Hopscotch () is a novel by Argentine writer Julio Cortázar. Written in Paris, it was published in Spanish in 1963 and in English in 1966. For the first U.S. edition, translator Gregory Rabassa split the inaugural National Book Award in the translation category.

Widely regarded as one of the greatest, most innovative and influential Latin American novels, Hopscotch is a stream-of-consciousness 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 novel has been called the Latin American equivalent of James Joyce's Ulysses and its innovative, ground-breaking features was assimilated by influential Latin American writers such as Mario Vargas Llosa, Carlos Fuentes and Manuel Puig. Some consider it to be the greatest Latin American novel of the 20th century.

The novel was the inspiration for Yuval Sharon's 2015 production of Hopscotch, an opera by six composers and six librettists set on multiple stages in Los Angeles.

The Gotan Project'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".
  • 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?"