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A review by sarahreadsaverylot
Blow-up, and Other Stories by Julio Cortázar
5.0
To quote another review, "Cortazar displays throughout his stories the ability to elevate them above the condition of those gimmicky tales which depend for effect solely on a twist ending. His genius here lies in the knack for constructing striking, artistically 'right' subordinate circumstances out of which his fantastic and metaphysical whimsies appear normally to spring." (--Saturday Review)
These tales deserve a place alongside the canonical short story greats.
Imagine, if you will, that James Joyce had written [b:The Garden of Forking Paths|9678830|The Garden of Forking Paths |Jorge Luis Borges|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1353676269s/9678830.jpg|14566729], or that Jorge Luis Borges had written [b:The Dead|23289|The Dead|James Joyce|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1320491997s/23289.jpg|750536]. Metaphysics, illusion, suspense, imagination...he crafts an excruciating balance between the utterly mundane and the unbearably surreal, all seasoned with that Nabokovian ex-pat flavour of human detail and scenic artistry.
Personal favourites are Letter to a Young Lady in Paris, House Taken Over, the title piece, and At Your Service, though the entire collection is a balanced and thoroughly well conceived work.
These tales deserve a place alongside the canonical short story greats.
Imagine, if you will, that James Joyce had written [b:The Garden of Forking Paths|9678830|The Garden of Forking Paths |Jorge Luis Borges|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1353676269s/9678830.jpg|14566729], or that Jorge Luis Borges had written [b:The Dead|23289|The Dead|James Joyce|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1320491997s/23289.jpg|750536]. Metaphysics, illusion, suspense, imagination...he crafts an excruciating balance between the utterly mundane and the unbearably surreal, all seasoned with that Nabokovian ex-pat flavour of human detail and scenic artistry.
Personal favourites are Letter to a Young Lady in Paris, House Taken Over, the title piece, and At Your Service, though the entire collection is a balanced and thoroughly well conceived work.