenth Tale

    It took me quite a while to choose a book for my first post, what a surprise! After finishing this book I knew it would be the perfect opener because there were so many memorable passages and unique ideas. If you are someone like me who loves Gothic novels and is always up for a good mystery, this novel is a must read. One review from Booklist stated that, "Readers will be mesmerized by this story-within-a-story tinged with the eeriness of Rebecca and the willfulness of Jane Eyre." This is the perfect description of the incredible first novel by Diane Setterfield.
    This novel explores the life stories of a bookshop employee and avid reader, Margaret Lea and a notoriously mysterious and reclusive author, Vida Winter. With the end of her life quickly approaching, Vida Winter has decided that the time has come to share the truth about her past. After making up one outlandish history after another, Ms. Winter seeks out the relatively unknown Margaret Lea to tell her story. What unfolds is an enchanting and eerie tale about confronting your past and the ways in which it has shaped you.
    There is a passage in the novel that is particularly fascinating in it's description of writing. This excerpt also provides a rare glimpse into the mind of an author. Dickens' Dream by Robert Buss is shown below and is "the picture" that Vida Winter is referring to in the following passage

"Why recall the picture now, you must be wondering. The reason I remember it so well is that it seems to be an image of the way I have lived my own life. I have closed my study door on the world and shut myself away with people of my imagination. For nearly sixty years I have eavesdropped with impunity on the lives of people who do not exist. I have peeped shamelessly into hearts and bathroom closets. I have leaned over shoulders to follow the movements of quills as they write love letters, wills and confessions. I have watched as lovers love, murderers murder and children play their make-believe. Prisons and brothels have opened their doors to me; galleons and camel trains have transported me across sea and sand; centuries and continents have fallen away at my bidding. I have spied upon the misdeeds of the mighty and witnessed the nobility of the meek. I have bent so low over sleepers in their beds that they might have felt my breath on their faces. I have seen their dreams.

"My study throngs with characters waiting to be written. Imaginary people, anxious for a life, who tug at my sleeve, crying, 'Me next! Go on! My turn!' I have to select. And once I have chosen, the others lie quiet for ten months or a year, until I come to the end of the story, and the clamor starts up again."

I love this part of the novel because it's description of the author's mind is so vivid and it is given with such eloquence, one is almost transported into the dreamlike mind of Ms. Winter. I will leave you with just one more short excerpt because it has lingered with me and I wonder if it will be the same for others.

"All morning I struggled with the sensation of stray wisps of one world seeping through the cracks of another. Do you know the feeling when you start reading a new book before the membrane of the last one has had time to close behind you? You leave the previous book with ideas and themes-characters even-caught in the fibers of your clothes, and when you open the new book, they are still with you."

The Second Time Around

I should have known this would be easier said than done. However, I am determined to give this my best shot. The thing that I miss the most about college is the critical reading and discussion of a text. I miss reading through a book and pinpointing the positive and negative elements of a written work that seperate it and it's author from their contemporaries. The analysis and debate of a work is challenging and encouraging, as it constantly keeps the mind sharp. That being said, I have decided to set a goal for myself of reading one book a week and writing a corresponding blog telling my opinions and findings, in the hopes that my mind will remain in the analytical state that it was while in class. So here goes...:)

Blogging: Take One

A very smart man recently suggested blogging to me. At first, this option could not have sounded any less appealing. By nature I am more of a listener, rather than a teller of information. I am very comfortable with this arrangement because I genuinely enjoy listening to people and hearing about their lives. I, on the other hand, feel as though I never have anything particularly interesting to tell. Maybe it is true, maybe I do lead a very simple life that yields few stories of interest, or maybe I have just gotten so used to keeping things to myself that I no longer know how to let people in and share my thoughts and feelings. I do not think this situation will change overnight, but I do think(hope) that blogging may be a fun, challenging way to change things. Please bear with me as I attempt to share what is really going on with me, one step at a time.