#the shadow of the wind

[clockworkbee]

[aseaofquotes]

Carlos Ruiz Zafon, The Shadow of the Wind

[ninadove]

La Sombra del Viento fandom (aka @theuselesshistoryweeb and myself), come get your traumatised character foils! 📚🔥

I’M ACTUALLY REALLY PROUD OF THIS LITTLE THING. I first drafted it in English, then realised 80% of the way through that something wasn’t working out and decided to slap some Spanish in there. Baby’s first poem in her third language… Woah…

A huge thank you to @lesbitorte for kindly checking the grammar and spelling! ❤️

Alt text and translation below:

🇪🇸 ESPAÑOL 🇪🇸

JULIÁN:

Eres

parte de mí,

un sueño imprudente

qué creía quemado.

Mirándote,

lo que podría haber sido

se dispara como agujas

sobre nuestras cabezas

Y grito:

¡Se parece a mí,

el mar y el fuego,

el Edén y los desagües

tallados en sus huesos!

La quiero como

quieres.

DANIEL:

Lo que buscaba,

lo descubrí en

un velo de páginas

como un sudario.

Me atormenta

un nombre vacío;

una ala azul pálido

cae como neblina

sobre su cara.

¿Me parezco a ella?

Esta ciudad que alberga

el amor y el odio,

el peso de la guerra,

me interroga:

¿Debería

regresar

a sus entrañas?

JUNTOS:

Eres // lo que buscaba,

parte de mí. // Lo descubrí en

un sueño imprudente, // un velo de páginas

que creía quemado // como un sudario.

Mirándote, // me atormenta

lo que podría haber sido // un nombre vacío;

una ala azul pálido

se dispara como agujas, // cae como neblina

sobre nuestras cabezas — // sobre su cara.

Y grito: // ¿Me parezco a ella?

¡Se parece a mí, // esta ciudad que alberga

el mar y el fuego, // el amor y el odio,

el Edén y los desagües — // el peso de la guerra

tallado en sus huesos! // Me interroga:

¿La quiero como // debería?

¿Quieres // regresar

a sus entrañas?

🇬🇧 ENGLISH 🇬🇧

JULIÁN:

You are

a part of me,

a careless dream

I thought I’d burnt.

Looking at you,

what could have been

rises like spires

over our heads

And I scream:

“She looks like me!”

Ocean and fire,

Eden and sewer filth

carved in her bones —

I love her

like you love.

DANIEL:

What I’ve been looking for,

I discovered in

a veil of pages

like a shroud

I am haunted by

an empty name;

a pale blue wing

falls like fog

over her face.

Do I look like her?

This city that shelters

love and hatred,

the weight of war —

it makes me wonder:

Should I

return

to her womb?

BOTH:

You are // what I’ve been looking for,

a part of me. // I learnt so in

a careless dream, // a veil of pages

I thought had burnt // like a shroud.

Looking at you, // I am haunted by

what could have been // an empty name;

a pale blue wing

rises like spires, // falls like fog

over our heads — // over her face.

And I scream: // “Do I look like her?

She looks like me, // this city that shelters

ocean and fire, // love and hatred,

Eden and sewer filth // — the weight of war

carved in her bones!” // It demands to know:

Do I love her // like I should?

Do you want // to return

To her entrails?

BONUS COMMENTARY

If you’ve made it this far, you’ve probably noticed that there are little nuances in the Spanish version that called for vocabulary variations in the translation! For instance, in Daniel’s part, “entrañas” refers to his mother’s womb; but in the overarching poem, I used “entrails” because I was talking about Barcelona itself and wanted to highlight the ambiguity of its entrails’ nature — a womb that gives birth, or a stomach that devours and vomits?

Speaking of Barcelona — the original English draft didn’t make it clear enough that the city itself was the topic of the overarching poem, rather than a hypothetical female character/weird mix of Penélope and Daniel’s mum (possibly even Bea…?). Spanish’s gendered pronouns came in really handy here!

If you haven’t already, go read La Sombra del Viento (The Shadow of the Wind) by Carlos Ruiz Zafón — it’s great! 📚🔥

[the-dose-makes-the-poison]

The female heart is a labyrinth of subtleties, too challenging for the uncouth mind of the male racketeer. If you really want to possess a woman, you must think like her, and the first thing to do is to win over her soul. The rest, that sweet, soft wrapping that steals away your senses and your virtue, is a bonus.

Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Shadow of the Wind

[home-ward]

dark spring days // from my camera roll

ig: hmmurraywriting

[yoestuveaquiunavezfrases21]

1852- Los libros son espejos: sólo se ve en ellos lo que uno ya lleva dentro.

(La sombra del viento - Carlos Ruiz Zafón)

[themelodyofspring]

JOMP Book Photo Challenge

May 05, 2025 - Rainy Day ☔

[bookworm-returning]

Welcome to the cemetery of forgotten books. (…) This is a place of mystery, a sanctuary. Every book, every volume you see here, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and those who read it and lived and dreamed with it. Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens. (…) When a library disappears, or a bookshop closes down, when a book is consigned to oblivion, those of us who know this place, its guardians, make sure that it gets here. In this place, books no longer remembered by anyone, books that are lost in time, live forever, waiting for the day when they will reach a new readers hands. In the shop we buy and sell them, but in truth books have no owner. Every book you see here has been somebody’s best friend. Now they only have us. Do you think you’ll be able to keep such a secret?

The shadow of the wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafón

[ijustkindalikebooks]

“Few things leave a deeper mark on the reader, than the first book that finds its way to his heart.” ― Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Shadow of the Wind.

[cossmos-library]

books i read in 2024 - the shadow of the wind by carlos ruiz zafón // la sombra del viento

[theuselesshistoryweeb]

being able to walk the same steps Julian Carax and Daniel Sempere did is actually the most religious experience I’ve been through

making a pilgrimage and going to sob hysterically in front of 32 Avinguda Tibidabo

[readingoals]

This is one of my all time fave books and I had such a great time re-reading it. It'd been a while since I last picked it up and I'm so glad I did. Definitely feel like I need to give the rest of a series another go too.

[ninadove]

2024 reading review 📚

2024 was the year I really got back into reading, and my beloved @pegasusdrawnchariots asked me to share the highlights! Behold my treasures:

READ:

East of Eden by John Steinbeck

In his journal, Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck called East of Eden “the first book,” and indeed it has the primordial power and simplicity of myth. Set in the rich farmland of California’s Salinas Valley, this sprawling and often brutal novel follows the intertwined destinies of two families—the Trasks and the Hamiltons—whose generations helplessly reenact the fall of Adam and Eve and the poisonous rivalry of Cain and Abel.

MY PRECIOUS. THIS ONE. THIS IS THE ONE. I had already seen and appreciated the 1955 movie, so I was curious to learn more, and BOY AM I GLAD I DID!!!!!

East of Eden has everything: tragic twins, a touching romance that does not overtake the plot, a smart yet compassionate look at pre-WWI America, generational trauma… But at its core, it is a story about humanity’s struggle to do good, and its message of hope is delivered masterfully.

I have to disagree with Goodreads’ summary: East of Eden is not a brutal story — on the contrary, it is filled with infinite tenderness and forgiveness for mankind. I would go as far as to say it is my favourite novel as of yet. GO READ IT GRRGRRGRR 🌱

Dracula by Bram Stoker

When Jonathan Harker visits Transylvania to help Count Dracula with the purchase of a London house, he makes a series of horrific discoveries about his client. Soon afterwards, various bizarre incidents unfold in England: an apparently unmanned ship is wrecked off the coast of Whitby; a young woman discovers strange puncture marks on her neck; and the inmate of a lunatic asylum raves about the 'Master' and his imminent arrival.

2024 was the year I finally accompanied my good friend Jonathan on his completely normal business trip! I was warned certain passages hadn’t aged very well, but I actually found the novel very progressive for its time.

More than a story about vampires, Dracula is a story about humanity (because I have a type, apparently). There is so much love and light in these pages and a guy who eats flies and also a cowboy. Everyone who interacted with my little liveread was so kind! 🖤🦇

Le Comte de Monte-Cristo by Alexandre Dumas and Auguste Maquet

Falsely accused of treason, the young sailor Edmond Dantès is arrested on his wedding day and imprisoned on an island fortress. After years of solitary confinement in a cramped, dank dungeon, he befriends an Italian prisoner who, with his dying breath, reveals the location of a vast treasure on the island of Monte-Cristo. Dantès stages a daring and dramatic escape, retrieves this fabulous fortune, and returns to France to exact revenge on his enemies, posing as the Count of Monte-Cristo.

If there’s one thing I love almost as much as stories about the beauty of humanity, it’s stories about evil (?) geniuses and revenge. Though I suppose this is also a story about the beauty of humanity, in a sense... Are all stories really about the beauty of humanity? I want 24 essays on my desk by Monday.

Anyway, Pegasus did a wonderful job of selling it to me and it did not disappoint. Every chapter is crazier than the one that came before! You’ll want to take notes, because the Count does not believe in taking the easy route when you could involve poison and a lasso and masks and the telegraph and an actual princess and a dead baby who isn’t actually dead. Also, there are lesbians in there! 🌊

RE-READ:

Cyrano de Bergerac by Edmond Rostand

Pegasus wrote a wonderful synopsis and analysis here — go read it❣️

Re-reading this play healed something in me… It made me want more art, more emotion, more beautiful sights, more everything! Call me Christian the way I can’t put this feeling into words, but trust me, you’ll understand when you read it.

So many new aspects and themes and characters and relationships caught my eye this time around! Everything about this play is beautiful! And and and!!! It’s such a beautiful love letter (HA) to the French language! What’s not to love?

It also brought me my wonderful friend @pegasusdrawnchariots and made me discover @bright-thehawksflight’s amazing fics… The most wonderful and talented people gravitate around this play, and for good reason! Quel panache! 💌

La Sombra del Viento by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Barcelona, 1945: A city slowly heals from its war wounds, and Daniel, an antiquarian book dealer's son who mourns the loss of his mother, finds solace in a mysterious book entitled The Shadow of the Wind, by one Julián Carax. But when he sets out to find the author's other works, he makes a shocking discovery: someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book Carax has written. In fact, Daniel may have the last of Carax's books in existence. Soon Daniel's seemingly innocent quest opens a door into one of Barcelona's darkest secrets — an epic story of murder, madness, and doomed love.

I can’t believe Goodreads forgot the accent on Julián’s name… Must I do everything in this house…

I first read La Sombra del Viento in French when I was 15 or so, but reordered it in its original Spanish in anticipation of my holidays (I got stranded in Bilbao overnight because of the worldwide Microsoft outage! How fun!). Spoiler alert: I loved it as much as I did the first time!

This story will take you by surprise, starting with the magic and mystery of a YA-novel only to take a drastic turn towards gothic horror. Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s prose is so so so very pretty and will make you fall in love with the wonderful yet monstrous city that is Barcelona.

I’m now re-reading the second tome of the series (separate story in the same universe) and thoroughly enjoying myself. In fact, I shall return to its pages as soon as I am done with this post! 💙📚🔥

I’m especially curious to know what @dragongutsixofficial, @theuselesshistoryweeb and @bright-thehawksflight have been reading this year (but no pressure)! And if you want to talk about books, consider yourself tagged! ❤️

[the-dose-makes-the-poison]

Destiny is usually just around the corner. Like a thief, a hooker, or a lottery vendor: its three most common personifications. But what destiny does not do is home visits. You have to go for it.

Carlos Ruiz Zafón, The Shadow of the Wind

[marzipanandminutiae]

The fact that I will never read The Red House by Julián Carax is homophobic

[thecreatureoftheshadows]

“I was raised among books, making invisible friends in pages that seemed cast from dust and whose smell I carry on my hands to this day. ”

~ The Shadow of the Wind | Carlos Ruiz Zafon