Said to be Julio Cortázar’s first published story, this suspenseful tale is about a middle-aged brother and sister who, having never married, live quiet but contented lives in their aging family mansion. One night, their solitude is interrupted by strange noises coming from a disused wing of the house. The brother locks and bolts the door leading to that part of the house. Unfortunately, the title foreshadows the final outcome. The brother and sister know the identity of the intruders (referred to only as “they”), but this is not shared with the reader. Themes: the idle rich, isolation, fear, change. More…
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The Continuity of Parks
Julio Cortázar‘s The Continuity of Parks is unusual in that it is a “story within a story” in which the two stories come together. The title stems from the fact that part of the setting of both stories is a park, which we later learn to be the same park at the same time. A tired businessman relaxes with a book. He becomes absorbed in the story (a murder mystery), unaware that the book’s “hero” and “heroine” are nearby planning the same murder he is reading about… and that he is the intended victim! More…
Axolotl
Julio Cortázar gives away the plot of this story in the first paragraph: There was a time when I thought a great deal about the axolotls… Now I am an axolotl. The rest of the story talks about this Kafkaesque transformation, which is partial and may have only occurred in the protagonist’s mind. He (the axolotl part) sits in an aquarium tank watching himself (the unchanged part) looking in from the other side. Considering his life from this perspective seemingly builds the man’s self-esteem, and he no longer feels the need to return. Themes: loneliness, alienation, obsession, connection, enlightenment, inertia. More…
End of the Game
This Julio Cortázar story involves two “games”. One is the daily Statues role-play three adolescent girls perform to entertain passengers on a passing train. The second is also a game of pretend… ignoring the effect a debilitating disability will have on one of their lives. For the disabled girl (Letitia), Statues is the only physical activity in which she can match the others. They in turn are resentful of Letitia’s special treatment at home. When a boy on the train takes a special interest in Letitia, both games end. Themes: fantasy vs. reality, envy, guilt, confronting disability, coming of age. More…