Julio Cortázar (August 26, 1914-February 12, 1984) is an Argentinian writer, famous for being one of the founders of the Latin American Boom. Actually, though he was from Argentina, he spent most of his time outside the country, first because his family lived in Europe (he was born in a Belgium embassy during the German occupation) and later in a self-imposed exile in France because of his dislike of the Peron’s administration. He became a supporter of leftism (including the Sandinista revolution in Nicaragua) and critic of the human rights violations in Latin America. He died in 1984 of leukemia.
His work is amply revered by the Latin American critics and writers, full of Mind Screws around every corner, modernism worthy of James Joyce, wordplay, tracts of stream of consciousness everywhere and bend or just break any convention of literature itself. Some of his most famous works are Rayuela (Hopscotch, 1963), 62, modelo para armar (62: A Model Kit, 1968), Bestiario (1951) and Final del Juego (1956).
Some of his writings (particularly his short stories) have influenced movies, like Weekend of Jean-Luc Godard or Blow Up of Michelangelo Antonioni.
Tropes about him and his worknote :
- Author Appeal: France and jazz appear in a lot of stories.
- Closed Circle: "South Highway" uses a long traffic jam... a very long traffic jam. The Winners uses a ship in the sea.
- Dramatic Slip: One of the drabbles in "Unusual Occupations" (from the book Cronopios and Famas).
- Gainax Ending: He was also fond of Mind Screw type of endings for some of his stories.
- Incompatible Orientation: A key plot point in 62: A Model Kit is this dynamic between Juan and Hélène. Maybe.
- Maintain the Lie: In "The Health of the Sick", to not give a woman a shock, her family has to pretend that her son is still alive.
- Mayincatec: Curiously averted in "The Night Face Up". You don’t hear about the Olmecs in your average short story.
- No Name Given: The characters in "South Highway" are only referred by the cars they drive.
- Nothing Is Scarier: Whatever the presence in "House Taken Over" is, it's never described, and that is very, very unsettling.
- Older Than They Look: The picture at the top of this page was taken in 1967. Yes, he was 52-53 years old at the time.
- Perfectly Cromulent Word: 'Cronopio' is the most famous word invented by Cortázar. Supposedly it refers to someone who is naive and idealistic, disorganized, unconventional, and sensitive (he even refers to them as 'creatures').
- Pun-Based Title: Around the Day in Eighty Worlds, A Manual for Manuel, etc. They work better in Spanish, obviously.
- Riddle for the Ages: Who or what occupied the house in "House Taken Over"?
- Smoking Is Cool: Cortázar always had a cigarette at hand.
- Verbal Tic: Cronopios sure like to say 'cronopio' a lot.
