The Sound of Things Falling (Spanish: El ruido de las cosas al caer) is the third novel of Colombian author Juan Gabriel Vásquez.

Originally published in Spanish in 2011, the book explores the corrosive effects of the Colombian drug trade on private lives, civil society, and government.

An English translation by Anne McLean was released in 2013 and the novel won the 2014 International Dublin Literary Award.

The Sound of Things Falling is the story of a law professor named Antonio Yammara, who narrates the novel.

[5] Writing for The New York Times, Edmund White called The Sound of Things Falling a "gripping novel, absorbing right to the end".

[1] He described it as a "brilliant" work featuring "the bitter poetry of Bogotá and the hushed intensity of young married love" and "well imagined, original and rounded" characters.

He said that parts the book "quickens beautifully and sweeps us aloft" but at other times it is "remote, portentous, burped shut".

[6] He blamed translation for some awkward metaphors and said Vásquez is a talented writer but "sometimes seems more interested in poetic generalities than in squirming people.

"[6] El ruido de las cosas al caer won the 2011 Alfaguara Prize.

[8] The judging panel called the novel a "consummate literary thriller" with "a masterly command of layered time periods, spiraling mysteries and a noir palette".