Transbordo en Moscú

Transbordo en Moscú is a novel by the Spanish author Eduardo Mendoza, published in 2019. The story follows the adventures of Rufo Batalla, a lazy, eccentric character with an absurd sense of humor who, freshly married to a wealthy heiress, finds himself caught up in a spy plot when he discovers that Soviet intelligence is after the prince he serves. What might seem like a simple novel of slapstick adventure reveals, however, a second, deeper and more reflective layer.

Through Rufo's travels — Warsaw, New York, Moscow — Mendoza paints a melancholic portrait of the twentieth century in its final throes: the failure of the communist dream, an American city devastated by AIDS, and a Moscow where hardly any trace remains of the great utopias. The fall of the Berlin Wall looms over the entire narrative as a historical and emotional backdrop.

The novel also has a markedly personal character: Mendoza shares more with Rufo than usual, lending the book a particular warmth and clarity. On the downside, the final section can feel somewhat rushed, as if the author was in a hurry to bring the story to a close.

In short, Transbordo en Moscú is an entertaining, profound and quietly moving work, written with the humor and intelligence that define one of the finest storytellers in contemporary Spanish literature.