Rafael Chirbes was much more than the author of the celebrated On the shore. A few years before his post-crisis super launch, the Valencian knew how to foresee the imminent economic crisis that was stalking us like no one else. Crematorium it is a sharp and somewhat frightening portrait of the reality of a country. And also of its inhabitants.
Review of Crematorio, spiritual sequel to On the Shore
Entertainment novels and recognition novels
In an article in response to controversial statements by Eduardo Mendoza made in 1998 in which he argued that the genre of the novel was dead, Javier Marías saw fit to distinguish such noble art into two categories: the novel of eentertainment and of recognition. This is not the time and place to enter to discern what the role of the first would be, since the label itself already gives enough clues about its nature, and it is not a plan to put on the gloves and, like a chicken sexer, start separating to the Shakespeares and Dostoevskys of the Zafones and Falcones, with all the respect that the latter deserve (seriously).
Yes, we would like to dwell on the definition that Marías offers of the second category. About her “capacity for representation”, Marías says the following:
"Through the novel we know that we knew what we did not know we knew until we read it formulated, represented or told."
Or as he said a year before in another article in a less marianesque:
"The novel does not tell what is known, but what is only known and at the same time ignored."
With Crematorium (Anagram), Rafael Chirbes published in 2007 a book that marks time and whose greatness lies precisely in this ability to recognize, double acknowledgment if we may. Over time, Crematorium has earned a place in the history of Spanish narrative for having been able to photograph so thoroughly two realities that are more than heard of: a conjunctural, the drunken brick that plunged Spain into misery from which today he is proud to have emerged (and in which we will soon find ourselves trapped again), and another constant: the complexity of human nature.
Crematorium has been fervently acclaimed (Critics Award) for its literary quality and for the lucidity with which he foresaw the ravine to which the Spanish economy was heading ("We resemble, above all, those Viennese in that we are on the brink of the abyss," reads shortly after beginning).
Crematorium: in search of happiness with a real estate backdrop
Although the plot backdrop revolves around the bubbling concrete forest that invaded our coastal towns, the main theme of this book is none other than that of the human being and his stormy relationship with the rest of his fellow men throughout the eternal scrutinize, infinite search, of the holy grail of Happiness. Something similar could be said of On the shore.
The narrative begins and ends on the same day: the funeral of Matías, Rubén Bertomeu's brother, a success builder who, like Michael Corleone, tries to redeem himself, of leaving behind a dark and criminal past to carry on with their businesses cleanly, without getting their hands dirty (“The time for dirty things is over, now is the time for clean things,[…] the right thing, nothing around here, nothing over there").
No more thugs, no more cocaine trafficking in the bellies of horses imported from Mexico.
Rubén Bertomeu, unforgettable character
Like everything good bad, his ethical principles do not go much further than those of the law of the jungle, of those of the self-made man full of justifications with which he can sleep with his conscience in peace:
“You indiscriminately believe that everything that is from another era, even the darkest, is worthy of respect and should not be touched; In addition to being absurd, what you think cannot be good, or even healthy: not aspiring to go one step further than others have gone. Not doing: that is quietism, closure”.
Taking into account how difficult it has been for the film and literary industries to innovate the mafia thing (being its most recent exponent, The Irish, a more of the same permanent), Crematorium it brought freshness to the hackneyed mafia genre thanks, mainly, to the charisma of Rubén Bertomeu: “I am a builder. I like that jargon of slabs, planches, formwork, props, rods, mesh, flooring and tochanas. I have always believed that he was gifted for this trade. Each one has the ability to do something […] compete only in what you are going to win”.
Despite leading a hectic life for a constant parade of no places (he always drives and only abandons it to step on clone buildings under construction, restaurants and brothels) and not people (he only feels love for his mother and her offspring), despite being the most bastard, he is the happiest of all the characters. And the portrait is so faithful, and the melody of misery distilled by the others so familiar, that he is frightening.
Rubén Bertomeu: a man, a thousand interpretations
The death of the brother is the excuse with which we are allowed to enter the psyche of the members of the Bertomeu clan, through whom we discover the particular vision that each one of them has about Rubén, its ethics and its actions; about what its white concrete masses have done to the landscape of the fictional Levantine city of Misent.
Through monodialogues and digressions on topics such as money, culture, politics or literature, the reader forms the pieces of a puzzle from which data emerges that help to understand the personal circumstances of each of the unfortunate people who meet here. Understand their drama and how they got here.
To do this, Chirbes has perfected that continuous narration, free of dialogues and points and asides that he already practiced in previous books and that is so reminiscent of the intermittent and blind rehearsals of Jose Saramago. However, it uses a more refined and complex style (greater polyphony) than that of Portuguese, as well as a much less innocent sense of morals and ethics: in Crematorium It is not so clear and clear who is the hero and who is the villain because such a distinction is absurd, depending on which stories, it is absurd and hollow.
Also, of course, we could compare Chirbes' technique with that of fullner but, with the devotion that we have here for fullner, better not. (RIP José Luis Cuerda).
The multiplicity of storytellers Crematorium
The various narratorsone per chapter) lead us through endless regressions, preterites (very occasional present), digressions and memories.
Hardly anything happens (certainly much less than what you see in the Canal+ series, of excellent quality). Although there are the inevitable allusions to the Civil War, historical pedagogy focuses on the stage of the first socialist governments:
“Collado, we did what we had to do, the classics of economics called that the primitive accumulation of capital, this country needed to form a class, and it had nothing to do with it; now the class closes the borders, the quota is open, it is time to ensure that there is not all that social mobility, that movement, that permeability between classes”.
Collado's character is quite memorable. A miserable and unfortunate being who represents better than any other what failure means. He is one of the characters for whom the reader can feel the greatest interest. of the few characters normal. Collado is the backbone of the little action of the novel. We would like to say something similar about the rest of the characters. But no.
Details: when is it too much?
The main criticism that can be made of Crematorium is that, at times, it counts too much. Too many details about too many characters. A choral work is painted for us, a canvas with many colors and shades, yes, but there is hardly any interaction between them, only a parade of memories. Rampages in which each one offers his version of the facts and of life. This book is interesting, but, like a good book, it demands the reader. Watch out.
We have not started by citing Marías for no reason. The man from Madrid, accustomed to reminding us in the EPS whenever the opportunity arises (we imagine him releasing the badges to taxi drivers) that he published his first novel at the age of 19, has been playing the same game for decades, that is, the opposite from ideas, thoughts and approaches, all involved in an endless cavalcade of digressions.
The different brain discourses that come together in Crematorium at times they can become heavy, although much more enjoyable than those that can be read in Tomorrow in battle think of me or in The crushes (although this, of course, is already a very personal preference that will vary according to the tastes of the reader). The difference lies in the rich variety of themes and points of view. On Crematorium, as there are so many narrators, the reader is forced to make a judgment, position himself, reflect. Decide who you buy the speech from. recognize each other