This week’s reading really caught my attention as I’m a big fan of thriller movies and books, I was interested to check out Ricardo Piglia’s “Money to Burn” based on the real 1965 bank heist in Buenos Aires. While I expected a classic crime story, Piglia took the novel in some thought-provoking directions I didn’t anticipate.

The book follows a group of robbers with very different personalities and backgrounds – from drug addicts like Twisty Bazan to intellectuals gone rogue like Mad Malito. But the heart of the story is the bond between Kid Brignone, who left his privileged upbringing for crime, and the troubled Blond Gaucho Dorda. Their contrasting paths yet profound connection form the core narrative.

It was hard for me to fully empathize with the characters’ criminal actions at times. However, Piglia does an interesting job of blurring the moral lines between who is truly innocent or guilty. For example, the scene where Commissioner Silva brutally tortures the underage Blanca Galeano to get information was very disturbing to me as it exposed the abusive tactics normalized within law enforcement. Piglia provides nuanced psychological portraits of complex figures like Dorda – a paranoid man who hears voices and has faced sexual assault in prison, fueling his resentment of corrupt police. The author tries to focus on the troubled backgrounds and societal neglect that can contribute to criminality. While I appreciated the author’s skill in blending gritty crime storytelling with factual research, the issue of constant sexist overtones portraying women as nothing more than disposable objects for the male characters’ depravity did not sit well with me.

One theme that really resonated with me in “Money to Burn” was its commentary on society’s fixation with wealth and capitalism. When the gang burns the heisted cash, it feels like such a pointed rejection of the material values society constantly reinforces. For outcasts like Dorda who never benefited from the system, destroying something that most people would sacrifice so much for was an act of personal liberation from money’s control over our daily lives. It reminded me that at the end of the day, money is just an imaginary thing made by humans, something that we’ve allowed to dictate so much of how we think and behave. It made me reflect on how obsessed our culture is with the pursuit of riches rather than more fundamental characteristic needs like dignity, purpose and community. Piglia used an anarchic criminal act to issue a sobering wake-up call about our misguided priorities.

Discussion Question: Did the book change how you view the role of money and capitalism in society?