Daniel is 10 years old when his father takes him to "The Cemetery of Forgotten Books" in the summer of 1945 in Barcelona. His father tells him "Every book, every volume you see here, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it...Every book you see here has been somebody's best friend."
The first time someone visits The Cemetery of Forgotten Books "he must choose a book, whichever he wants, and adopt it, making sure that it will never disappear, that it will always stay alive." Daniel selects "The Shadow of the Wind" by Julian Carax. He is captivated by the book and Carax's writing. When he attempts to find more books by Carax and to learn more about the author himself, Daniel discovers that little is known about Carax and that someone is systematically destroying every copy of every book he wrote. The copy he possesses may be the only book by Carax in existence.
Daniel sets out to solve the mystery of Julian Carax's life and the mysterious man who wishes to destroy his work. Every answer he finds leads to more questions. The book spans a period of ten years in Daniel's life. It goes back and forth in time as he traces Julian Carax and those who knew him. At times Daniel's life seems to be eerily similar to Carax's own life.
I enjoyed this book. It moves at a fairly slow pace with many unexpected twists and turns. It's long, at nearly 500 pages, but overall I would recommend it.
