Advantages of Travelling by Train

Helga comes home to a husband whose behavior has spiraled into madness. She has him admitted to a psychiatric clinic in the north, an act that shocks her and sets the story in motion. This moment establishes a frame for the ensuing train conversation.

On the return train journey, a stranger asks Helga if she would like him to tell her about his life, signaling a metafictional shift. The stranger, Ángel Sanagustín, begins to unfold a case that will frame the rest of the narrative.

Ángel explains that he is investigating the case of Martín Urales de Úbeda, a paranoid patient. He uses the sister Amelia's account as the backbone of Martín's supposed life story.

The story describes Martín as a Kosovo fighter pilot who forms a problematic relationship with Dr. Linares, a hospital cooperator who also acts as a female escort tied to a powerful client. The tale hints at crimes involving child abuse and an organ trade.

It is revealed that Martín never served as a Kosovo fighter pilot. In truth, he is a former garbage man from Murcia who lost an arm in a terrible night of work and grew paranoid about his fellow garbage collectors.

Ángel travels to the Urales de Úbeda family home near Las Ventas and, through Amelia, learns that Martín and his sister have a long, hidden history. Amelia is revealed to be Martín, and years of undisposed garbage pile up in a basement.

After finishing Martín's story, Ángel gets off at a stop to fetch provisions and invites Helga to join him. He leaves behind a red file full of stories on the moving train, which continues without him and deepens the mystery.

The narrative switches to Helga's past, starting with a disenchantment from a relationship with a best-selling author. She soon begins a new romance with Emilio, a stand owner in Retiro, and they bond over a shared life with their dogs.

Emilio's affection deepens into coercive control, gradually forcing Helga to behave like another dog. The relationship deteriorates as his domination erodes her sense of identity and autonomy.

Helga fantasizes about killing Emilio with a hammer and feeding his brain to dogs, but she pivots to poisoning him instead. The fantasy and intent blur as the plan evolves into a real attempt at murder.

The drug intended to kill instead renders Emilio nearly catatonic, prompting Helga to decide against killing him outright. She disposes of him by getting him admitted to a psychiatric clinic.

Enchanted by the red file's content, Helga resolves to publish it and begins a search for Ángel. She travels to Galapagar, where she is told that Ángel is not a psychiatrist but a man with a personality disorder.

During a visit to the Las Ventas house, Helga meets Ángel in the garbage-strewn basement. The basement erupts in a seemingly spontaneous fire or explosion, and both survive.

After surviving the blast, Helga is seen giving consent to a neurosurgical intervention. She boards another train and encounters a man who looks like Martín, leaving the reality of the narrative open to interpretation.