Mr. Optimus Oloop is a Finnish statistician living in Buenos Aires. His life runs according to a methodical and rigid schedule, with everything--from his meals down to his regular visits to the city brothels--timed to the minute. But when an insignificant traffic delay upsets this sacred schedule, and on the day of Oloop's engagement party, the clock begins ticking down towards a catastrophe that no amount of planning will avert. A playful and unpredictable masterpiece of Argentinean literature, raising comparisons to Ulysses and serving as a primary inspiration to authors such as Julio Cortazar and Alfonso Reyes, Op Oloopis the first novel by lawyer, Hellenist, boxing referee, and decagenarian Juan Filloy (1894-2000) to be translated into English.
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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
The first English translation of the 1934 novel by prolific Argentinean author Filloy (who died in 2000 at age 106) is a meandering day-in-the-life chronicle of Optimus Oloop, a Finnish statistician living in Buenos Aires, who is described as method personified—an accomplished executioner of spontaneity. His wanderings begin one morning when, on a routine trip to a Turkish-Roman bath, a minor traffic accident unglues him from his punctual reality. Filloy zips frantically between lengthy ruminations steeped in flowery, occasionally madeup language as Op unravels recklessly through his day. Like its main character in the throes of his breakdown, the narrative is at turns fascinating and impossible: Filloy shines in small moments when he displays his expert wordplay—Op's hilarious journal of the prostitutes he's known, or the occasional colorful aphorism—but more often the dense landscape of his language swallows the narrative and ditches the reader. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review
"We Argentinians have lost the last of our true comedians, Juan Filloy, philosopher of the soul: a man whose life managed to span three centuries, because he always knew how to live outside the current of the times." --Luisa Valenzuela
"Humor is 'all pervading' or it's nothing at all, as Juan Filloy, Shakespeare, and Max Ernst always knew." --Julio Cortazar
"Lately [Filloy] has been rediscovered by younger writers and critics, who have compared him with Jorge Luis Borges and even with Balzac . . . Freud liked [Op Oloop] so much that he sent Filloy a hand-written letter of congratulations." --The Telegraph, from the author's obituary
"Humor is 'all pervading' or it's nothing at all, as Juan Filloy, Shakespeare, and Max Ernst always knew." --Julio Cortazar
"Lately [Filloy] has been rediscovered by younger writers and critics, who have compared him with Jorge Luis Borges and even with Balzac . . . Freud liked [Op Oloop] so much that he sent Filloy a hand-written letter of congratulations." --The Telegraph, from the author's obituary
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Character development is the name of the game.,
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This review is from: Op Oloop (Latin American Literature) (Paperback)
The hook for this book, that it is the story of a man trapped by time, numbers, and schedules, is really only the beginning of this story. Op Oloop is a tragic comedy about life, love, war, sexuality, social classes and everything else that we do, and that is done to us, during our lives. Not much "happens" in this tale of one man's day -- this isn't a story for those who are looking to read about an exciting, plot-driven murder mystery story or the like. However, although this is primarily the story of a journey through one man's mind, you'll still find yourself holding your breath as you read, wondering what will happen next.
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