El Muchacho de Los Senos de Goma [Spanish]

The story takes place in the middle 90`s and the writer uses the background of the city of Buenos Aires, beautifully described. The paths of three characters touch briefly: Cris, a 17 year old boy who wants to leave his home and become independent, Mrs. Vidot, a woman who is grieving the death of her husband and is in so much pain that she seems to be numb to the world, and Mentasti, Cris' philosophy teacher, a man who is struggling with his own contradictions and at times seems to be so detached from reality that he can hardly connect with other human beings. Iparraguirre presents a society where people are constantly being bombarded by advertising which reaches the smallest and poorest corners of the world. In this society, violence and poverty are coexisting in everyday life. This violence takes the form of an attack on an innocent animal, or the marginalization of people who are forced to live in the street. The story is narrated in an interesting and sometimes humorous way. I enjoyed it very much and I found myself not being able to put it down. Reading this novel I became more aware of the loneliness and pain that we have to endure but also about the resilience of life.