I absolutely DESPISED this book,  “Money to Burn” by Ricardo Piglia. It was a difficult read with the characters being all over the place with their odd descriptions. Needless to say this book had more action and crime than the other books, although the amount of vulgar words was insane. The next time I force myself to read this book again (never), I’ll need to take a shot of hot sauces that go up a level of intensity, as shown on the “Hot Ones” series. I absolutely tried to like some of the characters because of their ‘voices’ in their head, wanting to escape to open their Argentinian restaurant, or whatever.

Do I really care though? Good job at justifying robbery (if you’ve forgotten, an illegal crime). 

I’ll give a brief summary of who this story consists of: a group of criminals who did an armed bank robbery in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Their names being Malito, the Crow, the Kid (Brignone), the Blond Gaucho (Dorda), Twisty Bazan and Nando. Likely more but these are the people I managed to catch while reading.

Then there were characters like Blanca (the Girl), an overly sexualized 16 year old girl in the book. That is later beaten up by the police to get information. She was the girlfriend of Crow Mereles, this weird drug and sex addict (isn’t that every character in this book). The Girl is also shared amongst all these men. This book is so uncomfy to read. 

Dorda and Brignone are the ‘twins.’ Similarly to Mereles, Dorda is said to be a psychotic killer, according to his mother who saw him with such evil intentions as a child, has a drug obsession too, and he hears women’s voices in his head. In many ways, those voices can suggest Dorda’s gender conflicts, the sexual assault he faced in jail, or it may just be the drugs. Brignone has some deeply psychological issues too with young girls. I actually wanted to gag with the way he would describe how inappropriately he’d think about girls. Those who read those specific pages, know. 

I think many people may think of this passage to feel a little bad for the twins especially:

‘Those who fled’ (said Commissioner Silva, speaking off there cord) ‘are dangerous individuals, antisocial elements, homosexuals and drug addicts,’ to which the Chief of Police added, […] they’re common criminals, psychopaths and murderers with extensive police records (72). 

Although, they’re so messed up in the head that I literally don’t feel an ounce of sadness for them. 

Nando this big man boss and Malito the true boss and mastermind of them all, yes are horrible people but the rest of the male characters are just as worse. Malito is a silly little traitor ONLY because someone had to do it, sorry 🙁

The following text sums up his stupidity:

“Malito was the boss and had made his plans and prepared his contacts with politicians and the police who furnished him with data, maps, details and to whom, in return, he would give half of the proceeds” (4) LOL BE SO FR. 

The fact that this story was based on a true story is insane, because why is everyone trying to escape jail. Maybe you deserve it one way or another? Haha. Then, Piglia, the author of the book, was sued because of Twisty Bazan’s character by his real life daughter. Apparently he wasn’t a hard core euphoric drug user? I don’t believe that haha. These people are crazy. I think the people you surround yourself with have an indirect role in molding who you are and will be.  Also, all this because of money? Like damn you are SO out of touch with what makes life, a LIFE worth living. Only at the end of the book, when especially Brignone dies is when they realize the riches of life are the relationships, friendships, love, family, and loyalty that matters. I guess burn the money.

Question: Who was your favorite character in this book? (bold of me to ask this)