Mankind´s two most civilised inventions

Downtown Santiago is not exactly Florence but there are some interesting places scattered about. Calle San Diego lies off the Alameda and at first glance is like the majority of the other clogged and grimy streets that lace the city centre, with buses belching out fumes, skanky fast food joints and general unban filth, but it also has its charm. In Santiago, particular streets are known to sell particular things and San Diego is the place for mankind´s two most civilised inventions: books and bikes.

If you turn off the Alameda and head south down San Diego, the first thing you pass is a row of old kiosks bulging with stacks of second-hand books, piled up until barely a millimetre from the roof of the kiosk or lying on small tables on the pavement. The booksellers, who I imagine have been here for decades, smoke and chat with each other, quick to encourage any passers-by who show mild interest.

Three or four blocks further along, next to the rickety old indoor funfair, a plaza opens out where a number of other booksellers strut their stuff. The plaza is a very nice place to amble around the kiosks and stalls and discover Latin American authors and books unavailable in English on the history and politics of the region. I am a big fan of both plazas and books so the two together for me is a treat.

It must be hard to make a good living selling books in Chile as there is not such a culture of reading as in other places. It’s rare to see people reading on public transport or in parks for example. The government does its part to discourage reading by putting inexplicably high taxes on books (a new novel can cost up to fifteen luca which is about twenty pounds) and inadequate funding for libraries. Buying books second hand is obviously cheaper although I still don’t imagine the booksellers of San Diego sell many copies per day. But in spite of that they are friendly and chatty, working for themselves in the field of knowledge and wisdom. A part of me envies them. Who doesn’t have dreams of one day being a bookseller?

(To be fair the government has introduced a book rental system on the metro, where numerous stations have libraries and books can be returned at whichever place, making them much more accessible to people who don’t read very much. The tax on books still baffles me though.)

A bit further down the street are the bike shops. Cycling is seen here as a leisure activity rather than a potential form of commuting which is a shame because Santiago could be ideal for riding about. Unfortunately, the reality is that cycling about the city seems to be an early death waiting to happen and it´s another thing that the government ought to work on and find ways to encourage its citizens to pedal power. Anyway, I wrote a (poorly edited) article a while back for Revolver Magazine about cycling in Santiago. Here it is:

http://www.santiagomagazine.cl/living/00692-two-wheels-good-answer-santiagos-problems

San Diego also has Teatro Caupolican, where international bands play, with Motorhead, Human League and Jeru the Damaja playing in the last month or so (on different bills obviously). Then there’s Las Tejas, a raucous alternative venue for cumbia, punk or reggae vibes. So there’s plenty going on in San Diego.