Divertimento (novel)
| Author | Julio Cortázar |
|---|---|
| Translator | Harry Morales |
| Language | Spanish |
| Genre | Novel |
| Publisher | Vintage Classics |
Publication date | 1986 |
| Publication place | Argentina |
Published in English | Aug, 2025 |
| ISBN | 9781529956818 |
Divertimento is a novel by the Argentine-French writer Julio Cortázar. The work was written in 1949 and published in 1986, two years after the writer's death.[1] Harry Morales's English translation was published by Vintage classics in 2025.
Plot
The story is set in 1940s Bohemian Buenos Aires, and told by Insecto, the author's alter ego, who is a friend of a group of young creatives formed by the flamboyant surrealist painter Renato Lozano and his sister Susana; the brothers Jorge and Marta Vigil; and the Dinar sisters, Laura and Moña.[2][3][4]
They all meet at the Vive como puedes art studio (Live as You Can), a place where they discuss literature, painting, and music. The meeting place, in a way, foreshadows the Snake Club from Cortázar's novel Hopscotch.[2][4]
Analysis
The novel intertwines literary, artistic, and musical themes. Life should be approached playfully; existence should not be taken too seriously.[1]
Cortázar's humor is present throughout the narrative. He uses a tone that navigates a balance between nostalgia and irony.[1]
A key theme is the concern for a non-existent future.[5] Through the bohemian characters, the novel portrays the anti-Peronist sentiments of Cortázar's early stage as a writer.[3]
References
- ^ a b c "Divertimento - Julio Cortázar". Agencia Literaria Carmen Balcells (in Spanish).
- ^ a b "Divertimento, de Julio Cortázar, fantasmas y espiritismo | Guioteca.com". Guioteca (in Spanish). March 9, 2012.
- ^ a b Bollig, Ben. "‘Fantasies of Catastrophe’: Politics and Race in the Early Novels of Julio Cortázar." Bulletin of Hispanic Studies 99.5 (2022): 489-507.
- ^ a b “Divertimento” Penguin Books.
- ^ Orloff, Carolina. The representation of the political in selected writings of Julio Cortázar. Vol. 325. Boydell & Brewer Ltd, 2013.