Book Out of my Past

         

          Reading is calming for me. It’s a way to experience other worlds, other lives that I normally wouldn't be able to experience, to lose myself in them and, at the same time, to learn from them. I feel like books have so much to teach me about life's experiences. My book from my past is “La Edad Prohibida” (Prohibited Age) by Torcuato Luca de Tena. This book has many editions but I read the one printed in 1982. I remember reading the book every night until I finished it. At the beginning, the book cover did not get my attention at all, but I started reading it because it was given to me in a gift exchange and I could not get away from the story until I finished it. The book begins when Anastasio arrives as director to a prison where it turns out that Enrique, a friend of his adolescence, is one of the prisoners. Through flashbacks he tells us his story, which begins when his family takes him out of Madrid, where they were resisting the last moments of the Civil War, and they send him to San Sebastian, home of some uncles. Anastasio is a nerdy and very shy boy, who does not know anyone in the city until one day he meets Enrique's gang and thanks to the fact that he gets them out of a good mess, he becomes one more: We know Leopoldo, a guy quite out, Adolfo, a sentimental poet, Andrés, Maribel, Celia, who becomes the best friend and platonic love of Anastasio and finally, Enrique, the leader of the group, with an exceptional charisma. Anastasio remembers his adventures with the gang, his day by day in school and we also witness his first disappointments. The years go by and each of the members of the gang are making their lives but still in contact. The story goes on until we discover why Enrique ends up in jail and why Anastasio ends up directing her as well as why one day he lost the love of his life. I would recommend this book because Torcuato Luca de Tena is an excellent writer. My favorite part of the book is that Anastasio and Enrique are like the Sun and the Moon; completely different in character, since Anastasio is timid, introverted and intact while Enrique is active, adventurous and reckless. These differences, however, do not stop them from sharing a deep friendship.