The following version of this book was used to create the guide: Vásquez, Juan Gabriel. The Sound of Things Falling. Riverhead Books, 2012.

Juan Gabriel Vásquez's novel The Sound of Things Falling is set in Bogotá, Colombia and told from the protagonist Antonio Yammara's first-person point of view. The novel straddles multiple temporal eras, shifting between scenes from the late 2000's and the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Therefore, the novel employs the past and present tenses throughout as Antonio delves into the past as he attempts to understand his present and future. For the sake of clarity, the following summary relies on a more streamlined mode of explanation.

In 2009, Antonio Yammara is living in Bogotá when he hears that a hippopotamus escaped from Hacienda Nápoles, a zoo formerly belonging to Pablo Escobar. The news story reminds Antonio of his late acquaintance Ricardo Laverde and causes him to start reminiscing about the months leading up to and the day of Ricardo's tragic death.

In 1996, Antonio had just finished law school and was teaching law. After his classes, he played pool at a local billiards club, where he met Ricardo one night. He heard that Ricardo had just gotten out of prison, but did not ask questions and struck up a friendship with the man. Then one night, Antonio and Ricardo drank heavily and took a walk together after leaving the club. Ricardo told Antonio his estranged wife Elaine Fritts would be visiting him for the holidays. He had done something to hurt her years prior and was desperate to make amends now. Antonio did not hear the rest of this story because he declined Ricardo's offer to come over for a drink.

Over the holidays, Antonio's girlfriend Aura Rodriguez told him that she was pregnant. On the day of their first ultrasound, Antonio felt excited about becoming a father. Therefore, he was not paying attention when he learned that a flight en route to Bogotá crashed into a mountain, killing all passengers.

Some time after New Year's, Antonio ran into Ricardo at the club again. Ricardo told Antonio that he had a cassette he needed to listen to and asked if he knew how he could play it. Antonio took him to a local shop, where Ricardo sat in one listening booth while Antonio sat in another. Antonio could not hear Ricardo's tape, but he noticed how devastated Ricardo looked while listening. Then, when Ricardo ran out of the shop and into the street, Antonio chased after him. When they got to 14th Street, a motorcycle sped by and shot Antonio and Ricardo, killing Ricardo and badly injuring Antonio.

In the coming months, Antonio could not make sense of what happened. He gradually healed from his injuries, but still did not know why Ricardo was murdered. Meanwhile, Aura gave birth to their daughter Leticia, but Antonio could not engage in family life. Throughout the following three years, Antonio remained removed and anxious. Then, he visited 14th Street one day and wandered over to La Candelaria where Ricardo once lived. His former landlady Consuelo Sandoval, or Consu, gave Antonio Ricardo's cassette. The cassette was a recording of the crashed flight's pilots talking before the flight went down. Antonio had learned that Elaine had been on the flight, but he did not understand what the recording had communicated to Ricardo.

Not long later, Antonio received a call from Ricardo and Elaine's daughter, Maya Fritts. She heard about him from Consu and wanted Antonio to visit her and tell her everything he knew about Ricardo. After a fight with Aura, Antonio headed out to Maya's home where he ended up spending the next three days. Over the course of his time at her home, Antonio learned more about Elaine and Ricardo. They fell in love when Elaine joined the Peace Corps and moved to Colombia. Shortly after they married, they had Maya. Then, Ricardo started flying shipments of marijuana to the United States illegally. One night, when Maya was five, Ricardo took a job delivering cocaine to the States. Elaine knew nothing about the delivery job. Ricardo was apprehended during the drop off and imprisoned for drug trafficking. Elaine disowned him and told Maya he had died.

When Ricardo was released from prison, he contacted Elaine and asked her to make amends. Elaine contacted Maya and told her the truth about her father and invited her join them in a reunion. Furious and hurt, Maya refused. Elaine boarded the flight to Bogotá despite Maya being upset, which eventually led to Elaine's death. Just days later, when Ricardo was killed, Maya learned that she had been orphaned.

Antonio felt so invested in the story of Maya and her family that he refused to return home when Aura begged him to come back to Bogotá. He felt connected to Maya and convinced that he could learn something about himself while staying with her. Then, one morning after sleeping with Maya, Antonio realized he needed his family. He drove back to the city, only to find that Aura and Leticia were gone. He lay on Leticia's bed and considered what to do.