As it just happened to me with the Kjartan Fløgstad's book I read before this, this is one book that left me with the feeling the author is a snob that thinks too much of himself. It may be just me, but normally, when this feeling happens while I am reading a book, it is always a white, middle-aged man (it can be younger or older, but the white man is almost always there). It may be just me, but "Ventajas de viajar en tren" just feels like an ego-trip from someone who thinks they are SO smart.
The story, to call it something because this is one of those stories within stories type, starts with a woman going home in a train. And I will leave just there, because even if I felt the author squandered his opportunity, I don't want to tell more than I already did.
And why didn't I like it? Because, as I said, the writing style felt too full of itself, snobby and posh. And the 'story' per se is not so interesting as Orejudo seems to think it is, repetitive, a little creepy (very, and not in a good way) and not particularly smart. With so many better works out there, it feels pointless to read this.
The best: I have a weakness for the story within story mold
The worst: snobby, repetitive, poor writing style, creepy
Alternatives: well. the obvious one is Jan Potocki's "Manuscrit trouvé à Saragosse"; if you have already read it, you can try...: Kjartan Fløgstad, David Foster Wallace, Virginia Woolf, Karl Ove Knausgård, Margaret Atwood, Shiwon Miura, Kôtarô Isaka, Jaume Cabré...
4/10
(Spanish)
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