All Fires the Fire and Other Stories

Cortazar's stories are like small time pieces, where each polished part moves relentlessly on its own particular path, exercising a crucial and perpetual influence on the mechanism as a whole.

Moments jerk forward and retract, reflect and refract: an island at noon from an aeroplane - an aeroplane at noon from an island; the living deceiving the dying and also themselves, about death; fatality by fire in an ancient Roman arena and in a modern city apartment.

It is a world that is constantly shifting, upsetting our balance and our peace of mind.