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Hopscotch
Hopscotch | Julio Cortázar
The tragic history of two men and their circle of friends who live in Paris and Buenos Aires, Hopscotch, although written in 1963, was in fact the first hypertext novel, anticipating the age of the web with a non-structure that allows readers to take the chapters in any order they wish and invites them to be the architects of the novel themselves. Its 155 chapters, of which 99 are collated under a section called 'expendable chapters', are there for the reader to shuffle as he or she wishes. Characters are fluid and, depending on the order in which the reader progresses through the book, a name can appear to be a formal name or a nickname or a name belonging to several different characters. Soon after publication Hopscotch took on a cult status that it has never lost and is considered one of the great landmarks in Latin American fiction.
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Billypar
Hopscotch | Julio Cortázar
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Pickpick

Book 1: Oliveira, an Argentine intellectual, wanders Paris with his lover La Maga, about whom he and his equally insufferable intellectual friends sigh in exasperation when she has them explain their erudite references. But does she hold the key for his quest to understand the true nature of reality? If this description and the instructions pictured don't sound like a good time...trust your instincts! But I liked this cerebral hodgepodge. 👇

Billypar Having short chapters of meaningful moments with a few lengthy scenes made this readable without having much of a plot. Even though it's very idea-heavy, there are many beautiful poetic passages that refreshed my interest after some of the challenging sections🗼🌎 Book 2: I struggled more with this one - I liked about half of the 99 short chapters, that ranged from from excised plot from Book 1 to relevant philosophical musings and quotations 👇 4y
Billypar I liked revisiting Book 1 more than I expected, even though I skimmed some parts. There's such an interesting knot if connections woven between different sections that rereading pays off. But I couldn't understand many of the Book 2 chapters and I started getting impatient. Still, I prefer books I don't fully understand to ones that tie things up too neatly, so in that sense this was a singular reading experience that will stick with me. 4y
zezeki I like the sound of this concept. 4y
See All 23 Comments
vivastory It will stick with you. I read this one 16 years ago and still think about it regularly. Definitely overdue for a reread. If you ever want more Cortozar recommendations, let me know. I read all of his translated work right around the time I read Hopscotch. 4y
vivastory @zezeki It's fantastic, kinda like an intellectual choose your own adventure story 4y
vivastory Also, this book was the first instance in my reading life of having to try a food/drink (mate tea) because of the description. 4y
Billypar @zezeki @vivastory Agreed - it wasn't used the way I thought it would be, but it provided a very unique reading experience. 4y
Taylor This book has been on my radar to read for such a long time.... 4y
Billypar @vivastory I definitely want to read a story collection that includes Blow-up next because that I loved the film adaptation (I saw it before I was much of a reader, so I didn't even know who CortĂĄzar was at that point). Beyond that, i don't know anything about his other works...what are your favorites? 4y
vivastory His short stories are fantastic. I just noticed there is a new edition being pub. this September by Vintage with an introduction by Kevin Barry. One of my favorites is “62:A Model Kit.“ It contains some of the best elements of Hopscotch, without being derivative at all. A bit like a mashup between Paul Auster & Italo Calvino. I also loved “Cronopios & Famas.“ Very whimsical at times & really impossible to classify. I've seen excerpts 4y
vivastory (cont.) included in anthologies of flash fiction, prose poetry etc. I believe it was this book that led to Neruda's blurb about “Anyone who doesn't read Cortazar is doomed. etc“ 4y
Billypar @Taylor Parts of it did remind me of Savage Detectives - you can see how much of an influence he must have been on BolaĂąo. 4y
Billypar @vivastory An Auster-Calvino mashup sounds promising! Thanks for those recs- I'll definitely be checking out his stories. 4y
Liz_M Impressive! For some reason the idea of this book intimidates me 😜, but I do love a non-linear experimental work. I'll have to acquire a copy. 4y
Billypar @Liz_M I'd say it wasn't as challenging as works from many modernist authors, but it was like an endurance test of trying to interpret the larger meaning (I was exhausted by the end!) I'll be interested in your take when you pick it up. 4y
Billypar @vivastory @Taylor @Liz_M Just read an interesting essay contrasting contemporary 'fragmented novels' with older ones like Hopscotch. The reading has several favorites of mine- I would add Atwood's Blind Assassin and Oyeyemi's Mr. Fox as two other important examples: http://www.fractiousfiction.com/rise_of_the_fragmented_novel.html 4y
Taylor @Billypar Yeah, Bolaño mentions Cortazar in “The Savage Detectives,” or in one of his books—can‘t remember which—and also mentions “Hopscotch” specifically. When I first saw it at the bookstore and thought about reading it I didn‘t even know how big a deal it is. (edited) 4y
Suet624 @vivastory, like you, I read this many years ago. I might have actually been too young to read it. My heart skipped a beat when I saw this post and I realized I wanted to read it again. 4y
vivastory Thanks for the link! A lot of my favorites on there, also a few that are on my TBR. Have you read Cloud Atlas? 4y
vivastory @Suet624 I think I'm going to reread it in a couple of months. If you're interested I'll tag you! 4y
vivastory And yes, Atwood's Blind Assassin belongs on the list too! 4y
Billypar @vivastory Yeah, I love Cloud Atlas. And Mitchell has discussed how 'If on a Winter's Night...', also on the list, was the inspiration for Cloud Atlas - but he wanted to try finishing the interrupted stories. 4y
Suet624 @vivastory Yes! Let me know! 4y
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ONH
Hopscotch | Julio Cortázar
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“Thus they went along, Punch and Judy, attracting each other and repelling, as love must do if it is not to end up as calendar art or a pop tune. But love, that word...”

Reading this novel straight through first, and then I will jump chp to chp as Cortázar advises. This is not easy to read— the sentences are long, dense with metaphor and language, and filled with bits of French and allusions to art and music. I‘m enjoying the challenge though!

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LiterRohde
Hopscotch | Julio Cortázar
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“Sо they had begun to walk about in a fabulous Paris, following routes born of a clochard phrase, of an attic lit up in the darkness of a street's end, stopping in little confidential squares to kiss on the benches or look at the hopscotch game, those childish rites of a pebble and a hop on one leg to get into Heaven, Home.”

#StarTrekSummerJune | 7: #MoveAlongHome

📷: Made with Typorama

Megabooks Lovely 💗💗 5y
vivastory One of my favorite novels 5y
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RiaWritten
Hopscotch | Julio Cortázar
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So I‘ve been told about this book that it is, alternately, the greatest and most profoundly moving book of all time and that it is the most pretentious piece of crap ever put to paper. So naturally I have to figure out for myself which one it is.

BookwormAHN Nice nails 💜 5y
13 likes1 comment
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alegx
Rayuela | Julio Cortázar
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...better late than never, I suppose?

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Babs_book_obsession
Hopscotch | Julio Cortázar
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Mehso-so

The writing is beautiful. Pick this up if you want philosophy and beautiful prose. It is not always easy to understand and the main character is a dick. He drinks with his 'literary' friends, discusses music, philosophy etc. all with a disdain for everyone else's opinions, especially the women, whom they merely humor because they are so cute and frustrating when they are straining their inferior brains trying to understand the discussion. Grrrr.

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Debfer

"Há ausências que representam um verdadeiro triunfo. " julio cortazar {o jogo da amarelinha}

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Viko
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Sadly, I didn't read as much as I wanted, but, I did read some very good books

bookloo Still amazing! Especially since you read and finished Crime and Punishment. 😅♥️ 7y
Viko Hiii! I just found this comment... Sorry it took so long to reply... Gotta say, not a big fan of C&P 7y
2 likes2 comments
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alessandrafn
Hopscotch | Julio Cortázar
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#AwesomeAutumnBooks By @Jess7 | Day 12
They're not all new authors, I guess: Tommy Wieringa, JĂşlio CortĂĄzar, Craig Thompson, James S. A. Corey and Neal Stephenson. But I've never read anything by these people, so it must count!

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CaroPi
Rayuela | Julio Cortázar
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And this is part 2. The ones I have as ebook.#aprilbookshowers #day6 #publishedinthe1960s

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Sharpeipup
Rayuela | Julio Cortázar
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This sounds like the ultimate choose your own adventure book.

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CaroPi
Rayuela | Julio Cortázar
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First where the physical books and here are a few of the ones I have in digital format. Part 2/2 ... #riotgrams #day3 #onewordtitle #bookriot

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Faibka
Rayuela | Julio Cortázar
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From Argentina. Like the title suggests, the structure of this book is like a game of hopscotch. The book is divided into several chapters like any other book and you can read them from start to finish in order but the author invites you to play along by suggesting a special sequence of chapters which give a different read. This is one of the best books I've ever read in both content and structure.
#seasonsreadings2016 #notinenglish

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Pat1287
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A dog, a book and amazing quotes..."I touch your mouth, I touch the edge of your mouth with my finger, I am drawing it as if it were something my hand was sketching, as if for the first time your mouth opened a little, and all I have to do is close my eyes to erase it and start all over again (...), and which by some chance that I do not seek to understand coincides exactly with your mouth which smiles beneath the one my hand is sketching on you."

MrBook 😻 8y
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MoonChild7
Hopscotch | Julio Cortázar
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"another more secret and evasive freedom works on him, but only he (and then just barely) is conscious of its movements."

MrBook Great paragraph! 8y
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MoonChild7
Hopscotch | Julio Cortázar
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j. cortázar, you get me.

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