Tactics against boredom

After The Difficulty of Things Mauricio Bernal surprises us again with a daring novel. On this occasion, a simple but libertarian action is enough to remind Santiago Buscaceres—a history teacher from the province, who is immersed in a mediocre life—that beyond his undisciplined school students, a wife and children who are indifferent and their routine parquet games, there is the possibility of something more, who knows what. The selfish search for that something that frees him from being another link in the chain will lead this character along winding paths, between first-class plane tickets and hotel rooms with pay television services. Thus, what he will discover once he leaves his little domestic bubble is that he cannot escape the cliché, the commonplace, the dissatisfaction, and above all, from himself. This novel, where cynicism and skepticism prevail, reminds us of the spirit of the works of Melville, Kafka, and Tarantino.