The Shadow of the Wind

Last week we went to A Different Bookstore in Serendra. As soon as the door opened, a male clerk greeted us and said, "I was in Eastwood before". The face wasn't familiar but he attended to us all the way. He suggested a book The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, saying it's a hard-to-put down book. He had read it, he said. As The Kite Runner was beside his recommendation, I asked what he thought of it. He said it was good, better than the movie which he said failed to capture the characterization. That's one plus point of A Different Bookstore. Most, if not all, of its clerks are readers. In fact, the Eastwood branch has this blackboard where the names of the clerks are written and underneath, their favorite books respectively. Galing.

I bought the book and am halfway through. So many distractions keep me from finishing it one sitting. It's ok. Blurb at the back cover says it is reminiscent of Umberto Eco's work, and those of Gabriel Garcia Marquez's and Jorge Luis Borges. OF these three authors, I've only read UE, so I can't comment on the other two. I guess it is similar to UE's in the manner of setting, plot and style. As to who is the better writer, I don't think I am in a position to comment. To my mind, it is not literature in the sense that it might become a classic. I'm more inclined to compare it, in fact, to Dan Brown's style. But I'm no expert, so...