When I started reading Money to Burn by Ricardo Piglia, I immediately felt like I had been dropped into the middle of a crime movie without any warning. There is no slow introduction, instead we are suddenly following criminals who are already deep into planning a robbery. Within the first few pages I was like okay… clearly we are not easing into this story.
The first characters we meet are known as “the twins,” which is already confusing because they are not actually twins at all. The narrator explains that “They are called the twins because they’re inseparable. But they aren’t brothers, nor do they even look like one another.” Honestly this detail immediately hooked me because it shows how weird and unconventional the characters in this world are. Their identities are not really about facts but about reputation and the roles they play in the group.
One thing that stood out to me while reading was how seriously these criminals treat the robbery. It is not chaotic at all in the planning stage. In fact, they treat it almost like a military operation. They carefully study the timing of the money transfer and the layout of the square. At one point the narrator explains that the money transfer only takes “seven minutes from when the money appeared in the doorway of the Bank to getting it loaded on to the station wagon.” Seven minutes!! Reading that made me stressed on their behalf because that is such a tiny window of time. One wrong move and the whole thing could completely fall apart.
Another thing I found really entertaining was how strange some of the characters are. Malito, who is basically the mastermind of the operation, is described as extremely intelligent but also kind of unhinged. For example, he constantly cleans his hands with alcohol because he believes that “every germ gets transmitted through the hands.” This is such a random but oddly funny detail. Imagine being in the middle of planning a huge robbery and the guy in charge is obsessively disinfecting his hands like he is in a hospital.
What I also noticed is that even though the gang thinks they have everything perfectly planned, the story already feels unstable. Witnesses later contradict each other, people are nervous, and everyone seems slightly paranoid. Even during the planning stage there is this sense that things could spiral out of control at any moment. Overall, Money to Burn feels chaotic in a way that actually makes the story more interesting. Even though the characters try to act like they have everything under control, it is pretty clear that the situation is way messier than they think. Watching everything slowly unravel is what makes the book so tense and honestly kind of addictive to read.
Discussion Question: Did the ending surprise you, or did you expect things to turn out that way?
3 replies on “This Is the Worst Group Project I’ve Ever Seen”
“What I also noticed is that even though the gang thinks they have everything perfectly planned, the story already feels unstable”
Interesting. There is an instability that affects the characters and the writing itself.
Share your ideas on class!
See you tomorrow.
Julián.
Hi I really like your blog post! I completely agree and I think that it is the way that Piglia narrated the whole heist in such a descriptive and logical manner which creates suspense and kept me hooked onto the plot. It’s funny because when I started reading I felt like I was reading a journalist’s report, and then later I found out Piglia self-inserted himself as the reporter on scene of the shootout. I also feel like the instability of the story and just the overall changing pace of the text kind of makes the main characters stand out by giving such as large contrast between the mess and them being calm and determined to carry out the operation.
Hi Keshia! I like how you pointed out that the robbery feels super organized at first, because that almost makes the later chaos feel even worse. Your point about the “twins” was also really interesting since it shows how identity in the novel is based more on image and group dynamics than actual truth.