The August meeting of Low Fell Book Group took place at The Angel View Inn on a rainy evening on Thursday the 4th. We discussed The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.
Six members attended the meeting, but three had still not finished reading the novel, so it was quite awkward to fully discuss the book without revealing the plot and ending of this story.
Those who had read, and in some cases re-read, the book loved it and all agreed that it was well written and well translated. A “proper story “was Joan’s comment. Most of the group had also been lucky enough to visit Barcelona where the book is set and felt that helped them to feel part of the atmosphere, knowing some of the landmarks, streets etc. Although Joan did comment that the gothic nature of the book gave the impression that the city was dark and gloomy, this does not really reflect the essence of the city. Emma felt that this was imagery used to compliment the gothic style of the book.
The novel celebrates the idea of books and writing in itself and weaves multi-layered plots and sub plots with eternal themes of love, obsession, revenge and human flaws of passion and cruelty. Yet it has a lot of humour as well as the constant shadow of the Spanish Civil War as a contrast.
Several members commented on the sometimes confusing aspects of having multiple characters with similar names; however, Jeanette was at hand to suggest a remedy for such situations. She finds it helpful to make a separate list to refer to who is who when confronted with a lengthy cast. A suggestion many of the group felt they would use in the future.
The group did agree with Joanne’s comment that some of the confusion with a lot of the characters stemmed from the fact that there were too many names starting with F: Fermin, Fumero, Fortuny to name a few! My way of dealing with that dilemma is to assign a characteristic to the name e.g. Fermin = Funny, Fumero = nasty…whatever works for you.
It was an added bonus to receive Pauline’s comments via Joan. They were such a good contribution I have relayed them in full: “I enjoyed it, beautifully written, a meaty book [I love that description]. It required more attention than a bedtime read. It was confusing at times and I was glad to be able to look back via my e reader. I had a lot of empathy with the characters which drew me through some of the more complex bits. I also liked the humorous touches.” Pauline give it 3.5.
The meeting also carried over to a lovely social event. With the partaking of food, drink and the retelling of funny personal stories. It’s a real strength of our book club that it’s now also a great social event with new friendships being formed too.
I gave the book a score of 5; Joanne 4.5; and at the time of writing this we had not given it an overall sore as too many members had still not finished reading it, but safe to say it was a hit with those who had.
Next month’s selection is The Marble Collector by Cecelia Aherne. Meeting on Thursday September 1st. Venue to be confirmed.
