La vida simplemente BY Óscar Castro: Reading in the Conventillo

Abstract

This essay analyzes the La vida simplemente, a novel by Óscar Castro, written in 1947, which narrates events in the author's life that happened during his childhood. The essay looks specifically at the different meanings that reading had during that stage. The purpose of this analysis is to show how the text projects the idea of books as a means of social transformation -an idea that was consolidated years before the novel was written- in specific scenes of reading and how, at the same time, it shows the limits created by gender restrictions or by social dynamics intended to control popular subjects. The paper also studies reading practices visible in the novel, as well as the ways in which characters gain access to books from tenement houses (conventillo) and the consequences mat this access has on each character. © 2014, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile. All rights reserved.