Reading Order
HopscotchCortázar Hopscotch Reading Order
Julio Cortázar's Hopscotch (1963) is the most formally radical novel in the Latin American tradition — the story of Horacio Oliveira, an Argentine intellectual in Paris and then Buenos Aires, organized as a novel that can be read in two different orders: straight through in the conventional sequence, or by following a chapter-hopping schema printed at the beginning that skips, repeats, and rearranges the narrative. Cortázar's intention was to create a novel that required the reader to participate in its construction, to choose between available orderings of experience rather than simply receiving a narrative. Hopscotch is simultaneously a love story, a philosophical novel about the possibility of authentic existence, a portrait of Paris bohemian life in the 1950s, and a meditation on what novels can do.
Where to start
Hopscotch
Complete Hopscotch Book List
- 1Buy
Hopscotch
Julio Cortázar·1963·Cortázar's masterpiece — readable in two orders (chapters 1-56 straight through, or in the chapter-hopping sequence 73-1-2-116-3-84...); reading the two-order version is the full experience and recommended for a first reading - 2Buy
Blow-Up and Other Stories
Julio Cortázar·1967·Cortázar's essential story collection — including 'Blow-Up' (basis of Antonioni's film), 'The Pursuer,' 'Axolotl,' and 'The Island at Noon'; for readers who want Cortázar's short fiction after Hopscotch - 3Buy
A Manual for Manuel
Julio Cortázar·1973·Cortázar's most politically engaged novel — the story of a group of Latin American expatriates in Paris who plan a kidnapping; more directly political than Hopscotch but organized around the same concerns about freedom, authenticity, and the relationship between politics and art
Hopscotch — Frequently Asked Questions
Which reading order should I use for Hopscotch?
Cortázar provides two options: read chapters 1-56 in order (Part One: From the Other Side, Part Two: From This Side) for a conventional but still extraordinary novel; or follow the hopping schema at the beginning, which begins 73-1-2-116-3-84-4-71-5-81-74-6-7-8-93-68... This second reading is the full experience Cortázar intended. Most readers who do the straight reading end up doing the hopping sequence afterward.
What order should I read Cortázar in?
Start with Hopscotch for the masterpiece, or with Blow-Up and Other Stories if you want to begin with shorter work. 'The Pursuer' in Blow-Up is a good single story to read first — a long story about a jazz musician that introduces Cortázar's concerns at manageable length.
What is Hopscotch about?
Hopscotch follows Horacio Oliveira, an Argentine intellectual, through two phases of his life: his time in Paris, where he is part of a bohemian group called the Serpent Club and is in a relationship with Maga, a Uruguayan woman he loves but cannot fully commit to; and his return to Buenos Aires, where he works in a circus and then in an asylum. The novel is about the search for an authentic way of being in the world — what Cortázar calls 'the kibbutz of desire.'
Monthly Newsletter
Never miss a big release
Get the most anticipated upcoming books delivered to your inbox once a month — no spam, no filler.
Monthly only. Unsubscribe anytime.
Book links are Amazon affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, BookReleaseRadar earns from qualifying purchases at no extra cost to you.