A review by thealbapoems
Rayuela by Julio Cortázar, Julio Cortázar

dark reflective sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

Honestly the only reason I read this is because it’s considered a classic, and I was curious about the whole jumping chapters, interactive reading experience, thing, buuut I did not love this book. I think it’s engaging, but the writing style is a bit dense, the main character Horacio is complicated, pedantic, and just in general not a great person, which is fine, totally fine, but it’s ALL about him. In my opinion, the style perfectly accommodates to his personality and shows to the reader what it’s like to be in his head- spoiler, not pleasant- but I don’t know, I think it was just a case of extreme sad boy hours. You might think this is a weird way to refer to the main character of a modern classic, but there is something about nihilistic, philosophical, constant references to literature, music, and name dropping that irks me. We get it, you are too cultured that’s the bane of your existence, but I just can’t empathize. On the other hand, there are some scenes that are so beautifully written, and some specific points where the conversation between characters is poignant, and the play with words and sentence structure effective. The scene that I found the most interesting is when
Talita, Traveler and Oliveira build that makeshift bridge between the windows so that she can give Oliveira his tea leaves (mate in Spanish). Something about the action, the character interactions and the space was deeply moving
. Finally, I will confess that I did not read all of the optional chapters. After chapter 56, I tried a few of the extra chapters, hoping I would get different perspectives, or more encounters between the characters, but guess what I found? More internal monologue. I’m sure that if I studied this book at school I would like it more, but as of now, I’m happy I read it, but I’m not sure I’d recommend it.