Cortazar

Julio Cortazar is an ingenious author.  I found it impressive how he uses language to make the his stories what they are.  With many authors  they gain fame by what they say, whereas with Cortazar its how he says what he says that makes his stories special.  His use of language and how it affects the story probably is more obvious in Spanish than English, however it is equally clever in both instances.  His verb usage turns a boring story into one where the reader is on the edge of his chair wondering where the next twist or turn will be.  Its the tense of the verbs he uses that puts the reader in something like the Twilight Zone.  The best example we have read is " The Continuity of Parks", where the reader goes from watching a man read a story, to being with the murderous posse from the book that shows up at the readers house.  That sentence was crazy, imagine the story!  The most ingenious story was by far "Axolotl" because not only does Cortazar come up with a trippy story but also makes a strong social commentary.  On the surface its just a story about a boy going to the zoo to look at an ugly little lizard.  Of course like most of his other stories the real meaning is much deeper than that.  That's what else makes him above average, he not only writes great stories but they have true meaning to their readers, and that's what makes them so valuable not his tricky language.