Julio Cortázar: Around the Day in Eighty Worlds

[Amoxcalli]

Buenos días,

Fortune had it that I encountered this novel in a bookshop today. I had never heard of Julio Cortázar (don't stone me!) before and being the poor student that I am, I didn't buy it straight away. I'm fascinated by the title however (don't you have that sometimes, that you fall in love with a title and are filled with a strong desire to read said book, even if you haven't got a clue who wrote it or what it's about?), so I did a little research on the internet, mainly wikipedia.

Sadly, the page on this novel is a little uninformative at best, so I clicked on the author's page and read that instead, hoping to get a better idea of his style and common themes and whatnot. From what I gathered, his novel Hopscotch is his most famous, which led me to assume it's also one of his best (correct me if I'm wrong!).

Oh dear, I'm getting hopelessly off track here. Anyway, what I was going to ask is the following:

Is Around the Day in Eighty Worlds a great novel, one worth reading or something to be avoided, can I read this one first or is it recommended that I read other works by him first and last but not least, is it required that I read Verne's work to which the title of this novel alludes first or is it enough to know the general gist of said story (which I do)?

I thank you for your time.

[Daniel del Real]

Originally Posted by Amoxcalli

Is Around the Day in Eighty Worlds a great novel, one worth reading or something to be avoided, can I read this one first or is it recommended that I read other works by him first and last but not least, is it required that I read Verne's work to which the title of this novel alludes first or is it enough to know the general gist of said story (which I do)?

I thank you for your time.

First of all I wouldn't say it is a novel. This is more a collage from different literary genres, a mix of short story, frames, article, chronicle, foot notes, etc. I definitely would not recommend to start reading Cortázar with this book. I'd say you go first to his short stories, so youn can have an idea his writing style and his ideas. Don't go to his novels either, specially Rayuela (Hopscotch) since it s a little complicated for a beginner in Cortazar.
On the other hand you don't need to know anything about Jules Verne book to read this one.
Now it's up to you my friend.
Cheers

[Amoxcalli]

Thank you very much indeed. I'll read some of his short stories first then (any recommendations?) and, provided I like his style, try Around the Day in Eighty Worlds after that. I'm still very much intrigued by the concept though, both of Rayuela and AtDiEW. Good writer, I presume?

[Daniel del Real]

Originally Posted by Amoxcalli

Thank you very much indeed. I'll read some of his short stories first then (any recommendations?) and, provided I like his style, try Around the Day in Eighty Worlds after that. I'm still very much intrigued by the concept though, both of Rayuela and AtDiEW. Good writer, I presume?

Personally I think that Cortazar is an amazing writer. However I admire him more as a short story writer than as a novelist. Hopscotch is a very interesting experiment bringing the reader one step ahead making him an active reader. Unfortunately, the rest of his novels does not stand to the same quality than Hospcotch.
I don't know in what language are you thinking reading his short stories. If the language changes, it depends the way the publish them. In english there is a volume named Blow-up and other Stories, but being honest I don't know what tales it includes, because I read them in Spanish.

Doesn't matter. Try any short story from him and tell me if you liked it.