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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
Was enjoying it, I think it was the length that discouraged me, was kinda in a slump.
The story up until that point was fine, I mostly enjoyed the writing.
Will most likely return to it, but maybe big books just aren't my thing (I say as my favorite of all time is 667 pages long).
The story up until that point was fine, I mostly enjoyed the writing.
Will most likely return to it, but maybe big books just aren't my thing (I say as my favorite of all time is 667 pages long).
challenging
funny
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Terminé una primera lectura, prescindiendo de los capítulos prescindibles. Cuando lo lea con todo dejo una reseña un poco más larga.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
So firstly I should say I read this one the long and complicated way - skipping my way between chapters. I also needed a dictionary and google translate right by my side pretty much the entire novel. I don't think I have ever read an Argentinian writer before and this one was a recommend a friend for the beautiful and complex writing and the language play.
I won't lie and say this book wowed me - there were times when I just wanted to get through a chapter. The author's tendency to make words up, along with their love of complex words and plenty of (now outdated) 1950-60's cultural references made this occasionally a frustrating read as there were times I would try to look up a word that was definitely not in any dictionary - English, French or Spanish.
I won't lie and say this book wowed me - there were times when I just wanted to get through a chapter. The author's tendency to make words up, along with their love of complex words and plenty of (now outdated) 1950-60's cultural references made this occasionally a frustrating read as there were times I would try to look up a word that was definitely not in any dictionary - English, French or Spanish.
I had strongly ambivalent feelings about this book.
I expected the hopscotch structure to feel like a gimmick, especially since there's a recommended order in the Table of Instructions, but ultimately found it surprisingly effective -- there's something intensely disorienting about not knowing where you are in the story.
It's also hard to get a read on this book because I'm not sure it's aged particularly well. I was reminded of [b:On the Road|70401|On the Road|Jack Kerouac|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1413588576s/70401.jpg|1701188], a book that was striking when it was first published, and still has many beautiful passages/ideas, but is also rambling and troubling in the way it glorifies misogynistic assholes. There's also definitely a sense in which the ideas and techniques used in Hopscotch are echoed in mainstream contemporary works, like, say, (500) Days of Summer, which makes it hard to appreciate how novel this book probably was at the time.
At the same time, Hopscotch has a lot of really wonderful prose, and several chapters that almost stand alone as great short stories. The short chapters that comment on the ideas undergirding the book (the Morreliana, etc.) are also pretty fascinating, and go a long way towards justifying the decisions that Cortazar made. And even though the book deals with big themes -- the meaning of life, aesthetics -- with a serioust tone, the more I consider the book as a comedy (and the characters as satirical) the more I like it. I'm pretty sure this is supported by the text? (How else can you explain a circus taking over the management of a mental institution, if not as a joke?)
Overall, I think I liked it? And also that there's probably a truly amazing book in here that's 200 pages shorter...
I expected the hopscotch structure to feel like a gimmick, especially since there's a recommended order in the Table of Instructions, but ultimately found it surprisingly effective -- there's something intensely disorienting about not knowing where you are in the story.
It's also hard to get a read on this book because I'm not sure it's aged particularly well. I was reminded of [b:On the Road|70401|On the Road|Jack Kerouac|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1413588576s/70401.jpg|1701188], a book that was striking when it was first published, and still has many beautiful passages/ideas, but is also rambling and troubling in the way it glorifies misogynistic assholes. There's also definitely a sense in which the ideas and techniques used in Hopscotch are echoed in mainstream contemporary works, like, say, (500) Days of Summer, which makes it hard to appreciate how novel this book probably was at the time.
At the same time, Hopscotch has a lot of really wonderful prose, and several chapters that almost stand alone as great short stories. The short chapters that comment on the ideas undergirding the book (the Morreliana, etc.) are also pretty fascinating, and go a long way towards justifying the decisions that Cortazar made. And even though the book deals with big themes -- the meaning of life, aesthetics -- with a serioust tone, the more I consider the book as a comedy (and the characters as satirical) the more I like it. I'm pretty sure this is supported by the text? (How else can you explain a circus taking over the management of a mental institution, if not as a joke?)
Overall, I think I liked it? And also that there's probably a truly amazing book in here that's 200 pages shorter...
Why doesn’t everyone know about this book? This book is a surreal, philosophical work of art. It’s a metaphor for life. When I was reading it, it was as of I could be in Oliveira’s mind, yet feel La Maga’s shame, hear the chaos of Paris in the 1920s in the background, while constantly getting caught up my own existential thoughts. I will definitely re-read this in every language I can! It’s about nothing, yet everything all at once. It captures humanity’s grasp of our existence- we know so much, yet we know nothing. You can judge Oliveira thinking, “How can anyone have these thoughts?” Yet a few pages later you think, but don’t we all secretly have the same dark desires? A unique novel- definitely not for everyone, but gosh if you get it, YOU GET IT.
I chose not to read Hopscotch in the traditional linear fashion, which ends in chapter 56 and omits a third of the novel. There are a total of 155 chapters. A table of instructions takes the place of a table of content. There are 3 parts, "From the Other Side," "From This Side," and "From Diverse Sides".
In the second method the novel begins with chapter 73, then hopscotches from chapter 1, then 2, then 116..
Chapter 131 is read twice.
After a bit of head-scratching, I discovered that the sentences on chapter 34 must be skipped in order to make sense. There are two stories in that chapter. One of Oliviera's visit to his Uncle in Madrid, and the other about La Maga.
The first and second lines (sentences) in this chapter both begin with capital letters, which was the first suggestive clue and indication on how it should be read.
The story about the uncle (first story) ends first. 5 lines before the end, to be exact. It was somewhat confusing at first, but then I realized that after the phrase, "were already married." there was no new sentence with a capital letter, thus ending the first story.
I've always been intrigued by novels that center around artists and writers in cafe's and small apartments, especially if they take place in Paris or South America. These seem to me to be more cerebral and authentically Bohemian than the beatnik gatherings in America, which I feel are more self-centered than collaborative.
The story starts with a group of artists "The Serpent Club" who often discuss topics on Art, music, philosophy, and Jazz, mentioning big names such as Picasso, Dizzie Gillespie, Dostoyevsky, and Descartes. You can expect a good deal of -isms thrown in this section as well.
Horacio Oliveira, (the protagonist of the novel) seems to be in pursuit of something in Paris. Often involving himself in lively chatter with the other members of the Serpent Club and taking long solitary walks. He resides with his lover, La Maga, who he often belittles, and who disappears from his life, nowhere to be found, shortly after her son, Rocamadour, passes away. Realizing he (Horacio) misses and appreciates La Maga, now more than ever, he leaves Paris for his home-land Argentina. There his friend "The Traveler" meets him at the boat and takes him under his wing. The Travelers wife (Talita) bears a striking resemblance to "La Maga", causing some tension in the friendship. There The Traveler helps Horacio obtain a job in the circus he works for, and later in a mental hospital where Horacio finally loses what's left of his mind.
It's difficult for me to review this novel because it seems to be cut up into a few categories. I didn't mention the part about Morelliana, the writer, who gets hit by a car, is aided by Horacio, then rushed to the hospital.
The parts with La Maga I drank up. I was intoxicated with the unorthodox method of reading the book. It was like a game. There are many pages I dog-eared in the first half because they were either hilarious or thought provoking. The relationship with his friend, The Traveler, and his wife, were interesting, but I didn't seem to have the same passion for reading it as I did the parts with the Serpent Club and La Maga. I particularly enjoyed the part when Horacio met Madame Berthe Trepat, a famous concert pianist, who he was honored to comfort after concert-goers empty the theater because she kept making mistakes. He offers to walk her home, but he realizes the extent her mental instability, and finds himself wondering how in the hell got into the mess in the first place. I thought it was hysterical how he just wanted to start running and leave her there in the middle of the street. I don't think I've ever had more fun reading a book. The structure is brilliant and innovative, especially for a novel written in the 50's. I highly recommend the experience of reading it, if for nothing else.
In the second method the novel begins with chapter 73, then hopscotches from chapter 1, then 2, then 116..
Chapter 131 is read twice.
After a bit of head-scratching, I discovered that the sentences on chapter 34 must be skipped in order to make sense. There are two stories in that chapter. One of Oliviera's visit to his Uncle in Madrid, and the other about La Maga.
The first and second lines (sentences) in this chapter both begin with capital letters, which was the first suggestive clue and indication on how it should be read.
The story about the uncle (first story) ends first. 5 lines before the end, to be exact. It was somewhat confusing at first, but then I realized that after the phrase, "were already married." there was no new sentence with a capital letter, thus ending the first story.
I've always been intrigued by novels that center around artists and writers in cafe's and small apartments, especially if they take place in Paris or South America. These seem to me to be more cerebral and authentically Bohemian than the beatnik gatherings in America, which I feel are more self-centered than collaborative.
The story starts with a group of artists "The Serpent Club" who often discuss topics on Art, music, philosophy, and Jazz, mentioning big names such as Picasso, Dizzie Gillespie, Dostoyevsky, and Descartes. You can expect a good deal of -isms thrown in this section as well.
Horacio Oliveira, (the protagonist of the novel) seems to be in pursuit of something in Paris. Often involving himself in lively chatter with the other members of the Serpent Club and taking long solitary walks. He resides with his lover, La Maga, who he often belittles, and who disappears from his life, nowhere to be found, shortly after her son, Rocamadour, passes away. Realizing he (Horacio) misses and appreciates La Maga, now more than ever, he leaves Paris for his home-land Argentina. There his friend "The Traveler" meets him at the boat and takes him under his wing. The Travelers wife (Talita) bears a striking resemblance to "La Maga", causing some tension in the friendship. There The Traveler helps Horacio obtain a job in the circus he works for, and later in a mental hospital where Horacio finally loses what's left of his mind.
It's difficult for me to review this novel because it seems to be cut up into a few categories. I didn't mention the part about Morelliana, the writer, who gets hit by a car, is aided by Horacio, then rushed to the hospital.
The parts with La Maga I drank up. I was intoxicated with the unorthodox method of reading the book. It was like a game. There are many pages I dog-eared in the first half because they were either hilarious or thought provoking. The relationship with his friend, The Traveler, and his wife, were interesting, but I didn't seem to have the same passion for reading it as I did the parts with the Serpent Club and La Maga. I particularly enjoyed the part when Horacio met Madame Berthe Trepat, a famous concert pianist, who he was honored to comfort after concert-goers empty the theater because she kept making mistakes. He offers to walk her home, but he realizes the extent her mental instability, and finds himself wondering how in the hell got into the mess in the first place. I thought it was hysterical how he just wanted to start running and leave her there in the middle of the street. I don't think I've ever had more fun reading a book. The structure is brilliant and innovative, especially for a novel written in the 50's. I highly recommend the experience of reading it, if for nothing else.
Cortázar non mente quando, nella tavola d’orientamento all’inizio del libro, afferma che Rayuela è “molti libri, ma soprattutto è due libri”. In uno, quello che racchiude le prime due parti del romanzo, seguiamo le vicende di Horacio Oliveira a Parigi e a Buenos Aires. Una storia che risucchia il lettore in una “altrove” a un tempo impossibile e perfettamente plausibile ma che, se terminasse al cinquantaseiesimo capitolo, potrebbe rientrare a pieno titolo nel solco di una certa letteratura sudamericana surreale e spavaldamente vitalistica: un libro da “lettore-femmina”, insomma. Ma io non sono un “lettore-femmina”, e il mio rapporto con la lettura è fisico oltre che mentale, con la “matita in mano, litigando con l’autore, mandandolo al diavolo o abbracciandolo”. E meno male, perché il secondo libro, con cui entra in gioco la terza parte del romanzo, è una vera e propria epifania.
(la recensione completa su https://www.ifioridelpeggio.com/rayuela-di-julio-cortazar/)
(la recensione completa su https://www.ifioridelpeggio.com/rayuela-di-julio-cortazar/)
El primer capítulo es maravilloso.
http://www.literaberinto.com/cortazar/rayuela1.htm
http://www.literaberinto.com/cortazar/rayuela1.htm