 |
|
| Carlos Ruiz Zafón | |
Carlos Ruiz Zafón, whose novel The Shadow of the Wind "became one of the best-selling Spanish books of all time," died June 19, the New York Times reported. He was 55. Published in 2001, The Shadow of the Wind was translated into dozens of languages and has sold more than 15 million copies worldwide. Miguel de Cervantes's Don Quixote is the only Spanish novel that has sold more copies, according to his publisher, Planeta.
Ruiz Zafón's debut novel, The Prince of Mist (1993), was written for a teenage audience and won him the first of many literary awards. In an essay on his website, he observed: "I have written for young readers, for the movies, for so-called adults; but mostly for people who like to read and to plunge into a good story. I do not write for myself, but for other people. Real people. For you.... I became a writer, a teller of tales, because otherwise I would have died, or worse."
The Shadow of the Wind was the first title in a four-part project called "The Cemetery of Forgotten Books," which also included The Angel's Game (2008), The Prisoner of Heaven (2011) and The Labyrinth of Spirits (2017).
His literary agent, Antonia Kerrigan, said his long fight against colon cancer cut short his plans to write more novels, as well as film scripts. Recalling her first impressions of The Shadow of the Wind, she noted: "Carlos had been very successful with his young-adult books, and he had no real need to switch to an adult novel. But authors sometimes want to enlarge their vision of the world, and he clearly felt the time had come for him to do just that."
Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez of Spain paid homage on Twitter to Ruiz Zafón, describing him as "one of the most read and admired Spanish authors worldwide," adding: "Thank you for letting us travel through your stories."
Calling him "one of the best contemporary novelists," Planeta quoted from his most famous work: "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." The Guardian also noted that his British publisher, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, said it was "deeply saddened to hear of Carlos' passing."