Cronopios and Famas

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant and boldly experimental
Review: "Cronopios and Famas," by Julio Cortazar, is one of those wonderful books that stands in a class by itself. It has been translated from Spanish into English by Paul Blackburn. The book is a collection of interconnected short pieces that often blur the distinctions between the short story and the essay; some of the pieces further share aspects of poetry and drama. Cortazar also incorporates elements of fantasy, science fiction, horror, and comedy into this work. Call "Cronopios and Famas" a novel, if you prefer; or simply label it "experimental literature." But whatever you call it, read it!

The book is divided into four main sections, each of which is further subdivided into several short pieces. The first section, "The Instruction Manual," contains such pieces as "Instructions on How to Cry" and "Instructions on How to Climb a Staircase." Cortazar invites us to look at everyday things and actions from a radically altered perspective; in the process, he seems to point towards an occult, or metaphysical, wisdom.

The second section, "Unusual Occupations," details the antics of a bizarre family (think TV's "Addams Family" as drawn by Dr. Seuss, with input from Franz Kafka). The third section, "Unstable Stuff," is the most varied and chaotic section of the book, and is rich in fantastic and absurd elements.

The final section of the book has the same title as the entire book: "Cronopios and Famas." In several short vignettes Cortazar draws a portrait of an alternate society populated by three different types (races? castes? species?) of beings: Cronopios, Famas, and Esperanzas. Cortazar describes the individuals of each group, and details many instances of social interactions between the groups. This final section of the book is reminiscent of Aldous Huxley's "Brave New World," but more cryptic. Along the way we witness the invention of the "wild-artichoke clock" and get a glimpse of "GENITAL, the Cigarette with Sex."

"Cronopios and Famas" is not for the lazy reader. I must admit that after my first reading of the book, I didn't really like it that much. But the second time I read it, I said to myself, "This is brilliant! What was wrong with me the first time I read it?" I wonder what my reactions will be on my third and fourth readings. This book, rich in irony and remarkable images, is truly a remarkable achievement by one of the most innovative masters of 20th century literature.

Rating:
Summary: Makes me happy.
Review:

This is on my list of favorite books of all time; it is a great book not because it subtly describes the frivolties of life and not because it shows the persistence of human spirit, blah blah blah... It is a beautiful and great book because it makes you laugh - in its own great non funny way. It is not laughing out loud, of course, more like chuckling to yourself as you read it. You even get to identify with the characters of the book, with their weird perks and idiosyncracies. In our real world, the cronopios have a great cult following (at least online) - in the book, they are what people strive to be: worry-free animals in pursuit of happiness.

I read this book on a regular basis, mostly in short pieces. It is written in short chapters, so even when you are too tired to read anything else, this will cheer you up.

Recommended for all conoisseurs of inventive and experimental literature.

Rating:
Summary: Great book, pity about the translation
Review: All the reviewers have said that this book is wonderful and they're better than me at saying it. Suffice it to say that I agree with them and that any money that's not spent in buying this book is wasted.

But to be original, I'd like to add that the translation could be a lot better. The stye is quite ambivalent, attempting to anglicize place names in some stories and going back to the original Spanish in others. What point is there in mentioning "The Barrio Pacifico" alongside "Humboldt Street"? Give us either "The suburb of Pacifico" or "The Calle Humboldt". Why "Calle Serrano" and not "Serrano Street"? General Custer incongruously shows up in one of the stories too, which is a bit jarring. The result is all too often a mishmash of tones and styles which is confusing and not even good English. What the heck is "gifting" anyway? Why not use the more normal (and far less pretentious) "giving"?

Furthermore, the translator seems to have a complete lack of understanding of Spanish genders. He tends to get male and female genders and the occasional noun confused. Such carelesness is a pity. In the original Spanish the Esperanzas are clearly female and not male as Mr. Blackburn seems to think. His understanding of Argentine Spanish ("Castellano") is somewhat vague, which is also a pity: a great deal of Cortàzar's charm lay in his ear for ordinary everyday speech which introduces a note of sane humanity into the weirdest of his tales.

To be fair, translating Cortàzar is NOT an easy task. It'd be a real job for footnotes. Extensive footnotes at that, because a lot is said impicitly about characters and situations from the way they speak or where or on which street the story is set.

I suppose the question is whether the average Anglophone really cares about all this detail, or does it all get in the way of the story? I was born in Buenos Aires and so I will never be able to be completely objective about translated works.

If you're not a purist or aren't particularly hung up on Buenos Aires, don't worry about my review and buy the book anyway. You'll be glad you did. I tend to be a bit pedantic. But I can't help thinking that a definitive translation of this book has yet to be printed. The only reason I have not given this five stars is because the rating should be about this particular edition and not about the work itself.

Rating:
Summary: Great book, awsome writer
Review: Julio Cortazar is one of the best Argentinean writers. He is the best at depicting the idiosyncrasy of the typical argentinean. This is a perfect book to introduce yourself to his very witty and particular way of viewing the world, and specially ourselves. I recommend Rayuela (his master piece) along with this one, although Rayuela has more colloquial speech and a very complicated structure.
He and Borges are among the best writers of spanish literature in the 20th century.

Rating:
Summary: Cronopios and famas
Review: This book will open your mind like it or not. The great writing style serves to seduce you as it works on you. This is the only book I would say demandeds to be read two or more times at the least. Once don't with it you can't help but feel like you know something that the people around you don't as if some how you had an edge.

Rating:
Summary: instructions on how to be joyful
Review: This is the only book I ever stole from a library in my youth, and it helped me become a writer. The sometimes only page-long pieces create a uniquely Cortazar-ian world that contains: instructions on how to wind a watch (while death waits patiently in the background), the adventures of a bear lost in your plumbing pipes, and the story of a line that runs from a letter thrown on a table, into and out of a painting, onto the street to catch a bus and ultimately to a chillingly logical destination which would be the envy of Poe or Borges... Like Breton's NADJA, Brautigan's IN WATERMELON SUGAR and Calvino's INVISIBLE CITIES, it's a collection as measureless and resonant as imagination itself. What a fine purchase it will make: you're not only getting a great Cortazar book, the book will be getting you for its own rebirth-day.

Rating:
Summary: if it's good enough for Neruda and Fuentes.....
Review: Went into this expecting something like a cross between Calvino and Carpentier. Though the first section tends towards the cerebral, the book is really a mix of surrealism and matter-of-fact fantasy. It's my first exposure to Cortazar but my impression is that he is attempting more than anything to jar our tacit acceptance of definitions. In the first essay he writes, "go ahead, deny up and down that the delicate act of turning the doorknob, that act which may transform everything, is done with the indifferent vigor of a daily reflex." Once he shakes you out of your lethargy in The Instruction Manual, he moves past ourselves and begins to confront how such an approach to things like singing and climbing the stairs affect familial and social relations. In the final section he introduces us to a world completely foreign, where we're stripped of all landmarks. Though it's short, it's one of the richest fantasy worlds I've encountered. Writing the type of book that Cortazar did could have been disastrous in less skilled hands, but he has the child-like perception and literary skill to pull it off. I personally enjoyed Postal and Telegraph Service, where a family takes over the local post office and becomes an affront by introducing such novelties as giving shots of vodka and veal cutlets to those sending money to relatives. Rain drops committing suicide, an easy chair in which guests pass away, and the aftermath of a meal described as "little loose bits of death." If all books were as delightful, his story End of the World of the End, where the earth is gradually covered over with the amassed writings of scribes, would not be so unwelcome a fate. Read it, and like the dancing fama, your solitude will be less embittered.

Rating:
Summary: Buy this book!
Review: Years ago I heard readings from this book on KPFK, and was quite impressed ( enough so to keep the tape for some 40 years) What a treat to find that it is available in paperback. Cortazar's sense of humour and sense of the absurd along with his poetic style are unsurpassed. If you have never read this one, it is a real treat. If I had to pick ten books to take to the proverbial desert island, this would be one of them!