“Bestiary,” an early story published in 1951, contains many of the elements of poesy and mystery that are characteristic of the nineteenth century Symbolists so admired by Cortázar. His journey into the irrational is not a free-flowing adventure rather, it is a study of a particular corner of the mind that is common to all people.

Using symbols and metaphors for subconscious obsessions, Cortázar’s short fictions, unlike those of the Surrealists, are carefully constructed. He uses human beings’ worst nightmares to explore which fears control them and how phobias and dreams coexist with seemingly rational thought. Like Edgar Allan Poe, Cortázar is fascinated by terror. 1972, accessible online.Influenced by the European movements of nineteenth century Symbolism and twentieth century Surrealism, Julio Cortázar (26 August 1914 – 12 February 1984) combines symbols, dreams, and the fantastic with what seems to be an ordinary, realistic situation in order to expose a different kind of reality that exists in the innermost heart and mind of modern human beings. Leo Bersani, 'A funny horror story about falling in love with the wrong people', New York Times, 26 Nov. Sunning to spine ends, else a crisp, fine copy in near-fine dust jacket, not price-clipped, spine panel faintly sunned, couple of nicks and a little rubbing at edges, bright and sharp overall. Original blue cloth, spine lettered in white and orange, white decoration stamped on spine and covers, author's initials blindstamped on front cover, fore and bottom edges untrimmed. For his translation of Hopscotch, Rabassa received the inaugural 1968 National Book Award for Translated Literature. It is precisely because we become attached to his characters and their absurd, old fashioned dilemma of falling in love with the wrong people that we accept a kind of beneficent vampirism as a remedy for their anguished humanity' (Bersani). 'It is (in this fine translation by Gregory Rabassa) a deeply touching, enjoyable novel, beautifully written and fascinatingly mysterious and intricate in its designs. First edition in English, first printing, of this experimental novel fulfilling the intentions of the 62nd chapter of Cortázar's Hopscotch, in which the character Morelli proposes to write a novel where 'standard behavior (including the most unusual, its deluxe category) would be inexplicable by means of current instrumental psychology'.Ħ2: A Model Kit was first published in Spanish in 1968.

62 by Julio Cortázar