La lectura, educación sentimental en los textos autobiográficos de José Manuel Caballero Bonald y Soledad Puértolas

Abstract

The article aims to analyse the experience of reading as a “sentimental education” in the life of some Spanish writers who decided to tell the story of their own life in some specific autobiographical texts. In these works, which represent a very interesting field to explore the characters of contemporary autobiography, the writers try to establish a peculiar relationship with their readers, by recollecting the past starting from their childhood. In that period, the narrators find out their literary vocation through the experience of reading, which becomes a fascinating way to move in a wonderful world, but also to learn their future profession. We propose to compare the autobiographical pages of Caballero Bonald and Soledad Puértolas, two Spanish contemporary writers, who both represent themselves, first of all, as readers. They are just two examples to understand the importance of reading in the “literary education” of writers because reading and writing are two sides of the same coin, two favourite ways to enter the world of literature, imagination, creation and life.