Carlos Ruiz Zafón (Barcelona, 1964 - Los Angeles, 2020) was a Spanish novelist who wrote in Spanish and became one of the most widely read authors in his language of his generation. He is best known for The Shadow of the Wind, a work that blends gothic mystery, crime fiction and a deep affection for books, and his novels reached readers in dozens of countries.
He was educated by Jesuits at the Sant Ignasi school in Sarrià and enrolled in information sciences, but an offer to work in advertising arrived before he finished. He rose to creative director at the Barcelona office of McCann WorldGroup, and in 1992 he left advertising to devote himself to writing. His family had no literary tradition, yet he later recalled that his father considered reading very important.
His first novel, The Prince of Mist (1993), won the Edebé prize. With the money he moved to Los Angeles, a city that had fascinated him since childhood, and spent his early years there writing screenplays while continuing his books for young readers, including The Midnight Palace and Marina, which he regarded as his most personal. Cinema shaped his method, since he tended to picture his scenes almost as film shots. His first adult novel, The Shadow of the Wind, appeared in 2001, after he had been a finalist for the Fernando Lara prize the previous year. Its reception in Spain was slow at first, but over time it became a publishing phenomenon. Further volumes followed: The Angel's Game (2008), The Prisoner of Heaven (2011) and The Labyrinth of Spirits (2016), which together with the first book form The Cemetery of Forgotten Books. For years he refused to let The Shadow of the Wind be filmed, convinced that reading offered an experience no film could match.
He died of colon cancer in Los Angeles on 19 June 2020, aged 55, having been ill since 2018. His legacy rests mainly with his readers. His books have been translated into more than fifty languages, and many fans have come to Barcelona to walk the streets his novels describe, with their bookshops and secrets. For many readers, his work remains a reference point for mystery fiction that mixes suspense, memory and a love of literature.
Key works
- The Prince of Mist (1993): his first novel, which won the Edebé prize and opened the Mist Trilogy for young readers.
- Marina (1999): a young adult novel that the author regarded as the most personal of his books.
- The Shadow of the Wind (2001): his first adult novel, a gothic mystery about Daniel Sempere and his search for the man who destroyed the books of the writer Julián Carax.
- The Angel's Game (2008): a prequel set in Barcelona during the 1920s and 1930s, narrated by the young writer David Martín.
Curiosities
A finalist without an official mention
In 2000 *The Shadow of the Wind* was entered for the Fernando Lara prize. Thanks to the insistence of the jury member Terenci Moix, it became a finalist, though without an official mention.
A refusal to adapt for film
Despite many offers, Ruiz Zafón never allowed *The Shadow of the Wind* to be adapted for the screen. He considered a film version unnecessary.
Original Filopedia text based on Wikipedia (es) and Wikipedia (en) and Wikidata.