Money to Burn [Paperback]

Ricardo Piglia (Author), Amanda Hopkinson (Author, Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 2003

Love and betrayal complicate a robbery gone wrong in this edgy true-crime novel based on a 1965 Argentine bank robbery. There's the drama of the botched raid itself, followed by a blowout afterparty, an attempted double-crossing of the corrupt local authorities, and a final shootout where, as a last act of rebellion, the robbers burn all the loot.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Piglia, one of Argentina's best-known contemporary writers (Absent City; Artificial Respiration), again delivers his signature blend of noirish crime and social commentary in this provocative tale of a 1965 Buenos Aires bank robbery and its bloody aftermath, based on a real crime. The story is simple, but Piglia gives it depth by focusing on the sexed-up, drug-abusing, reckless robbers whose actions shocked Argentina. They are Dorda, the mentally unbalanced assassin; Brignone, the passionate youngster; Mereles, the shady ladies' man; and Malito, their compulsive boss. After stealing millions from the bank, the men, high on cocaine and self-congratulation, escape to a small hideout in Montevideo and await the return of their leader, stocking up on food, alcohol, drugs and weapons. Despite their eagerness to start a new life in New York City, they fall into a delirium of memories brought on by whiskey and sex. While they binge, 300 police officers follow a tip and surround their hideout along with TV crews and reporters. Heading the raid is Police Commissioner Silva, a dirty cop eager to cover up department scandals. A long, bloody, drug-fueled battle erupts between the reckless desperados and the officers, which becomes the source of Argentinean legend. By drawing on witness statements and police reports, Piglia proves that the bandits' raid was not just about the money; it was about freeing themselves from their old lives. The plotting is choppy, the ending predictable and many of the action sequences run out of gas, but Piglia's remarkably precise descriptions and feel for his characters keep the novel's engine churning.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Ricardo Piglia is Professor of Romance Literatures at Princeton University. Amanda Hopkinson is a Senior Research Fellow at Cardiff University. Her previous translations include Jose Saramago's Voyage to Portugal. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 200 pages
• Publisher: Granta Books (October 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1862075921
• ISBN-13: 978-1862075924
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,756,412 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Still Looking for a Really Good Translation, December 12, 2003

By 

"scriptor1" (Oro Valley, AZ United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Money to Burn (Paperback)

Make no mistake about it. This is a so-so translation of a truly fine work by Ricardo Piglia. Only those who are able to read the original in Spanish will appreciate my otherwise questionable rating of five stars.

In the first place, this is NOT a novel. It is a book written along the lines of Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood," an account of an actual crime using the perspective of motive and characterization as a basis for constructing not so much a narrative as an imaginative analysis of events.

For those who want an even more penetrating and dramatic version of the story, the film "Plata Quemada" is available on dvd. It recreates the original book in such a way as to emphasize the linear narrative elements generally absent in the printed account. Moreover, it features brilliant directing, acting, and cinematography together with an absolutely mesmerizing soundtrack.

Now, as to the present translation: it is workmanlike and literal. I cannot fault it in that regard, as it tries to make sense for the English-speaking audience of an original vernacular laden with "lunfardo" and "porteño" conceits that are utterly missing in standard dictionaries. For those of us whose Spanish is textbook with some few Mexican words, that is a necessary component in understanding the original. But I can assert unequivocally that the style, the flavor, and the underlying connotations of the original are simply not there. Additionally, it employs British rather than American equivalents of street slang and figures of speech that most American readers will just not get at all.

I realize that this is a critique rather than a review. The reader can find out what the "story" is all about by reading the canned reviews. Bank robberies and cops-and-robbers stories are pretty much all alike anyway. This one is different in that it centers on some very unusual characters, especially given the time (1965) of the action. While popular acceptance or even consideration of such things as widespread police corruption, drug use, gays, and uniquely Argentine history was rare at the time in our own society, our collective consciousness over the years has been invested with a deeper awareness of the human capacity for all kinds of behavior previously recognized only in less clinical ways, ranging from total depravity to the most sublime and redeeming kinds of aspirations.

"Plata Quemada," which is more properly translated in relation to the author's true intent as something like "burning the money," is one hell of a good story. But that does not make it a novel.

4.0 out of 5 stars Strange and Intense, January 28, 2008

By 

Archer C. (MA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Money to Burn (Paperback)

I was a little put off by the literal British translation, but that aside, this book is written so well and is so powerful, especially in its last 75 pages that I highly recommend it. The story is more about the corruption of a country and its breed of criminality than a group of thugs who rob an armored car.