''Hopscotch'' () is a
novel
A novel is an extended work of narrative fiction usually written in prose and published as a book. The word derives from the for 'new', 'news', or 'short story (of something new)', itself from the , a singular noun use of the neuter plural of ...
by
Argentine
Argentines, Argentinians or Argentineans are people from Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical, or cultural. For most Argentines, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their ...
writer
Julio Cortázar
Julio Florencio Cortázar (26 August 1914 – 12 February 1984; ) was an Argentine and naturalised French novelist, short story writer, poet, essayist, and translator. Known as one of the founders of the Latin American Boom, Cortázar influenc ...
. Written in Paris, it was published in Spanish in 1963 and in English in 1966. For the first U.S. edition, translator
Gregory Rabassa
Gregory Rabassa (March 9, 1922 – June 13, 2016) was an American literature, literary translation, translator from Spanish and Portuguese to English. He taught for many years at Columbia University and Queens College.
Life and career
Rabassa w ...
split the inaugural
National Book Award
The National Book Awards (NBA) are a set of annual U.S. literary awards. At the final National Book Awards Ceremony every November, the National Book Foundation presents the National Book Awards and two lifetime achievement awards to authors. ...
in the
translation
Translation is the communication of the semantics, meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The English la ...
category.
Widely regarded as one of the greatest, most innovative and influential Latin American novels, ''Hopscotch'' is a
stream-of-consciousness
In literary criticism, stream of consciousness is a narrative mode or method that attempts "to depict the multitudinous thoughts and feelings which pass through the mind" of a narrator. It is usually in the form of an interior monologue which i ...
novel which is advised to be read according to two (or three) different sequences of chapters; the third being read with chapters in any order. This novel is often referred to as a
counter-novel, as it was by
Cortázar himself. It meant an exploration with multiple endings, a neverending search through unanswerable questions.
"Table of Instructions" and structure
An author's note suggests that the book would best be read in one of two possible ways: either progressively from chapters 1 to 56, with all subsequent "expendable chapters" being excluded, or by "hopscotching" through the entire set of 155 chapters according to a "Table of Instructions" designated by the author. Chapter 55 is left out all together in this second method, and the book would end with a
recursive loop, as the reader is potentially left to "hopscotch" back and forth between chapters 58 and 131 infinitely. Cortázar also leaves the reader the option of choosing a unique path through the narrative. Several narrative techniques are employed throughout the book, and frequently overlap, including first person, third person, and a kind of stream-of-consciousness. Traditional spelling and grammatical rules are not always applied.
The first 36 chapters of the novel in numerical order are grouped under the heading "From the Other Side." They provide an account of Horacio Oliveira's life in Paris in the 1950s. La Maga and a band of bohemian intellectuals who call themselves the Serpent Club are other characters who appear in these chapters. Chapters 37 to 56 are collected under the heading "From this Side", and the action takes place in Argentina.
The third section of the book, under the heading "From Diverse Sides", does not need to be read in order to understand the plot, but it does contain solutions to certain puzzles that arise during the perusal of the first two parts. For example, the reader finds out a great deal more about the mysterious Morelli, as well as finding out how La Maga and Emmanuele first became acquainted. Through Morelli's writings, Cortazar hints at some of the motives behind the actual construction of ''Hopscotch'' (such as a desire to write a work in which the reader is a true co-conspirator)-
Legacy and influences
''Hopscotch'' has been acknowledged as "one of the great
existentialist
Existentialism is a family of philosophical views and inquiry that explore the human individual's struggle to lead an authentic life despite the apparent absurdity or incomprehensibility of existence. In examining meaning, purpose, and value ...
novels, worthy to stand alongside the efforts of
Sartre
Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was a French philosopher, playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and literary critic, considered a leading figure in 20th-century French ph ...
and
Camus", that is also "one of the most innovative
postmodern
Postmodernism encompasses a variety of artistic, cultural, and philosophical movements that claim to mark a break from modernism. They have in common the conviction that it is no longer possible to rely upon previous ways of depicting the wo ...
literary works, one that offered
deconstructionist
In philosophy, deconstruction is a loosely-defined set of approaches to understand the relationship between Text (literary theory), text and Meaning (linguistics), meaning. The concept of deconstruction was introduced by the philosopher Jacques ...
critics a text deconstructed before they laid hands on it."
The novel has been called the Latin American equivalent of
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...
's ''
Ulysses'' and its innovative, ground-breaking features was assimilated by influential Latin American writers such as
Mario Vargas Llosa
Jorge Mario Pedro Vargas Llosa, 1st Marquess of Vargas Llosa (28 March 1936 – 13 April 2025) was a Peruvian novelist, journalist, essayist and politician. Vargas Llosa was one of the most significant Latin American novelists and essayists a ...
,
Carlos Fuentes
Carlos Fuentes Macías (; ; November 11, 1928 – May 15, 2012) was a Mexican novelist and essayist. Among his works are ''The Death of Artemio Cruz'' (1962), '' Aura'' (1962), '' Terra Nostra'' (1975), '' The Old Gringo'' (1985) and '' Christop ...
and
Manuel Puig
Juan Manuel Puig Delledonne (December 28, 1932 – July 22, 1990), commonly called Manuel Puig, was an Argentine author. Among his best-known novels are '' La traición de Rita Hayworth'' ('' Betrayed by Rita Hayworth'', 1968), ''Boquitas pin ...
. Some consider it to be the greatest Latin American novel of the 20th century.
The novel was the inspiration for
Yuval Sharon
Yuval Sharon is an American opera and theater director from Naperville, Illinois, based in Los Angeles. He is the founder and co-artistic director of The Industry Opera. Since 2020, he has served as the Gary L. Wasserman Artistic Director of ...
's 2015 production of ''Hopscotch'', an
opera
Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...
by six composers and six
librettists set on multiple stages in Los Angeles.
The
Gotan Project
Gotan Project is a musical group based in Paris (France), consisting of musicians Eduardo Makaroff (Argentina), Philippe Cohen Solal (French) and Christoph H. Müller (Swiss), a former member of Touch El Arab.Madlen Albrecht ''Le développemen ...
's 2010 studio album ''
Tango 3.0'' includes a song "Rayuela" written in honor of the author.
References
Further reading
* There is a chapter devoted to the translation of "Hopscotch".
External links
Julio Cortázar on Charlie Parker, Art and Dylan Thomas (circa 1958–63)Julio Cortázar talks about Paris (circa 1963–67)''(French / Spanish)''
Lost in Paris with Julio and Carole (circa 1977–82)"Un tal Morelli: Teoría y práctica de la lectura en ''Rayuela''"by Santiago Juan-Navarro
*
"¿Y quién pagará esta llamada?"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hopscotch (Cortazar novel)
1963 Argentine novels
Cultural depictions of Dylan Thomas
Metafictional novels
New Wave
Novels by Julio Cortázar
Novels set in Argentina
Novels set in Buenos Aires
Novels set in Paris
Pantheon Books books
Postmodern novels
Spanish-language novels
Editorial Sudamericana books