María Vacca Crisostomo, Grade 12
UWC-USA
Alfredo Bryce Echenique is a Peruvian author whose works are -ironically and simultaneously- representative and foreign. Growing up in Lima, Bryce first-handly experimented with the dynamics of the upper-class Lima society. He attended an expensive private boys-only school called Inmaculado Corazón, which he would later criticize in his most famous novel, Un Mundo Para Julius (A World for Julius, 1972).
Bryce lived through different countries - Spain, France, Germany, and finally decided to return to his homeland, Peru. While being away in France for an academic scholarship, he developed his characteristic writing style and established his influences, gaining skills that positioned him as one of the best Latin American authors and a member of the Boom generation.
He won the Peruvian National Prize for Literature in 1973, a year after publishing A World for Julius. This novel carefully paints a microcosm of the Peruvian society that resides in Lima. It was published shortly after a massive wave of migration in the country. Thousands of families decided to leave their homes in the inner Peruvian highlands -part of the Andean mountain range- to pursue more opportunities in Lima, the capital.
Different populations and ethnicities quickly began to create a melting pot of identities. Nevertheless, we must not forget that Lima, the Kings’ City as it is called, reflects colonial thoughts. Unfortunately, that includes racism, classism, and discrimination. Bryce Echenique carefully portrays the power dynamics that an upper-class family holds upon its servants, people from ethnic minorities from all over Peru. If writing already constitutes an arduous task for any author, telling this story from the point of view of a small boy increases the difficulty.
Personally, the idea of reading books merely because of assignments reduces my enthusiasm for them. Nevertheless, I have to admit that my previous school’s selection of works was impeccable. It ranked from Greek myths to the complex Inca plays I was just starting to deepen my understanding of the Boom generation of Latin American authors when a friend that was two years older than me told me about A World for Julius. The school had just bought the 40th-anniversary edition of the book. It had a sober white cover and an elegant font for the book. Honoring her passion for Peruvian history, my friend told me anything I needed to know about the novel - carefully excluding any possible detail that would spoil the story. Months later, I decided to start reading it to expand my perspective on Peruvian society.
I realized I did not know anything about Bryce’s definition of Peruvian society. I did not know a single fact about the country clubs Julius’ family used to go to, or about bullfights that Spanish characters seemed to enjoy so much. Even less when it comes to knowing how servants work in a mansion or ordering ridiculously degrading instructions to them. Nevertheless, Bryce made sure that the audience understood this specific reality by telling it through the innocence of Julius’ eyes.
Julius is the grandson of a former president of Peru. At his short age, he never experienced a lack of almost anything: soft silk clothes, toys, trips, and attention from the lower-class servants. The only thing he did not know he wanted was Susan’s, his mother, attention. The novel revolves around his childhood, unattended by the ones he loved the most, and searching for affection in his servants. His innocence is slowly taken away by some deaths, racist comments, and types of neglect from his family.
I loved this book because even though it depicts unknown aspects of the rich Peruvian families that live in the capital - “pitucos” as so-called now”-, it honestly invites the reader to reflect on the still present discrimination in Peruvian society. It simplifies complex situations into digestible scenes narrated with dialogue introduced into the prose, but it also causes some tears at the cruelty of other moments. A World for Julius does not create a utopia for the main character. The novel makes him suffer and mature before he even reaches puberty, and it makes us rethink society and tear our stereotypes and beliefs before we even finish the book.
Works Cited
Anagrama. "Alfredo Bryce Echenique." Anagrama, 2019, www.anagrama-ed.es/autor/bryce-echenique-alfredo-170#:~:text=Alfredo%20Bryce%20Echenique%20(Lima%2C%201939,Per%C3%BA%20natal%2C%20donde%20reside%20actualmente. Accessed 28 July 2022.
---. "Un Mundo para Julius" ["A World for Julius"]. Anagrama, 2019, www.anagrama-ed.es/libro/narrativas-hispanicas/un-mundo-para-julius/9788433909893/NH_179. Accessed 28 July 2022.
López Ortiz, Stephanie Tatiana. Crítica sutil del clasismo de la sociedad limeña presentada por Alfredo Bryce Echenique en su novela Un mundo para Julius. 2013. Universidad Nacional de Piura, MS thesis. Repositorio Institucional, Universidad Nacional de Piura, repositorio.unp.edu.pe/bitstream/handle/UNP/1610/EDU-LOP-ORT-13.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y. Accessed 28 July 2022.
Bryce lived through different countries - Spain, France, Germany, and finally decided to return to his homeland, Peru. While being away in France for an academic scholarship, he developed his characteristic writing style and established his influences, gaining skills that positioned him as one of the best Latin American authors and a member of the Boom generation.
He won the Peruvian National Prize for Literature in 1973, a year after publishing A World for Julius. This novel carefully paints a microcosm of the Peruvian society that resides in Lima. It was published shortly after a massive wave of migration in the country. Thousands of families decided to leave their homes in the inner Peruvian highlands -part of the Andean mountain range- to pursue more opportunities in Lima, the capital.
Different populations and ethnicities quickly began to create a melting pot of identities. Nevertheless, we must not forget that Lima, the Kings’ City as it is called, reflects colonial thoughts. Unfortunately, that includes racism, classism, and discrimination. Bryce Echenique carefully portrays the power dynamics that an upper-class family holds upon its servants, people from ethnic minorities from all over Peru. If writing already constitutes an arduous task for any author, telling this story from the point of view of a small boy increases the difficulty.
Personally, the idea of reading books merely because of assignments reduces my enthusiasm for them. Nevertheless, I have to admit that my previous school’s selection of works was impeccable. It ranked from Greek myths to the complex Inca plays I was just starting to deepen my understanding of the Boom generation of Latin American authors when a friend that was two years older than me told me about A World for Julius. The school had just bought the 40th-anniversary edition of the book. It had a sober white cover and an elegant font for the book. Honoring her passion for Peruvian history, my friend told me anything I needed to know about the novel - carefully excluding any possible detail that would spoil the story. Months later, I decided to start reading it to expand my perspective on Peruvian society.
I realized I did not know anything about Bryce’s definition of Peruvian society. I did not know a single fact about the country clubs Julius’ family used to go to, or about bullfights that Spanish characters seemed to enjoy so much. Even less when it comes to knowing how servants work in a mansion or ordering ridiculously degrading instructions to them. Nevertheless, Bryce made sure that the audience understood this specific reality by telling it through the innocence of Julius’ eyes.
Julius is the grandson of a former president of Peru. At his short age, he never experienced a lack of almost anything: soft silk clothes, toys, trips, and attention from the lower-class servants. The only thing he did not know he wanted was Susan’s, his mother, attention. The novel revolves around his childhood, unattended by the ones he loved the most, and searching for affection in his servants. His innocence is slowly taken away by some deaths, racist comments, and types of neglect from his family.
I loved this book because even though it depicts unknown aspects of the rich Peruvian families that live in the capital - “pitucos” as so-called now”-, it honestly invites the reader to reflect on the still present discrimination in Peruvian society. It simplifies complex situations into digestible scenes narrated with dialogue introduced into the prose, but it also causes some tears at the cruelty of other moments. A World for Julius does not create a utopia for the main character. The novel makes him suffer and mature before he even reaches puberty, and it makes us rethink society and tear our stereotypes and beliefs before we even finish the book.
Works Cited
Anagrama. "Alfredo Bryce Echenique." Anagrama, 2019, www.anagrama-ed.es/autor/bryce-echenique-alfredo-170#:~:text=Alfredo%20Bryce%20Echenique%20(Lima%2C%201939,Per%C3%BA%20natal%2C%20donde%20reside%20actualmente. Accessed 28 July 2022.
---. "Un Mundo para Julius" ["A World for Julius"]. Anagrama, 2019, www.anagrama-ed.es/libro/narrativas-hispanicas/un-mundo-para-julius/9788433909893/NH_179. Accessed 28 July 2022.
López Ortiz, Stephanie Tatiana. Crítica sutil del clasismo de la sociedad limeña presentada por Alfredo Bryce Echenique en su novela Un mundo para Julius. 2013. Universidad Nacional de Piura, MS thesis. Repositorio Institucional, Universidad Nacional de Piura, repositorio.unp.edu.pe/bitstream/handle/UNP/1610/EDU-LOP-ORT-13.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y. Accessed 28 July 2022.
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