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Quote by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Work

The Shadow Of The Wind

In this enthralling tale, a young orphan named Daniel is captivated by a mysterious library and its enigmatic owner, a blind man known only as the Shadow of the Wind. As Daniel grows up, he becomes increasingly fascinated by the library's collection of forbidden books, each one seemingly tied to a tragic fate. His quest to uncover the truth about these books and the shadowy figure who owns them leads him on a perilous journey through the tumultuous landscape of post-Civil War Spain, filled with intrigue, romance, and danger. more

Author

Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Carlos Ruiz Zafon

Carlos Ruiz Zafón, born on September 25, 1964, is a renowned Spanish novelist known for his unique literary style and profound depiction of Barcelona. more

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“I sink down into my body as into a swamp, fenland, where only I know the footing…. I’m a cloud, congealed around a central object, the shape of a pear, which is hard and more real than I am and glows red within its translucent wrapping. Inside it is a space, huge as the sky at night and dark and curved like that, though black-red rather than black.”

“The neo-conservatives, who are closely linked to the neo-corporatists, are rather different. They claim to be conservatives, when everything they stand for is a rejection of conservatism. They claim to present an alternate social model, when they are little more than the courtiers of the corporatist movement. Their agitation is filled with the bitterness and cynicism typical of courtiers who scramble for crumbs at the banquet tables of real power, but are always denied a proper chair.”

“Anyone too undisciplined, too self-righteous or too self-centered to live in the world as it is has a tendency to idealize a world which ought to be. But no matter what political or religious direction such idealists choose, their visions always share one telling characteristic: in their utopias, heavens or brave new worlds, their greatest personal weakness suddenly appears to be a strength.”

“Now listen to the first three aims of the corporatist movement in Germany, Italy and France during the 1920s. These were developed by the people who went on to become part of the Fascist experience: (1) shift power directly to economic and social interest groups; (2) push entrepreneurial initiative in areas normally reserved for public bodies; (3) obliterate the boundaries between public and private interest -- that is, challenge the idea of the public interest. This sounds like the official program of most contemporary Western governments.”

“The city seen from the Queensboro Bridge is always the city seen for the first time, in its first wild promise of all the mystery and the beauty in the world.”