End of the Game [Paperback]

Julio Cortazar (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Harpercollins; First Edition edition (December 1978)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060906375
• ISBN-13: 978-0060906375
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #597,341 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Julio Cortazar should have won the Nobel for Literature!, September 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: End of the Game (Paperback)

This is a great writer! He is funny, fantastic and humerous, and has great compassion and insight into the human heart, as witness his lead story of the collection. The movie blow-up (the original) was based on his story in this collection. A reader of a myster novel finds himself in the plot, a man becomes a fish, a couple are gradually moved out of their house by mysterous house guests and a young girl comes face to face with her disability in the title story, and her inability to face love. great collection.

4.0 out of 5 stars Different than the Spanish original, but not a bad collection, December 11, 2011

By 

David G. - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: End of the Game (Paperback)

Readers familiar with the original Spanish-language collection, "Final del juego," may be somewhat disappointed with this edition. In spite of the name, this is not the same collection translated into English. While there are some stories shared between the two editions ("Axolotl" and "La noche boca arriba"/"The Night Face Up"), this edition seems compiled along the lines of a "Cortázar's Greatest Hits." Consequently, it includes many of Cortázar's other commonly anthologized stories, like "Bestiaro"/"Bestiary" and "Casa tomada"/"House Taken Over."

While this is certainly not a bad thing for readers who do not know Spanish or readers who are interested in a quick introduction to Cortázar's major works in short fiction, and while the translations present in this edition are effective English renderings of their Spanish-language originals, a reader who does know Spanish (even if not fluently) would be much better off reading the original collection, "Final del juego." The original collection is organized along the lines of playing with the reader; it has three sections, each of which present the reader with games which are more difficult to understand than those in the previous section. Each individual story takes on an added layer of significance from this overarching authorial intention. This collection lacks that organizing motive.

For English-speakers interested in Cortázar, however, I highly recommend this edition.

5.0 out of 5 stars One of a kind, February 2, 2004

By 

"ndanniep" (Shoreline, WA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: End of the Game (Paperback)

This is one of the most amazing books I've ever read. Don't be thrown off by the "out of print"...it's still available--now under the name "Blow-up"... republished after one of the stories was made into a movie.