The mess you leave.
El mess that you leave is a crime novel created by the Spanish writer Carlos Montero. Published by Editorial Espasa Libros on March 22, 2016, it is a psychological thriller full of suspense and intrigue from the first sentence to the unexpected end. It has been received with good reviews on portals dedicated to book reviews, although some literary specialists point out the existence of gaps in the narrative line.
Most Readers marvel at the addictive engagement the book generates in conjunction with its relatively fast and fluent reading (It is made up of 408 pages). On the other hand, the negative opinions express their disappointment with the closure, as well as the absence of a feasible motive within the construction of some characters. However, The mess you leave it has an irrefutable quality: it leaves no one indifferent.
Context and argument
The neuralgic theme of The mess you leave is bullying in its various forms, including the so-called cyberbullying. Yes, harassment so "normal" on social networks today. The sense of permanent hostility built around Raquel, the protagonist, in her interaction with very dark and ill-intentioned characters, none of whom is trustworthy, is not without attention.
The events described take place in Novariz, a fictional town in Galicia. However, for most readers familiar with this region of northern Spain, this enclave shows very real characteristics, extracted from easily identifiable geographical, architectural, anthropological and cultural peculiarities within any Galician locality.
TV adaptation
Despite being the first known publication of Montero, the book was awarded the Primavera de Novela Prize of the year 2016 (best crime novel). Further, The mess you leave it will be brought to television by Netflix. This production shows the popularity of the work even when there is no consensus on its acceptance among the general public.
The book will be adapted under the serial format, it consists of 8 chapters, each one with a duration of 40 minutes. The exterior scenes will be recorded in Galicia. The cast of the program includes recognized and emerging artists, including Inma Cuesta, Tamar Novás, Arón Piper, Bárbara Lennie and Roberto Enríquez.
The writer Carlos Montero.
Synthesis of The Disorder You Leave
Raquel and her arrival in Novariz
Carlos Montero has written a highly convoluted history around Rachel, the main character. She is the one who recounts the events in the first person and seems to be in constant mortal danger. But, at the beginning of the book the circumstance of risk is not evident. Rather, the author manages to turn it into a kind of covert sensation or underhanded threat.
At the beginning of the novel, Raquel arrives in Novariz (a fictional version of Ourense), a typical town in Galicia where her husband's family lives. There she begins to work as a substitute teacher at a local institute. Murky situations do not take long to appear, because shortly after she learns of the death of her predecessor, Elvira, in an apparent suicide.
Threats and loose ends
In the following days the outlook continues to worsen, especially when someone leaves a disturbing note in Raquel's bag after giving a classand "And how long will it take you to kill yourself?" In addition, she is not convinced by the versions she hears about the death, on the contrary, they convey a lot of mistrust.
There are many loose ends. In the first place: if Elvira was supposedly a teacher loved by her students, how did she sink into a depression so great as to take her own life? What really happened? But that is not the most worrying thing, because Raquel constantly wonders if there is a macabre pattern that is repeating itself with her.
Then, Raquel only has to make one decision to clarify everything: to investigate Elvira's death on her own. The immediate consequence is the distrust of the inhabitants of Novariz, it is even the object of an increasingly sustained contempt. The objective delimitation of the facts becomes something malleable, changing.
The distrust
No one escapes suspicions. Raquel becomes unable to trust any inhabitant of that small Galician town. She can't even trust her own husband ... some clues point to him as the perpetrator of Elvira's death. From that moment on, the novel acquires an even more frenetic pace due to the successive secrets that are revealed.
The level of uncertainty reaches very high levels, to such an extent that in the middle of the book many doubts frequently arise about the sanity of all involved. The unknowns accumulated in the psyche of Raquel are transformed into a tormenting obsession, what are the true intentions of others? How to discover it when the people around do not inspire the slightest confidence?
Analysis of The Mess You Leave
While some literary criticisms point to a rather stereotyped character development, it is important to take into account the subjective aspect of the narrative. After all, the words come from inside the protagonist's mind. For this reason, the somewhat imprecise approach to adolescent behavior described in the work is perhaps justifiable.
The outcome of the play is quite surprising. Some readers' comments on the internet signal the end of The mess you leave as controversial or "Very hairy". In contrast, positive reviews are abundant praising the author's storytelling style and longing for the release of a sequel.
Quote by the writer Carlos Montero.
Moreover, the colloquial language used by Montero adds a touch of authenticity to his work. The writer also repeatedly plays with the fear factor of the protagonists, inducing readers to reflect on topics such as drugs, education, sex and the control of information that circulates between mobile devices.
That is to say, The mess you leave meets each of the essential requirements in a good psychological thriller. For this reason, it can be assured that Carlos Montero has achieved a story in which he makes excellent use of the classic resources of conventional and unconventional suspense, in combination with common themes in current societies.