The first thought I literally had upon picking up this book was “hey. We’ve got the first coming of age novel in a long while!” Then I started reading Plata Quemada (written by Ricardo Piglia), and quickly realized that this has to be one of the most action-packed books I’ve ever read.
To summarize, this story starts with a bank robbery in Buenos Aires full of action and ends with a shootout between cocaine-fuelled bandits and hundreds of policemen in Uruguay. Oh, did I mention cocaine here? The robbers had taken the cocaine before and during the heist while gunning down bank tellers, guards, police, and innocent pedestrians before making their getaway. So this is already setting up for us to know that we are not looking from the perspective of an innocent human this time.
The language and writing is very dense and a little hard to understand at times, but it was very interesting to see how Brignone and Dorda’s relationship developed over time.
And yet, I found the characters easy to root for despite their questionable morals (especially since they are in love with each other and struggle with internalized homophobia). It was also worth noting that this had taken me back to my initial reading of “El Juguete Rabioso” (Arlt), which was an earlier reading done many weeks ago at this point. The viewpoint character was also morally grey considering his involvement in thievery and jaded experiences while growing up.
Upon becoming aware of the fact that the plot was based off of a crime that actually happened in real life, I remember immediately immediately going into a deep rabbit hole online reading articles that talked about the robbery this book was inspired by.
The point where the robbers start burning the money also stood out to me, since this is the point where they believed if they can’t keep the money, then no one can. This causes the crowd’s opinion to completely turn against them, unwilling to watch the prospect of thousands of dollars being destroyed right before their very eyes. If the money was the sole reason for all the murders they had done, and if the money they did the murders for was burning in front of them, then the characters had to be viewed as completely unredeemable.
Yet, the concept of money is neutral in all of this. Its symbolism only depends on how it’s utilized in the first place.
…When did we as a society start prioritizing money over the value of a human life? And what should truly be held more in value: money or morals? And how do you interpret the meaning of money in this novel?
4 Comments
I also went online to see articles based on this robbery because I was really fascinated by it. Your perspective was different and helped me understand the book in another way. Thank You!
Living in this modern society, we do have to face some realistic problems. Money is absolutely indispensable as a necessity for human survival. In my opinion, if the problem of food and clothing can not be properly disposed of, then the pursuit of spiritual and moral dimensions is even more worthless.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I didn’t think of following up on the true story after the novel, but now I definitely will. As for your question, living without money in today’s modern world is impossible. In this particular novel, money is a symbol of survival, it provides people with food, shelter, and all other necessities. So when it was all burned, it was like the burning of lives it could’ve provided.
Arella, I’m curious when you realized it was based on real life! I’m wondering if you think there is any other reading of the burning of the money other than the one the book gives us of them “unredeemable.” D you think we view money differently thann the novel did?
Thanks for your comment!
– Tesi