Historias del Kronen

Spanish writer José Ángel Mañas’s debut novel, Historias del Kronen (English: Stories from the Kronen), the first installment in his Kronen Tetralogy, whose title stems from a bar called Kronen that its characters frequent, was published in Spanish in 1994, when Mañas was only 23 years old. Considered a Spanish anthem to Generation X, the novel illuminates its characters’ distinctive hopes, fears, and tragic moral failures. Mañas claims to have written the novel in just over two weeks. The novel, met with immediate acclaim in Spain and much of the Spanish-speaking world, was adapted into a film in 1995.

Historias del Kronen takes place during a single month in July 1992, in the Spanish capital of Madrid. Carlos, the central character, is a 21-year-old student at university. Initially, he is described as a stereotypical “daddy’s child,” indulging in a hedonistic lifestyle of sex, parties, drugs, and alcohol, and too self-centered to care about anyone else. Carlos frequents the Kronen bar, which is nestled just outside Calle de Francisco Silvela, a street named after a former prime minister. The narrator describes Carlos as a sociopath, as he systematically alienates himself from those around him, undermining his best interests in his quest for self-indulgence.

Among Carlos’s friends are Roberto, Manolo, and Pedro. Manolo works at Kronen, since he does not come from a well-off family like the rest. He sings in a rock band and is secretly in love with Carlos; due to pervasive homophobia in Spanish society, he feels unable to express it. Pedro is less a friend to Carlos than a target for his bullying: he is physically weak due to several major health issues, including diabetes and the loss of a kidney. One night at Kronen, Carlos is intimate with his ex-girlfriend, Amalia, who says that her boyfriend is out of town. Amalia fails to see Carlos’ sociopathy, interpreting it as charm. In the coming days, Carlos gets back together with Amalia. Carlos brings her along with his friends to see Roberto’s favorite movie, Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer. There, Roberto is aroused as he observes Carlos being sexually active with Amalia in the dark.



The next time the friends are at Kronen, Pedro has an altercation with a stranger, which ends only when each bets that he can hang for longer off a bridge over a busy highway. They go to a highway overpass to attempt the dangerous competition; luckily, the police stop them before anyone gets hurt. Carlos and Pedro end up in jail. Carlos’s father, a prominent lawyer in the area, bails them both out. Thankless, Carlos responds coldly to his father’s concern. Not long after the bridge incident, Carlos’s parents celebrate their wedding anniversary. There, Carlos’s sister breaks down, lamenting that Carlos does not care about their family or nurturing any of his relationships. She criticizes him for sleeping all day and disappearing all night to party. Carlos privately feels that the only family member who understands and mentors him is his grandfather, who was also a notorious partier.

Unfortunately, Carlos’s grandfather grows very ill and soon dies, sending Carlos into a depression that manifests in even greater self-destructive behavior. On Pedro’s birthday, he invites Carlos and the others over for a party. Carlos forces an already weakened Pedro to drink an entire bottle of scotch; Pedro complies, hoping to show his strength, but dies. The novel’s tragic ending shows the full extent of Carlos’s solipsistic worldview and destructive behavior.