Mendoza's Savolta Case: Narrative & Social Critique

Mendoza's Narrative Craft in The Savolta Case

Eduardo Mendoza's novel, The Truth About the Savolta Case, demonstrates a keen focus on technical literary treatment, equally valuing it alongside the compelling narrative. Mendoza champions the pleasure of storytelling, an element he feels is often forgotten in recent narrative trends.

Barcelona 1917-1919: A Tumultuous Backdrop

The novel collects the final memories of Javier Miranda, both a spectator and protagonist of events in Barcelona from 1917 to 1919. It delves into social tensions within a company headed by Lepprince, intertwined with a love plot. This narrative combines individual incidents with events characteristic of a collective historical novel.

Themes: Social, Political, and Existential Reflections

The work possesses a profound background, offering social, political, and existential reflections. It provides a comprehensive portrait of:

• The bourgeoisie
• The implacable hardness of business managers
• Working-class exploitation
• Social struggle

The city's underworld and its bleak atmosphere of misery are starkly contrasted with luxurious bourgeois lounges.

Intricate Narrative Structure

The novel is divided into two main parts, comprising five and ten chapters respectively. Sequences are composed of various well-known narrative elements, drawing from the traditional novel while incorporating aspects of the modern novel.

Memory and Perspective Shifts

The work includes a set of the protagonist's memories, encountered on occasion within a lawsuit, often surprising and bewildering the reader. The structure is further broken down:

• Block A (Chapters 1-5): Characterized by maximum complexity, incorporating judicial texts, journalistic accounts, and memories. It features capricious memory mechanisms, such as chronological disorder and kaleidoscopic changes in viewpoint, fostering communicative freedom and boldness that form a puzzle.
• Block B (Chapters 6-10): Less complex, yet it alternates several narrative lines and maintains chronological disorder.
• Block C (Chapters 11-15): Developed with utter simplicity. It features only one storyline, narrated in accordance with traditional techniques.

In summary, the novel's structure combines complex narrative forms with more traditional approaches.

Technique and Stylistic Choices

The narrative technique and style are based on the use of first and third-person perspectives, an omniscient narrator, different approaches, and perspectivism. While the portraiture is not lavish, it effectively recreates descriptions and images of rooms and elegance. Dialogue is abundant, with some sequences consisting almost entirely of conversations.

The Art of Pastiche

Mendoza intentionally employs the technique of pastiche, or imitation, in various styles:

• Whodunit
• Melodrama
• Intrigue-filled narratives
• Adventures
• Anecdotes
• Sentimental stories

These numerous details of pastiche do not clash with the serious and deeply humane aspects of the work.

Varied Stylistic Registers

Many styles are utilized for the different materials that constitute the novel. A variety of registers are employed, including:

• Newspaper records
• Administrative and legal documents
• Cultured language
• Conversational speech

All are presented with a sense of humor and, at times, deep lyricism, showcasing Mendoza's great knowledge of the language.

Existential Undertones and Artistic Significance

Mendoza's novel carries an existential significance, portraying a bleak existence, encapsulated by the sentiment that "life is a carousel that turns until it makes one sick."

Regarding its artistic significance, the novel satisfies the intelligent reader. It is a work full of feeling and depth, with a very clever construction.