Hopscotch | 
pickBook 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. đ
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 sectionsđźđ 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 đ 5y
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. 5y
zezeki I like the sound of this concept. 5y
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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. 5y
vivastory @zezeki It's fantastic, kinda like an intellectual choose your own adventure story 5y
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. 5y
Billypar @zezeki @vivastory Agreed - it wasn't used the way I thought it would be, but it provided a very unique reading experience. 5y
Taylor This book has been on my radar to read for such a long time.... 5y
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? 5y
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 â62:A Model Kit.â 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 âCronopios & Famas.â Very whimsical at times & really impossible to classify. I've seen excerpts 5y
vivastory (cont.) included in anthologies of flash fiction, prose poetry etc. I believe it was this book that led to Neruda's blurb about âAnyone who doesn't read Cortazar is doomed. etcâ 5y
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. 5y
Billypar @vivastory An Auster-Calvino mashup sounds promising! Thanks for those recs- I'll definitely be checking out his stories. 5y
Liz_M Impressive! For some reason the idea of this book intimidates me đ, but I do love a non-linear experimental work. I'll have to acquire a copy. 5y
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. 5y
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 5y
Taylor @Billypar Yeah, Bolaño mentions Cortazar in âThe Savage Detectives,â or in one of his booksâcan‘t remember whichâand also mentions âHopscotchâ 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) 5y
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. 5y
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? 5y
vivastory @Suet624 I think I'm going to reread it in a couple of months. If you're interested I'll tag you! 5y
vivastory And yes, Atwood's Blind Assassin belongs on the list too! 5y
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. 5y
Suet624 @vivastory Yes! Let me know! 5y
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