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 (nineteen 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 (nineteen years ago) link

why do you love it?

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

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