Cigarettes

Nearly every character in the novel smokes cigarettes, of the tobacco and of the marijuana as well as hashish varieties. Adam’s relationship to cigarettes is loaded. He tells himself throughout the novel that his compulsive smoking is a fact of his life in Spain and that he will promptly quit as soon as he leaves the country and returns to the US. As he ponders staying on in Spain indefinitely, beyond the stipulated duration of his fellowship, it is implied that he will continue on as a smoker, although he does not acknowledge this factor in his planning.

Hash

Adam prefers to smoke hashish as opposed to marijuana. He rolls his hashish into spliffs cut with tobacco. That Adam prefers hashish marks as a foreigner somewhat. The hashish dealers on El Retiro are a fixture of his quotidian routine in Madrid. It is implied that...