EL ORDEN DE LAS COSAS

Good evening teacher and partners, tonight I’m going to present my Project, this is about this
book called “El Orden de las cosas”, written by Ivan Thays.

A curious data about this book, is that the name of the main character is never known, so I will
refer him as “The main”.

The plot of the story says this:

The main has moved to a town between the mountains, where all the story happens, he came
here because his father got a good job in the mine. He is in third grade of high school, so the
change of lifestyle has been shocking for him.

The main knows Sebastian in his new school, he is the most popular boy there, he also is the
captain of the football team. Sebastian has a sister, whose name is Graciela, she is as popular
as her brother, she is also very cute. When the main knew her, he always said she smelled like
fruit.

The main had been in the football team from his last school, so entering to the new team
wasn’t going to be that difficult. When it happened, he immediately started to shine.

Sebastian and he make a good pair in the team, so they become very good friends quickly.

Sebastian shows him a cabin, it was hidden in the middle of the forest, he tells the main a
short story about it, and tells him about Benjamin, a friend that moved from the town recently.

While the relationship with Sebastian was growing, little by little the main started a
relationship with Graciela, they used to read books and listen to music together.

In the school, Sebastian and the main had 3 partners called “the snakes”. One day in a match
before the tournament, one of the snakes injures The main, so he has to rest in home, there,
he is often visited by Sebastian and Graciela, but in different times.

When the main went back to school, he was received as a hero by his friends. After a while,
many partners of the school noticed the relationship between The main and Graciela, even
Sebastian did. That’s the reason because Sebastian didn’t pass much time with him anymore.

One day the main went for looking for Sebastian in the cabin, and there was him. Sebastian
tells him about his relationship with Benjamin, and he confesses that he is gay.

Before this confession, the main gets furious, he thought Sebastian had fallen in love with him,
finally he walked away.

Time passed, and the main decides to talk to Sebastian, they meet in the cabin, so they can
talk there. Sebastian claimed him, “Why did you leave me in the middle of an emotional crisis”,
he said, “I thought you were in love with me” The main answered, while they were arguing,
the snakes were listening out of the cabin. When they noticed that Sebastian was gay, they
came into the cabin and they started hitting them.

Due all the problems and injures he had in the school, the main’s parents decided to come
back to Lima. There, they got divorced, so the main knew he was never going to return to the
town.
After a while, The main receives a letter from Graciela, she was braking up with him, also she
tells him to never communicates them again. And the main never did it.

21 years later, the main has become a writer, he has published some novels, he got married
and also he got divorced. Time pass but he has never forgotten Graciela and his old friend
Sebastian.

One day he received a called, it was Graciela, she told him that Sebastian had passed away,
and she wanted to him to dedicate some words in the funeral.

Back in the town, Graciela was waiting for him, when they saw each other, they immediately
hugged, “I’ve never forgotten that smell of fruit you have” he thought.

They shared their experiences in those 21 years, also their fails with love. Graciela was afraid
because she didn’t want to get alone, however the main said that this won’t happen, and he
offers him to go to Barcelona, there the story ends.

It’s an open final, and I suppose she accepted.

What’s the message of this novel?

I think this it’s tolerance, this novel is about the value of friendship and tolerance. This book
related the tolerance that the main character didn’t have at the time.

I think It’s a very good book to read, especially for young people, because of the message of
tolerance and friendship.

The reason I read this book, is because it was a homework in the high school, actually, I had
the book, but I gave it to my sister and perhaps she lost it, because I can’t find it.