"Banal Story" Summary

A writer reviews the advertising press of the Forum literary magazine. These thoughts mix with seemingly random moments occurring simultaneously around the world. It ends with the state funeral of Manuel Garcia Maera, a famous bullfighter. The official photographs of this man take precedence over the real man.

"Banal Story" Analysis

While the people of Spain grieve for their hero, Manuel Garcia Maera, the newspaper staff treat it as another banal story, as the title of the story implies. The name of the famous bullfighter is very similar to the names of bullfighters used in other stories, although those bullfighters were young failures. The story is a possible continuation to those stories of youthful struggle in the world of bullfighting.