TEHRAN - A Persian translation of Spanish writer Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s bestselling novel “Shadow of the Wind”, translated by Ali Sanavi, has arrived in Iranian bookstores.

The book has been published by Nimaj, a publishing house based in Tehran.

Sanavi has previously rendered works by renowned writers into Persian. His translations have always been acclaimed by his readers. 

“If the translator cannot convey the beauty of the concept, he loses the reader as well as the text,” Sanavi has said earlier. 

Translated into 20 other languages worldwide, “Shadow of the Wind” was originally published in 2001 and sold over a million copies in the UK after it was translated into English by Lucia Graves in 2004. 

Ruiz Zafón was born in the city of Barcelona in 1964 and is the winner of several book awards and prizes.

His first novel was “El Principe de la Niebla” in 1993 that won the Edebe literary prize for young adult fiction, and was later published in English as “The Prince of Mist” in 2010.

Ruiz Zafón authored several other young adult novels from 1994 to 1999, including “El Palacio de la Medianoche”, “Las Luces de Septiembre” and “Marina”.

He published “La Sombra del Viento” (“Shadow of the Wind”) as his first adult novel in 2001, and its first English translation was published in 2004, selling millions of copies worldwide since its publication as well as winning numerous international awards. 

Often labeled the “story of a book within a book,” the novel’s narrative revolves around Daniel, the son of a book dealer who discovers that all the works of a certain author have been destroyed, with only one book remaining in his possession. The story then evolves into a tale of murder and unsuccessful love unveiling the dark side of the city of Barcelona. 

Photo: Front cover of the Persian translation of Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s novel “Shadow of the Wind”.

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