In the Bolivian city of Cochabamba, a group of teenaged boys faces its last year in a private Catholic school, attended mostly by the children of upper-class families. Drunken nights, first experiences with drugs and sex, and continuous disciplinary problems are some of the rites of passage with which the students unknowingly try to assert their individuality. In the background, barely hidden beyond the classroom walls, lies the Bolivian reality of the 1980s: strikes, political instability, racism, social inequality, etc. ...
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In the Bolivian city of Cochabamba, a group of teenaged boys faces its last year in a private Catholic school, attended mostly by the children of upper-class families. Drunken nights, first experiences with drugs and sex, and continuous disciplinary problems are some of the rites of passage with which the students unknowingly try to assert their individuality. In the background, barely hidden beyond the classroom walls, lies the Bolivian reality of the 1980s: strikes, political instability, racism, social inequality, etc. Roby, the narrator, begins to notice all of this, and when a person close to him dies, the things he used to take for granted are suddenly gone; in his quest to solve the mysterious death, Roby will forge a path towards maturity. En la ciudad boliviana de Cochabamba una clase de muchachos inicia su ???ltimo curso en un colegio privado y cat???lico al que asisten sobre todo hijos de familias acomodadas. Las borracheras, los primeros escarceos con las drogas y el sexo y las continuas faltas de disciplina son algunos de los ritos de paso con que los alumnos intentan, sin saberlo, afirmar su individualidad. Al fondo, ligeramente atenuada por los muros del colegio, aparece la realidad boliviana de los ochenta: huelgas, inestabilidad pol???tica, racismo, desigualdades sociales, etc???tera. De todo ello va dando cuenta Roby, el narrador de la novela, y cuando la muerte de una persona cercana le sorprende, las certidumbres en las que hasta entonces se apoyaba se tornan irreales; en su intento por resolver el enigma de la muerte, Roby buscar??? su camino hacia la madurez.
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