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Bestiario [Cuento]
Cuento "Bestiario", originalmente publicado en 1951 en el libro Bestiario.
- GenresShort StoriesFiction
ebook
First published January 1, 1951
About the author
Julio Cortázar
729 books7,512 followersJulio Cortázar, born Julio Florencio Cortázar Descotte, was an Argentine author of novels and short stories. He influenced an entire generation of Latin American writers from Mexico to Argentina, and most of his best-known work was written in France, where he established himself in 1951.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
October 19, 2023
If you could do what he could with words, why wouldn't you.
-Julio Cortazar
Julio Cortazar is supposed to be master of short story form, now as I read a few stories by him I can really understand why. The influence of Edgar Allan Poe (who himself is credited to the advent of modern short story form) on Cortazar’s fiction has been often discussed in the literary circles, though Poe’s world is usually considered to be infused with macabre imagination, but the foremost characteristic of his fiction would be the way he explored the his characters’ consciousness by giving the readers access to it and it has greatly impacted the realism of post Poe literary period. Although his legacy may lie disputed in the history of literature but the impact of Poe on modern psychological realism can’t be ignored, and the way he has influenced the development of modern short story form, both could be seen in the short fiction of Julio Cortazar who himself has been a hugely influential explorer of the literary form.
Cortazar wrote the short stories with perfect control, not only in the sense of usage of words (though his economy of words is startling), since it is secondary, but also in the sense of settings and the themes these stories explor, in a way that they seem to be dancing on the tune of his pen. In the story Bestiary, the characters are given limited scope to express themselves as if to underline the human life wherein our free will is not absolutely free. The author’s appeal for taking creative gestures to pull up the afresh, unexplored forms by stretching the very limits of fiction to the farthest possible point, emphasizes upon his desire to devises new modes of expression, new forms of art to explore the metaphysical and philosophical inquiries of humanity from fresh perspectives. We have often see that the realism of Cortazar infused with fantastical and surreal elements which he pulls up with a prolific and astounding touch of symbolism and experimental narrative styles, to produce a speculative fiction on human condition.
link: source
Bestiary, like most of the short stories of Cortazar, starts with weird settings wherein the fantastical elements are accepted with mind boggling ease which stirs up a sense of unrest and anxiety among readers. The readers watch with a pleasant surprise that a tiger could be part of home wherein the protagonist, Isabel, is planning to visit for vacations. We realize a sense of childlike tinkling rising in our soul which forces us to imagine the surreal, dreamlike fascination of childhood with such fantastical settings, however, only to discern that it is not a childhood fancy. The story infuses the element of confusion and uncertainty with surrealism, the presence of tiger (who roams around the house and has to be constantly reported before moving around) instils a sense of ambiguity in the world of Isabel’ s summer home as it is in our life.
One of the major themes explored in the story is the anxiety and unease, source of them is the tiger who roams around freely in Funes’ s house, forcing the residents of the house to behave in a peculiar way. The tiger perhaps represents the doubts, horrors and risks associated with our lives; we live with them everyday in a way to accept them but unable to overcome them as if to accept them as parts of our lives and adopt a passive attitude towards them so that they surreptitiously go to oblivion or we think so. Cortazar uses here third person narrative unlike Axolotl giving little space to characters except for Isabel as the story is written from her perspective. The author amazingly has been able to keep the prose up to the level to convey the consciousness of a teenage child who observes the Funes’ family from an external but involved and sympathetic point of view. We see that the children develop an ant-farm to amuse themselves wherein the ants fights with each other hoping to overcome the intimidation of others to survive and perhaps someday to break the glass walls of the farm to become free, it may mirror the lives of human beings wherein they remain in a constant turmoil to survive and to get free from seemingly non-essential baggage.
Isabel uses to write letters (which are being infused by the author throughout the narrative) to her mother to narrate day-to-day life at Funes’s home by explaining that life there may not be as rosy as it appears from outside. The profound sadness underlines the lives of Funes, especially that of Rema and Nino who have to fear the overwhelming personality of Kid besides managing with the frigtening menace of the tiger as if he crushes their existence with his overbearing presence and acts. Isabel, at times, envies the ants who can roam around without any fear of tiger or do not have to bear the disgust and ignominy to live with someone of hideous and sickening personality, so out of envy she images to place a little tiger in the ant-farm.
As expected from the author, he ends the story by subverting it as one of the characters, Isabel, rises from the dungeons of feebleness and turns the omnipresent horror of the residents of the house to their advantage, thereby establishing a strong bond of empathy, wherein you communicate through the language of emotions mutually acknowledged, with Rema, who runs her hands over Isabel’s hair with a soft squeeze as to show her gratitude. He writes in a closely knit prose which a enigmatic ability to keep you hooked throughout the story as if we are reading the treatise on our own existence.
link: source
Cortazar once again comes up with a story which sweeps you off your feet and leaves flabbergasted as to comprehend that there are ways and means beyond the normally accepts norms of literature, which may be carved out by an author of the calibre of Cortazar to convey human condition. We always behave in strange ways which defy any explanation and apprehension of morality that goes for a toss when it comes to our survival instinct. Besides, human beings as conscious creatures have an tremendously uncommon ability to understand the pain and agony of others, and thereby act through our collective consciousness to overcome the dangers of life, perhaps that’s what makes as what we are.
Never recede, for whatever reasons, along the path of creativity.
-Julio Cortazar
Julio Cortazar is supposed to be master of short story form, now as I read a few stories by him I can really understand why. The influence of Edgar Allan Poe (who himself is credited to the advent of modern short story form) on Cortazar’s fiction has been often discussed in the literary circles, though Poe’s world is usually considered to be infused with macabre imagination, but the foremost characteristic of his fiction would be the way he explored the his characters’ consciousness by giving the readers access to it and it has greatly impacted the realism of post Poe literary period. Although his legacy may lie disputed in the history of literature but the impact of Poe on modern psychological realism can’t be ignored, and the way he has influenced the development of modern short story form, both could be seen in the short fiction of Julio Cortazar who himself has been a hugely influential explorer of the literary form.
Cortazar wrote the short stories with perfect control, not only in the sense of usage of words (though his economy of words is startling), since it is secondary, but also in the sense of settings and the themes these stories explor, in a way that they seem to be dancing on the tune of his pen. In the story Bestiary, the characters are given limited scope to express themselves as if to underline the human life wherein our free will is not absolutely free. The author’s appeal for taking creative gestures to pull up the afresh, unexplored forms by stretching the very limits of fiction to the farthest possible point, emphasizes upon his desire to devises new modes of expression, new forms of art to explore the metaphysical and philosophical inquiries of humanity from fresh perspectives. We have often see that the realism of Cortazar infused with fantastical and surreal elements which he pulls up with a prolific and astounding touch of symbolism and experimental narrative styles, to produce a speculative fiction on human condition.
link: source
Bestiary, like most of the short stories of Cortazar, starts with weird settings wherein the fantastical elements are accepted with mind boggling ease which stirs up a sense of unrest and anxiety among readers. The readers watch with a pleasant surprise that a tiger could be part of home wherein the protagonist, Isabel, is planning to visit for vacations. We realize a sense of childlike tinkling rising in our soul which forces us to imagine the surreal, dreamlike fascination of childhood with such fantastical settings, however, only to discern that it is not a childhood fancy. The story infuses the element of confusion and uncertainty with surrealism, the presence of tiger (who roams around the house and has to be constantly reported before moving around) instils a sense of ambiguity in the world of Isabel’ s summer home as it is in our life.
One of the major themes explored in the story is the anxiety and unease, source of them is the tiger who roams around freely in Funes’ s house, forcing the residents of the house to behave in a peculiar way. The tiger perhaps represents the doubts, horrors and risks associated with our lives; we live with them everyday in a way to accept them but unable to overcome them as if to accept them as parts of our lives and adopt a passive attitude towards them so that they surreptitiously go to oblivion or we think so. Cortazar uses here third person narrative unlike Axolotl giving little space to characters except for Isabel as the story is written from her perspective. The author amazingly has been able to keep the prose up to the level to convey the consciousness of a teenage child who observes the Funes’ family from an external but involved and sympathetic point of view. We see that the children develop an ant-farm to amuse themselves wherein the ants fights with each other hoping to overcome the intimidation of others to survive and perhaps someday to break the glass walls of the farm to become free, it may mirror the lives of human beings wherein they remain in a constant turmoil to survive and to get free from seemingly non-essential baggage.
Isabel uses to write letters (which are being infused by the author throughout the narrative) to her mother to narrate day-to-day life at Funes’s home by explaining that life there may not be as rosy as it appears from outside. The profound sadness underlines the lives of Funes, especially that of Rema and Nino who have to fear the overwhelming personality of Kid besides managing with the frigtening menace of the tiger as if he crushes their existence with his overbearing presence and acts. Isabel, at times, envies the ants who can roam around without any fear of tiger or do not have to bear the disgust and ignominy to live with someone of hideous and sickening personality, so out of envy she images to place a little tiger in the ant-farm.
As expected from the author, he ends the story by subverting it as one of the characters, Isabel, rises from the dungeons of feebleness and turns the omnipresent horror of the residents of the house to their advantage, thereby establishing a strong bond of empathy, wherein you communicate through the language of emotions mutually acknowledged, with Rema, who runs her hands over Isabel’s hair with a soft squeeze as to show her gratitude. He writes in a closely knit prose which a enigmatic ability to keep you hooked throughout the story as if we are reading the treatise on our own existence.
link: source
Cortazar once again comes up with a story which sweeps you off your feet and leaves flabbergasted as to comprehend that there are ways and means beyond the normally accepts norms of literature, which may be carved out by an author of the calibre of Cortazar to convey human condition. We always behave in strange ways which defy any explanation and apprehension of morality that goes for a toss when it comes to our survival instinct. Besides, human beings as conscious creatures have an tremendously uncommon ability to understand the pain and agony of others, and thereby act through our collective consciousness to overcome the dangers of life, perhaps that’s what makes as what we are.
Never recede, for whatever reasons, along the path of creativity.
December 3, 2025
Corto, preciso y punzante. El gran Julio Cortázar, nos invita a una historia de incesto encubierto. Cuando la niña es invitada a la hacienda, ella encuentra un ambiente extraño. Vemos una relación rara, entre ellos. Me encantó la imponencia e importancia del tigre en la casa. “Prestar a la niña”, para visitar el lugar, sabiendo que no estaría bien y que no sería un puerto seguro para ella. Mandarla para entretener a Nino, tiene una gran carga semántica con respecto al autoritarismo paternal. El tigre tiene una gran presencia, de control y liderazgo. Es tremendo que el abuso no se diga con todas sus letras, es que los seres humanos, tenemos una gran capacidad de evitar y esconder. Cortázar, nos presenta un realismo mágico, con un simbolismo muy especial: ¿qué hace el tigre? ¿qué representa? Es injusto ver cómo una niña tuvo que tomar las riendas, ante su indefensión. La niña viene de un ambiente de mujeres y le es difícil la convivencia porque no está acostumbrada a la violencia de los hombres. Vivir con hombres, es como vivir con un tigre, que en cualquier momento te puede devorar.
Cortázar tiene la capacidad de captar lo oscuro, desde la luz y contraparte, porque los seres humanos tenemos unas aristas tan complicadas.
En este cuento, los animales tienen una gran carga semántica: el tigre con su grandeza e imponencia, las hormigas con su estructura y orden, fueron como guardianas defensoras de la niña. Los caracoles que se detienen, se retraen y se esconden y pues, como caracoles, somos los seres humanos, cual cobardes ante los problemas, que nos detenemos impávidamente y nos escondemos, para no enfrentar. Claro, no todos, pero así es la premisa, de cuando decidimos cerrarnos, al contrario del río, que va siempre para adelante. Seamos como el río, no como el caracol y al mismo tiempo, como el tigre que impone y deja huella, siempre desde lo positivo y sin hacer daño.
Gracias, Julio Cortázar, por los aprendizajes, en este cuento, con tanto que profundizar, para crecer y ser mejores.
Cortázar tiene la capacidad de captar lo oscuro, desde la luz y contraparte, porque los seres humanos tenemos unas aristas tan complicadas.
En este cuento, los animales tienen una gran carga semántica: el tigre con su grandeza e imponencia, las hormigas con su estructura y orden, fueron como guardianas defensoras de la niña. Los caracoles que se detienen, se retraen y se esconden y pues, como caracoles, somos los seres humanos, cual cobardes ante los problemas, que nos detenemos impávidamente y nos escondemos, para no enfrentar. Claro, no todos, pero así es la premisa, de cuando decidimos cerrarnos, al contrario del río, que va siempre para adelante. Seamos como el río, no como el caracol y al mismo tiempo, como el tigre que impone y deja huella, siempre desde lo positivo y sin hacer daño.
Gracias, Julio Cortázar, por los aprendizajes, en este cuento, con tanto que profundizar, para crecer y ser mejores.
October 4, 2025
Meh.
Not worth reviewing it.
For the moment at least.
-----------------------------------------------
PERSONAL NOTE :
[1951] [16p] [Fiction] [1.5] [Not Recommendable]
-----------------------------------------------
★★★★☆ Casa Tomada [3.5]
★★☆☆☆ Bestiario <--
-----------------------------------------------
Meh.
No vale la pena reseñarlo.
Al menos por ahora.
-----------------------------------------------
NOTA PERSONAL :
[1951] [16p] [Ficción] [1.5] [No Recomendable]
-----------------------------------------------
Not worth reviewing it.
For the moment at least.
-----------------------------------------------
PERSONAL NOTE :
[1951] [16p] [Fiction] [1.5] [Not Recommendable]
-----------------------------------------------
★★★★☆ Casa Tomada [3.5]
★★☆☆☆ Bestiario <--
-----------------------------------------------
Meh.
No vale la pena reseñarlo.
Al menos por ahora.
-----------------------------------------------
NOTA PERSONAL :
[1951] [16p] [Ficción] [1.5] [No Recomendable]
-----------------------------------------------
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews