Short stories
Los inocentes
Not translated into English
Oswaldo Reynoso · 1961
Synopsis
A collection of stories about adolescents from the working-class districts of Lima, gathered in gangs, the colleras, who hang about the streets, test their manhood and discover sexuality, amid poverty, inner crisis and life on the margins. Written in the slang of youth and the street, frank about desire and open to gay characters, stories such as Cara de Ángel or El Príncipe portray these boys of the margins from the inside.
Context
Written at Chosica between June and October 1960, the book appeared in 1961 from La rama florida, Javier Sologuren's press. Part of the press called the author a pornographer and relegated his raw style to sub-literature, but José María Arguedas praised it. Its success earned the collection a popular reissue in 1964 under the title Lima en rock. The story El Príncipe formed one of the episodes of the anthology film Cuentos inmorales in 1978, and the book was adapted for the stage in 2018. It appeared in French in 2023, translated by Denis Bertet and Rachel Paul.
Who it is for
For a classic of Peruvian urban realism, which gives voice to the street boys of Lima in their own language.
Prizes and reception
Accused of pornography on publication but defended by Arguedas, it has become a frequently reissued classic of the Peruvian short story.