Review: I won’t see you die by Antonio Muñoz Molina

Review of the book “I will not see you die” by Antonio Muñoz Molina.
By Paqui Bernal

In “I won’t see you die” Antonio Muñoz Molina returns to fiction after “Volver a donde”, the previous work where he described all his sensations during the pandemic.

This novel of just over two hundred pages tells the story of Gabriel Aristu – a Spaniard living in the United States -, his relationship with his parents, his wife and the love of his life. I think it shows us what part fate has in what happens to us in life and what part our own character has.

I find it a very interesting reflection and, despite all that, this would not be an honest review if I did not point out that the first chapter of the work requires a certain patience from the reader. Whoever is not used to the literary novel, to understand and enjoy it, will have to change their mindset, slow down the pace that is usual today, slow down and let themselves be carried away by that long chapter that the author imposes on us. You have to concentrate and the wise voice with which Muñoz Molina treats our ears, or rather massages our brain, is not enough.

The writer has condensed all the protagonist’s emotional experiences in the first chapter, at least those that concern his relationship with Adriana. Then come work experiences, your marriage, etc. He has put all the intensity in that first chapter to hook us for the rest of the novel. And I think he has achieved it.

Muñoz Molina also explores heartbreak, the separation of a couple, and draws a parallel between the dislocation of those who emigrate due to their profession and the estrangement that occurs between some couples. It talks about how your gaze changes towards someone you loved and with whom you had physical intimacy. There are not many texts in which the euphoria of love and the sadness of abandonment are shown with such mastery.

In conclusion I will say that Muñoz Molina, in addition to being one of the best current writers for me, is great in “I won’t see you die.” Absolutely great.
Few authors are able to take us from Madrid to New York within the same paragraph in a natural way and without expressly saying so. Few would transport us from the present to the past and back to the present in the space of a page without disorienting us, in a discourse that is not only coherent but beautiful, very beautiful.

Without a doubt, I recommend this book if you are lovers of realistic novels.