Not long ago, I was reading through a book of short stories by Julio Cortázar and I encounter a really interesting, though-provoking story entitled, “La noche boca arriba.” Like all Cortázar stories it’s impossible to grasp all the meaning and astounding skill by simply re-telling the story. I highly recommend you read the story for yourself.
“La Noche Boca Arriba-Night Face Up” by Julio Cortazar Posted on August 27, 2015 August 27, 2015 by justinjjlin Julio Cortazar engages the reader in an interplay between reality and fiction in his short story “Night Face Up”, bringing the reader into his fantastic dreamscape through the use of rich imagery and the presence of. LA NOCHE BOCA ARRIBA And in certain epochs they would go to hunt enemies; They called this the war of flowers. It had to be late, he thought in the middle of the hotel’s long corridor, and hurried onto the street to the motorcycle in the corner where the concierge next door had allowed him to park.
Somehow, over the course of my formal Spanish education, I managed to bypass any required reading of “La noche boca arriba.” I’d read “Axolotl,” “Autopista del sur,” and “Isla al mediodía” among others, but I think most of my Spanish professors took it for granted that I’d read “La noche boca arriba.” However, last semester a friend of mine told me about the story and recommended it. So, began my interesting journey with one of Cortázar’s unique stories.
I believe it possible to analyze Cortázar’s writing through two principle methods: one from a historical or political standpoint, and the other from a literary or aesthetic standpoint. “La noche boca arriba” immediately draws a connection with the political and historical theme. The motorcyclist (the protagonist of the story) suffers an accident and begins to have lapses or dreams in which he’s a warrior in the famous Flower War. This lapse indicates in many ways a relapse of Latin American culture into their deep roots. The injured motorcyclist feels comfortable in his modern, western culture just as the Latin American world itself is decorated with the trappings of western civilization. However, Latin America has a dual heritage, one native and the other foreign. The motorcyclist experiences both of these influences and heritages combat for his consciousness. Ultimately the most forceful and powerful bloodline wins him over.
From the literary or aesthetic standpoint the story uses Cortázar’s trademark games of perception in order to make the story even more memorable. After my first reading of the story, it reminded me of the short story “El sur” by Jorge Luis Borges. In much the same way, each story recounts the plight of an injured man as he lives in to separate worlds: the world of consciousness and the world of “dreams.” However, “La noche boca arriba” is much more sinister than “El sur” is, for in “El sur” the protagonist chooses his own romantic end. Whereas, in “La noche boca arriba” the more terrifying end is thrust upon the motorcyclist, as the dream world becomes the real world and the real world fades into a dream.
Well, this is my test post for my new blog. After I chose blogger.com from the many free blogging options out there, setting this up was incredibly easy. I decided to name my blog 'La noche boca arriba,' after a short story by famous Argentine author Julio Cortazar that we read in my Spanish class last semester. The title translates roughly as 'The Night Face Up,' and the story is a bizarre, surreal blending of dreams and reality, past and present. The main character always ends up 'boca arriba' -- lying on his back looking up -- be it on an operating table or on a sacrificial altar of ancient Aztecs, trying to figure out some aspect of his life. Cortazar is truly a fascinating writer, and I hope to read some more of his works in a class in Argentina. Read an English translation of 'La noche boca arriba' here.