Honestly, this book feels pretty out of place in a romance studies class. The book is based on a real bank robbery and mostly revolves around crime, violence, and a police standoff, so at first glance it doesn’t really feel like a “romance” story at all. But the more I read, the more it started to make sense why this book might appear in a class like this.
The novel follows a group of criminals who rob a truck carrying a huge amount of money and then, they escape to Montevideo. At first, everything seems to be going well. However, eventually the police begin closing in and the group ends up trapped in an apartment while officers surround the building. From this point, the story begins focusing on the tension and paranoia between the characters as they slowly realize their chances of escaping are getting smaller.
One interesting thing about this novel is that it is based on a real crime from 1965. Piglia tries to stay as close to the truth as possible (although he does make up almost all of the backstory for his characters). He spends a lot of time exploring the personalities and psychology of the criminals themselves. The two main characters, often called “the twins,” are especially fascinating. They aren’t actually related, but their relationship is intense and they are almost inseparable. The novel spends a lot of time showing how emotionally dependent they are on each other. I think their relationship almost becomes the closest thing this novel has to a love story. This also adds another layer to the story beyond just the crime.
The book also feels very chaotic. The story moves through different moments and perspectives and makes the whole situation seem very tense and unstable. This style mirrors exactly what the characters are feeling as they are constantly under pressure and unsure of what will happen next. I really liked this style because the chaos made me feel involved in the story and I found myself wondering what I would do in their situation.
The ending was WILD to me. They started burning the stolen money which is diabolical because the whole point of the story was to get rich. At first, I was confused but it actually makes a lot of sense. They knew they would get caught so they went about it thinking, “if I can’t have this money, then no one can.”
At first, Money to Burn did feel kinda out of place in this class but the novel is actually deeply focused on relationships. The intense bond between the Kid and Dorda becomes the emotional centre of the story. The tragic ending also reinforces how inseparable they were. Money to Burn may have been a crime novel, but overall it shows how powerful human connections can be, especially in the middle of violence and chaos.
Discussion question: How does the relationship between the Kid and Dorda change the way we see them as criminals? Does their bond make them more sympathetic?
2 replies on “wait… this counts as romance?”
“This style mirrors exactly what the characters are feeling as they are constantly under pressure and unsure of what will happen next. I really liked this style because the chaos made me feel involved in the story and I found myself wondering what I would do in their situation.”
Totally, remember that Literature is not only about the What but also about the how; so sometimes there are resemblances between form and content.
Please share your ideas on class.
See you tomorrow.
Julián.
I completely agree with your whole review. I also thought it was a weird movie, thoroughly enjoyed it, and thought the ending was crazy. I think the relationship does make them much more sympathetic. It’s with any media where we follow a character that does a bad thing, we justify their actions by their own justification. (eg. breaking bad or dexter) We cheer for them because they are the protagonists, but from other perspectives, they are seen as money burning criminals.