Crime of the Hypotenuse: Analysis of Emili Teixidor's Novel

1. Bibliographic Information

• Title: Crime of the Hypotenuse
• Author: Emili Teixidor
• Publisher: Planeta & Oxford
• Place: Barcelona
• Release Date: June 2006 (5th edition)

2. The Author

Biographical Information

Emili Teixidor was born in 1933 in Roda de Ter (Girona). Beyond teaching, he studied law, philosophy, literature, and journalism. He began writing children's and young adult literature in Catalan in the late sixties. In the following years, he worked for magazines specifically aimed at youth. In 1975, he moved to Paris, where he ran a free film school in French. He learned the editor's craft before returning to Barcelona, where he dedicated himself to publishing works for children. He has also written novels for adults and scripts for television and film.

He received the Creu de Sant Jordi in 1992 and won the National Children's Literature Award for La formiga Piga. His novel Black Bread (Pa negre), considered his masterpiece, earned great critical acclaim, winning the Joan Crexells Prize in 2003 and the Lletra d'Or prize in 2004.

Works

He specialized in narratives for juvenile literature.

3. Analysis

Genre

Juvenile mystery novel.

Themes

Main theme: The disappearance of the mathematics professor.

Sub-topics: Student life, adolescence, friendship, companionship, student opinions and nicknames for teachers, examination theft, violence in sports, child adoption, child exploitation, computer hacking, betrayal among companions, and the investigation of events.

Characters

Andrew, the narrator, states that "the real heroes of the story... are the criminals. The murderers. Or rather, the unintended provocateurs of murder" (p. 11).

The seven suspects in the disappearance of Miss Cinta Olius, the mathematics professor nicknamed "The Hypotenuse" by her students (pp. 8-11), are college students who share a common struggle with mathematics.

One of them, Boris Bo, is declared guilty of the act under investigation. He is described as "tall, thin and nervous, but with a smiling face—a smile of surprise, of enchantment, of not knowing what to do or say" (p. 26). He claims to have a brother, but the research team does not believe him, suspecting he suffers from a split personality. It is only at the end of the book that his true identity is unveiled to the narrator.

The first defendant, as well as the narrator, is Andrew himself. He claims to be "the poet laureate of the course, able to convince anyone."