A review by daneekasghost
Fantomas Versus the Multinational Vampires: An Attainable Utopia by Julio Cortázar, David Kurnick
3.0
First of all, it's gorgeous. Semiotext(e) put out a great physical book that I'm glad I got hold of.
It's short. I read it in one sitting including the appendix and afterword. It has an obvious agenda that seems a little more dated now than when it was originally published in 1975 - which is not to say imperialism and its effects are no longer a thing, just to say that this is a book that is written in response to a very specific moment in time.
Still, this was the first time I read Cortazar and I can see why he's well regarded. He's got style and inventiveness in spades. For me, in a book this short he didn't get to fully extend himself, so it was an interesting book, but one that I probably won't return to very often.
It's short. I read it in one sitting including the appendix and afterword. It has an obvious agenda that seems a little more dated now than when it was originally published in 1975 - which is not to say imperialism and its effects are no longer a thing, just to say that this is a book that is written in response to a very specific moment in time.
Still, this was the first time I read Cortazar and I can see why he's well regarded. He's got style and inventiveness in spades. For me, in a book this short he didn't get to fully extend himself, so it was an interesting book, but one that I probably won't return to very often.