The economic crisis and the undeniable parallel crisis of values is already a choral story. A microcosm of silenced voices amid cold statistics. Data and more data conveniently cooked for the pride of economic interests and political clappers of all kinds.
Kisses on bread becomes a beautiful compilation of lives of that same choral nature of this XXI century. And I say beautiful compilation, because in essence this work stands out for the humanity with which Almudena Grandes is capable of endowing so many main characters. A humanity that has been lost among so many rational beasts that occupy the highest spheres of any power.
Literature is a loudspeaker that can move and that manages to return something of humanity between so much post-truth, so much euphemism and so much cynicism of those who direct us. I recently read that it is intended to eliminate the subject of Universal Literature. It must be better this way to continue the chain towards alienation.
As long as we can enjoy good writers there will be some hope (piracy through. It's all good news, you see). Because in novels like this we learn to feel what they teach us to forget. Empathy is a value in recession, an affective participation to be extirpated from our souls (perhaps they will charge for it whoever wants to keep it).
A middle class neighborhood is the microcosm in question through which this story slides. A plot that moves between scenarios whose decoration is always dressed with vitality in the face of adversity, with hope amidst despair. Fragile stocks in a hostile environment that weather unfortunate circumstances as they can in most cases, where only gestures, details find a friendly side of life.
Who knows?. Perhaps the characters in this story are lucky in a deeper sense. Fortunate to be able to know the most authentic aspects of life, disintegrated in other higher spheres. Only people who preserve their humanity can continue to be supportive and continue to love, precisely because they value the human more, since they know first-hand bitterness, loneliness and misfortune.
You can now buy Los besos en el pan, the latest novel by Almudena Grandes, here: