discussion questions - the shadow of the wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

1. Why do you think Daniel is so determined to find out what happened to enigmatic author Julian Carax? What motivates and drives him to continue when he encounters so many stumbling blocks?

2. How do you think Daniel and Julian are similar? How are they different?

3. Julián Carax's and Daniel's lives follow very similar trajectories. Yet one ends in tragedy, the other in happiness. What similarities are there between the paths they take? What are the differences that allow Daniel to avoid tragedy?

4. What does Fermin Romero de Torres add or take away to the story and Daniel’s quest for the truth? Is he an asset or complicating Daniel’s mission?

5. Most of the women Daniel encounters are mysterious and not what they seem. Clara, Bea, Nuria, Daniel’s mother, Penelope. How do they impact his quest and the man he’s turning into?

6. What roles do Daniel's parents play in this story?

7. Good vs. evil is a prominent theme in the book. Fermin vs. Fumero. Daniel vs. Lain;

‐ What did you think of the threatening devil‐like characters in the novel – Lain Coubert, and Fumero, will good prevail when the “evil” characters are so strong and intimidating?

‐ Did you think the Lain Coubert character was a manifestation of the theme of magical realism in the book? Is he real or a figment of Daniel’s imagination? Is he the Devil? Does that make Daniel the Christ‐like figure?

‐ What did you think of Zacarias, the creature who appears in Jacinta’s dreams?

8. The Shadow of The Wind begins just six years after the Civil War.

‐ What impression did you gain on Franco’s Spain from the book?

‐ How important is the novel’s setting?

‐ Why do you think Zafon chose to set it at this point in Spanish history?

9. What does the title of the book refer to? What is “The Shadow of the Wind?”

10. “Books are mirrors: you only see in them what you already have inside you.” –Julian Carax

‐ Do you agree with Carax’s statement to Jorge Aldaya?

‐ What did The Shadow of the Wind show Daniel about himself?

‐ In what ways was this your experience while reading The Shadow of the Wind?

‐ What else is Ruiz Zafón trying to say about books in general through his novel?

11. Zafon writes “…few things leave a deeper mark on a reader than the first book that finds its way into his heart. Those first images, the echo of words we think we have left behind, accompany is throughout our lives and sculpt a palace in our memory to which, sooner or later – no matter how many books we read, how many worlds we discover, or how much we learn or forget – we will return.”

‐ What was the first book that left its deep mark on you? What books have you re‐read?