A review by mrwilliams
Hopscotch by Julio Cortázar

4.0

I threw the stone and started to jump into 'Hopscotch'. For my first reading, I decided to read it from start to finish instead of reading it as the end of each chapter directs. This is how the stone fell. I worried I would not be able to grasp the plot if I spent so much time jumping around. Of course, I assumed plot was going to be important here and I was a bit wrong. This is a novel of language and games. A novel about art, literature, love. A novel about the way one thinks and the way one processes. A novel about author and narrator and characters. This is a novel where I wonder about Barthes' "The Death of the Author". This is a novel to underline.

I enjoyed the first half of this novel far more than the second half. While both sections of this novel deal with some dark themes, I felt the first section wasn't nearly as suffocating as the second section. I think this novel is perfect for fans of Lawrence Durrell, Henry Miller, Anais Nin, Marguerite Duras, etc.