Julio Cortázar's collection gathers eight stories in which ordinary scenes slip into the fantastic. In the title story, two parallel narratives, one set in ancient Rome and one in modern Paris, converge in an arena fire. Other pieces play with jealousy, time, and the permeable edges between reality and imagination, with Cortázar's usual mix of precision and mischief. He moves between Buenos Aires and Paris, and between the realistic and the surreal, with a playful narrative voice.
Fans of Borges, Latin American fiction and short stories that bend reality will find a rewarding collection. It suits readers who like to get lost in a puzzle, and those who want to see why Cortázar is a central writer of the Boom era.
Deep, open-ended and thought-provoking; a moderate read.
Best for readers like The Literary Connoisseur. Which reader are you?
- Published
- 1966
- Language
- EN
