Advice on reading Hopscotch?

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I'm planning now to try to read Cortazar's Hopscotch. I tried it once before, two years ago, and after about fifty pages (of reading the out-of-order version) I found myself utterly lost, and so very bored. It felt as compelling as reading an untranslated book written in a language I don't speak. Are there any veterans out there with advice? Should I read it beginning to end or jumping around? Are there any companion books/websites to check out?

― David Elinsky (David Elinsky), Friday, 28 May 2004 19:55 (twenty years ago) link

very smart people
that I know hate this a lot
I myself love it

read sequentially,
it is just a novel so
you won't get confused

the extra chapters
are just comments and sidetracks
maybe skip that shit

― Begs2Differ (Begs2Differ), Saturday, 29 May 2004 02:31 (twenty years ago) link

why do you love it?

― slow learner (slow learner), Monday, 31 May 2004 01:04 (twenty years ago) link

the reason I ask is because I too have tried several times to read it but alas no success yet. maybe you have a vision that would help others to crack this book.

also, if you ignore the "extra" chapters, then they kind of sit there unread, and then...? you have prose poems? deleted scenes?

― slow learner (slow learner), Tuesday, 1 June 2004 13:02 (twenty years ago) link

three years pass...

Picked this up off my to be read shelf over the weekend and saw the instructions on how to read it and immediately gave up :(

― Jeff LeVine, Monday, 24 March 2008 16:16 (sixteen years ago) link

fifteen years pass...

I am about to start this, which route should I take?

― il lavoro mi rovina la giornata (PBKR), Wednesday, 10 January 2024 17:40 (eight months ago) link

The express highway

― The Glittering Worldbuilders (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 10 January 2024 19:50 (eight months ago) link

Drop it on your toe and scream and run

― Nabozo, Wednesday, 10 January 2024 20:23 (eight months ago) link

El camino real.

― The Glittering Worldbuilders (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 10 January 2024 20:30 (eight months ago) link

The extra stuff is basically extra so you can just read it in linear order and read the other stuff whenever you like if you enjoy the main order.

― The Glittering Worldbuilders (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 10 January 2024 20:31 (eight months ago) link

Not that I myself have ever finished it, neither in English nor in Spanish. I also kind of feel Gregory Rabassa is overrated as a translator, but he was in the right place at the right time.

― The Glittering Worldbuilders (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 10 January 2024 20:32 (eight months ago) link

Heh. I Saw Gregory Rabassa On The Subway Today

― The Glittering Worldbuilders (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 10 January 2024 20:34 (eight months ago) link

La autopista del sur

― The Glittering Worldbuilders (James Redd and the Blecchs), Wednesday, 10 January 2024 20:59 (eight months ago) link

I'm going to read the entire thing, including all "bonus" parts, so if I am planning to do that, hopscotch is probably the way to go.

― il lavoro mi rovina la giornata (PBKR), Thursday, 11 January 2024 00:20 (eight months ago) link

Suit yourself

― The Glittering Worldbuilders (James Redd and the Blecchs), Thursday, 11 January 2024 03:42 (eight months ago) link

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