“This is a world of shadows, Daniel, and magic is a rare asset.”
I used to be an avid consumer of Nancy Drew, Hardy Boys and the Enid Blyton mysteries. And as I grew up I lost the habit of reading. Embroiled in the everyday monotony of recent times, I decided to read and live vicariously through the minds of others.
Over the past few months, I read quite a few enchanting books, but there is a book that I cannot wait to read again. The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, by the end of which I couldn’t help but feel like I had run through the streets of post-war Barcelona, with mysteries unimagined and a mission finally come to fruition.
It doesn’t matter how or why you picked it, each book that you truly enjoy transforms who you are, even if by the slightest bit. It transforms how you see yourself and the world around you, even if for a little while.
You spend time getting to know the people in the story, as you would any other person in real life. You begin to see the world, the world they so passionately describe to you with a childlike fantasy.
As things begin to happen you form your judgements and hold your reservations about the lives of these people you just met. You then delve into their minds and see things as they would. Feel things as they would. You sympathize with the people who reside solely in those pages and your mind.
You merge into a completely strange culture as if you were born into it. You begin to see what a different place the world is for everyone. Without moving a toe, you walk the streets of a city miles away and live in a time forgotten.
You see the wreckage of war, the mesmerizing coastlines, the cruelty of the evil and the kindness of love. You see determination and sorrow, wins and losses, joy and folly. Your existent troubles, dwarfed against these, are forgotten, just for a while. All the while sitting on your couch.
Be it a war-torn country or a world of gods, a heartbroken man or a curious child, the story always picks on a direction and is certain to follow it. It always ends somewhere. And we get to see the end. We get to be in the know.
When the book was over, a mix of happiness, relief and bittersweet nostalgia surged through my mind when in reality nothing had changed in my own life.
“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 time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens.” — The Shadow of the Wind, Carlos Ruiz Zafon.
At times like these, when control over our lives is rare, we find comfort in the pages of the books that transport us into these fantastic worlds designed by other minds. The subtle perfection with which these worlds are designed assures us of a story that doesn’t change, no matter how many times you experience it. These unchanging worlds are a perfect escape.
And if you don’t read the book, well maybe you can just watch the movie. But I can’t say it would be the same. 🙌
