The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Sorting things into categories is a habit that is picked up at a young age.  It makes things neat and provides a sense of order.  When it comes to books, those categories could be target age or size but normally would be genre.  So when someone puts a book on your bedside table and describes it as "a good book that doesn't really fit a category" it's a little disconcerting, and kind of hard to know what to expect.

The Shadow of the Wind is set in Barcelona in the 1940s and 50s and follows the life of Daniel, a young boy whose life is changed forever by a book.  As he grows up, the desire to know more about the life of the book's author starts to take over, and it turns out he's not the only one that wants to know more.

I can see why my husband couldn't categorise this book, even putting aside the fact he remembered little other than that it was good.  It's a story of someone's life as they try to find the story of someone else's life.  And like any life it has a variety of tones and events.  There is romance, there is lust, there is longing.  The theme of loss, of losing someone close to you, runs strongly throughout.  At the same time, the harsh brutalities of war are showcased.  And the whole thing is held together with a detective-style thread of discovery.  So much for neat little boxes.

But actually, you don't need to be able to put something in a box to enjoy it.  I was swept away into Daniel's world and found myself wanting to know the same things he longed to discover.  That's not to say that it didn't annoy me at times.  In a first-person situation it's only natural to get frustrated with the narrator, and occasionally to want to bash some sense into them.  It's the things like that which make a good book a good book.  If you don't care enough to feel then something has gone wrong.

I like the idea of a book making such an impact in your life.  Sure, I would hope for a little less pain than was inflicted on Daniel.  A good book should make you think.  If you feel the same after reading as you did before then it seems questionable how highly you really rated it.  It's fair to say that this one made me think, and I'm placing it in the category of books that I would recommend.