The last (and first) function of criticism is, of course, to recommend or not to read a book, but giving arguments, and at the same time commenting on what it is about, so that the reader can see if they are interested in the topic and how. It has developed.
If it were simply a matter of giving a verdict, it would be enough to say that The Secret Nature of the Things of this World, by Patricio Pron, is a demanding novel, without concessions, but suitable for all audiences.
Pron, born in Rosario (Argentina) in 1975 and resident in Madrid since 2008, is a narrator, essayist and critic and lover of long titles, such as the book of stories The inner life of indoor plants (2013) or, more clearly in novels such as The Spirit of My Parents Keeps Rising in the Rain (2011) or Don't Shed Tears for Anyone Who Doesn't Live on These Streets (2016).
The secret nature of the things of this world is curiously set in Manchester, and I say curiously because in the “epilogue” he confesses that “I have never been there”, something that allows him to “make it all up, without the distractions caused by knowledge and, eventually, the memory.” No less apparently curious is that he points out the numerous phrases by authors integrated into the epilogue, which he more modestly titled The Secret Order of Things, with Virginia Woolf and Henry James as “the authors who have most influenced writing,” without mentioning Cumbres. stormy storms by Emliy Brontë, which occupies a prominent position in the development of the novel. There are two stories that are two points of view; one of the characters is called Edgar, and Heathcliff disappears and returns after three years.
Disappearance plays a determining role here and is what marks the peculiar itinerant character. The door to his house closes on Edward Byrne and, since he has no keys, he begins to walk, and “everything has for him an air of newness and adventure.” In its long route there are no descriptions but the names of places in the city. The marshes, which is where the family believes Edward drowned; Ramsbotton, Piccadilly Gardens, and a long etcetera.
Another journey is that of Olivia driving in the rain, absorbed in her thoughts and accompanied by memories, which are part of the narrative substance. Pron himself has told us that the novel “shows that in the present there was an enormous amount of past.”
Edward's thing cannot be confused with an escape. As Cervantes says, “he who retreats does not flee.” This explains his homesickness and frequent need to return, even when he has begun a totally new journey. At the end of the tour he settles in a hotel, and when he realizes that he does not have the money to pay for the two nights, he begins to work on renovating the house, in order to receive free accommodation and money, which he gets it easily.
The mother is hurt by the disappearance and “her interest in textile art reproduced the structure of the myth: her father was Ulysses and her mother wove and unweaved waiting for his return” – Joyce's Ulysses “is one of the books that I have highlighted the most.” ”, confesses Pron.
The daughter, Olivia, lives in Bury, and we are often told of “Bury's girlfriend” without going into detail. Ghostly character, then, of whom we only know that she impersonates her friend in her unreal encounter with her father.
As unreal as the feral condition of the wolf children who were raised by animals, or the deceptive feeling that we are watching a detective novel.
Patrick Pron. The secret nature of the things of this world.
Anagram. 232 pages. 18.90 euros
