El enredo de la bolsa y la vida by Eduardo Mendoza (review)

In his latest novel, El enredo de la bolsa y la vida, Eduardo Mendoza (born in Barcelona in 1943) returns with his anonymous Pepsi drinking detective that served as the principal protagonist in El misterio de la cripta embrujada (1979), El laberinto de las aceitunas (1982), and La aventura del tocador de señoras (2001). As in the previous novels, Mendoza demonstrates his talent for satire in the framework of a detective novel whose characters enthrall the reader to the very end while inducing paroxysms of gut-wrenching laughter. No character escapes the author’s ironical depiction: the detective, who had previously been a resident of a prison mental institution yet solves cases that extend beyond the range of the police; Rómulo el Guapo, the detective’s former cellmate who continues with his harebrained schemes to get rich; Quesito, a precocious teen who aids the wily detective; and the street artists whom the protagonist recruits to help in the search of Rómulo when he disappears. These artists, along with Kiwijuli Kakawa, an African albino; Pollo Morgan, a renowned swindler; Pashmarote Pancha (originally named Lilo Moña); and La Moski, a radical communist accordion player, all help the detective solve a case of international proportions that reflects Spain’s current economic crisis. Although the case originates with Quesito’s plea to help find Rómulo, it is converted into a race to stop international terrorists that includes the appearance of the Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, in a cameo role.

While Mendoza’s formidable talent lies in his witty depiction of the characters, their dialogue, and their relationship to recent events in Spain, the inclusion of Angela Merkel and her past love affair with Manolito, with whom she confuses the protagonist detective, which could be the plot of any of Manolo Escobar’s movies, is not convincing. The real German Chancellor, even if she had ever maintained a brief fling with Manolito, would never jeopardize her safety during a highly important diplomatic mission by allowing herself to be taken away by the said Manolito. The case itself is the weakest part of the novel though, nevertheless, serves as a vehicle for Mendoza’s satire of Spain and her forced dependence on Germany due to her present economic woes and the imposition of austerity measures. The investigation also includes references to Arab terrorists and bombs; the ringleader is named Alí Aarón Pilila, an indication of Mendoza’s droll sense of humor. Nevertheless, the incident does highlight another woe of Spain, the bombing of Atocha in 2004 and the subsequent and continuing discovery of terrorist cells in the Iberian Peninsula.

The detective is not an official investigator, but rather, ekes out a living as a hair stylist in a salon where it is very rare that an official client enters. His salon is across from a Chinese bazaar, another nod to contemporary Spain where stores that import inexpensive products in mass from China and are open twenty four hours, threaten Spain’s system of small family businesses. The investigator becomes very close to the family that owns the bazaar, especially with Abuelo Siau, who takes it upon himself to make sure that the Spaniard is always well fed and never alone. No Spanish institution remains unscathed from Mendoza’s satirical pen; Abuelo Siau, when hospitalized for another ailment, has his gall bladder removed by accident, which worsens his condition. The Siau family loans the protagonist large sums of money and offers him a business deal to buy the salon and convert it into a Chinese restaurant, another one of Mendoza’s spoofs of the preponderance of Chinese owned businesses throughout Spain.

Mendoza’s anonymous detective captures the reader’s interest throughout the novel, which is narrated in the first-person perspective. The author’s astute comments reflect his amusing and satirical views on contemporary Spain, which, although they offer no solutions to the country’s present woes, highlight the absurdities...