Momster Bookworm

Exquisitely written! Damnation and salvation inexorably interwoven. Dark, yet redemptive. Jekyll and Hyde. Translated from Spanish, this is the prequel to 'The Shadow Of The Wind' (which has an earlier publication date). It was about half a dozen years ago, at a book fair, a stranger who was browsing at the same table I was, recommended this author to me. I never got around to reading any of the works until now. For the most part, I feel that the book is metaphorical and archetypal. I’ve finished reading, but I haven’t fully digested it. Perhaps, I would get a clearer picture after reading the subsequent books (‘The Prisoner of Heaven’ is the third book). One could dissect and discuss the spiritual, philosophical, metaphysical, and other ‘-cals’ to no end – a tantalizing subject for a book club. But do not let this deter you from reading it, even if none of these are your interests – this is still a stellar masterpiece (superlative much?).

A passage from the book: “Every book, every volume you see, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and the soul of 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.” This is true of all books, and the ones with stronger souls come to be known as classics, and in my perception, this book is one in the making.