First published in 1948, The Tunnel by Argentine author Ernesto Sabato is a first person account from the artist Juan Pablo Castel of his relationship with, and subsequent murder of a woman named Maria Iribarne. The infamous murder is known to the reader from the beginning, and the narrator aims to justify his actions and unravel the path that led to the murder. I think of this book as a dark condemnation of the “manic pixie dream girl” trope, as Sabato explores Juan Pablo’s obsession with Maria, and his utter inability to allow her to have her own story.⁣

Cw for murder, suicide, violent misogyny