Litsy

Trafik | Rikki Ducornet

so-so

I'm...not entirely sure what I just read. It's a weird and philosophical sci-fi romp to be sure and I really enjoyed some of the language play and the mostly human woman and her robot companion but as for what exactly happened, well, I'm not sure i could tell you. That may be to blame on format since I listened to the audiobook, but I also suspect a certain amount of esotericness was the author's goal. Can't say it was entirely unenjoyable though.

41 likes

Billypar

Hopscotch | Julio Cortázar

pick

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. ðŸ‘‡

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 sectionsðŸ—¼ðŸŒŽ 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 ðŸ‘‡ 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 CortÃ¡zar 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 â€œ62:A Model Kit.â€œ 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 â€œCronopios & Famas.â€œ 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 â€œAnyone who doesn't read Cortazar is doomed. etcâ€œ 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 BolaÃ±o. 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 ðŸ˜œ, 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 â€œThe Savage Detectives,â€ or in one of his booksâ€”can‘t remember whichâ€”and also mentions â€œHopscotchâ€ 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

47 likes1 stack add23 comments

AMVP

Blow-Up: And Other Stories | Julio Cortázar

I've only read the first story so far, but already I can tell this is gonna be one of my favorite books I read this year.

8 likes1 stack add

eldiaquemeodies

Historias de Cronopios y de Famas / Cronopios and Famas | Julio Cortázar

so-so

TodavÃa lo estoy leyendo. Son cuentos cortos que no tienen una conexiÃ³n muy lÃ³gica. Debe ser por el estilo surrealista de CortÃ¡zar, pero no sÃ© si soy muy aficionada. Las historias me dejan sin entender quÃ© pasÃ³ y nada tiene mucho sentido.

Faibka

Cortazar Cuentos Completos | Julio Cortázar

#7days7covers #7covers7days #covercrush Day2

26 likes

wanderinglynn

The Winners | Julio Cortázar

Announcing the #BFCr3 Winners!!! ðŸ‘ðŸ»ðŸŽ‰ðŸ™ŒðŸ»ðŸ¥³
Expect an email from me sometime this evening.

Thank you everyone who participated in Round 3! You all make #BFC awesome!

tjwill, Cityofamber, AprilMae, jenniferw88, dariazeoli, jb72, Scochrane26, marleed

tjwill Thanks! And thanks for hosting and organizing the Book Fitness Challenge! It was fun! 5y

jb72 Wow thank you! You have done such a wonderful job organizing these challenges. 5y

marleed Oh my gosh. Thank you!! I‘m m a notorious nonwinner of drawings! 5y

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Cityofamber Yay! Thanks! ðŸ˜ 5y

kspenmoll Thanks for running these! Haven‘t posted last week but have enjoyed the camaraderie! 5y

wanderinglynn @jb72 Did you get my email? Because I haven't seen a response from you? 5y

jb72 @wanderinglynn I just checked and no I did not. My email is jljaded@msn.com if needed again. 5y

wanderinglynn @jb72 I resent it. If you still don't get it, please email me at litsy.bfc@gmail.com. ðŸ˜€ 5y

jb72 @wanderinglynn got it! And replied! 5y

78 likes9 comments

sherryvdh

The Winners | Julio Cortázar

I won a bag of books from my library's summer reading challenge! I cannot wait to see what's inside! Stay tuned, I'll post the results after I feed the boys and check it out. #LoveMyLibrary

LoveToReadLiveToRead How exciting!! 5y

37 likes1 comment

ONH

Hopscotch | Julio Cortázar

â€œThus 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...â€

Reading this novel straight through first, and then I will jump chp to chp as Cortázar advises. This is not easy to readâ€” 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!

5 likes

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