Let it shrivel up and burn -Money to Burn

 Hello everyone! I hope you guys have been enjoying the sun as much as I have. I actually took advantage of this weather and did most of my reading for this week's book Money to Burn by Piligia, outside. What a change of pace this was from our usual more mellow paced books. Now I noticed that unlike many of the blogs I’ve read, I actually did not really enjoy this book. So first let me start with the things I did like. For one, Piligia writes this book in a way that sees perspectives of multiple characters. For instance, we get a look at the bank employee’s life and his hidden motivations to steal the money before he gets killed by the gang. It really humanizes the story and makes you feel the impact of the actions of our gang of criminals even more. It was also really cool to learn that this book was based on a real bank Robbery in Buenos Aires in 1965. Looking back on the book, it makes sense because of all the details of specific streets and people that were named. I had fun trying to visualize the city and looking up the places mentioned when reading about the gang of criminals.

Speaking of the criminals in this story, this was where my taste for this book took a turn. This is definitely a more explicit book, dealing with heavy subject matters of violence, drug addiction, sexual assault, trauma and mental illness. I don’t really enjoy reading about heavy subject matter like this and I think because of that, I wasn't able to fully appreciate Piligia’s message about society. Honestly, when I was reading the Kids' heavy backstory and how he was assaulted by a hobo as a kid, I had to put the book down for a bit. Piligia really gets into the minds of these criminals and it made me confused on how I should feel (excellent writing on his part btw). Sometimes, I wasn’t sure if I should be empathetic to them because of their trauma. Then I remember that they are literal murderers. It was hard to remember sometimes that, Gaucho, for instance, murdered cats as a kid and is a psychopath who smiles when shooting people in the head. It's honestly insane to me that Pigilia was able to write such terrible people and still find a way to make them likeable. I also didn't enjoy how many of the female characters were portrayed, mostly as being “whores” or only being there for sexual purposes. I really hated at pg 54, Gaucho describing Crows 16 year old girlfriends reproductive anatomy. I did not need to read all that.  But I guess it reinforces the fact that they are not good people. To end on a positive note, this book was definitely fast paced and the plot was always engaging. It might have been uncomfortable but at least I wasn’t bored.


By the end of the book, how did you feel about the characters? Would you want them to get a diffrent ending, even after all the terrible things they did?

Comments

  1. Franchesca JolicoeurMarch 20, 2024 at 11:28 PM

    Hi Gabriella, great blog post! I definitely agree with your statement "It might have been uncomfortable but at least I wasn't bored." The story had a bunch of heavy themes, but it moved at a pace to keep me focused.

    Regarding your question, I think I have mixed feelings. It is complicated because they are all flawed characters, but their environment, history, and circumstances are all severe too. So we can feel empathy for them while we learn more. I think I wanted some of them to overcome/get some happy and healthy moments. Especially since the ending was not happy

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