How Long to Read Afternoon of the Dinosaur

How Long Does it Take to Read Afternoon of the Dinosaur?

It takes the average reader 2 hours and 5 minutes to read Afternoon of the Dinosaur by Cristina Peri Rossi

Assuming a reading speed of 250 words per minute. Learn more

Description

Afternoon of the Dinosaur, by Cristina Peri Rossi, one of the most important Spanish writers of our time, was first published in 1976. Due to censorship in Spain under Franco, it was initially distributed only in Latin America. Then, in 1984, it was published again by Plaza y Janés (Barcelona), and in 2008 it was reissued by Tropo Editores (Zaragoza). This volume is composed of eight lyrical and powerful short stories bound together by themes of alienation and generational conflict in the modern world. According to the author, "the stories are all connected by a sense of persecution and by the solidarity that this sometimes creates between two persons." The first, "From Brother to Sister," deals with the yearnings of love of an adolescent for his sister. In the second, "At the Beach," a young couple encounters a child who both mystifies and troubles them with her extraordinary questions. With "The Influence of Edgar A. Poe on the Poet Raimundo Arias," we find the deep-felt sense of exile of Peri Rossi herself. Two pieces of this collection that carry the title "Simulacrum" give us a science-fiction world of space travel in which human feelings are lost. As the author says, "the final word of the tale is 'mercy, ' (it is a sense of) pity that I feel for myself and for all human beings, because we are condemned to die, to suffer dictatorships, because we are condemned many times to oppression, and we need to seek out, in the midst of this suffering, our fellow men." As for the title story of this collection, "The Afternoon of the Dinosaur," the author confesses that her dreams, at the time of the military dictatorship in Montevideo when people simply disappeared," were often haunted by terrifying dinosaurs. The dinosaur, for her, symbolized fear, danger, the threat of the government. She wanted to tame the dinosaur, to change it into a loving character. It was only after she wrote this story that dinosaurs disappeared from her dreams. Julio Cortázar writes: "Cristina Peri Rossi is not only aware of the hells of this world, she understand the lures of paradise. Her exquisite prose projects her readers into a surrealistic realm that is filled with forbidden yet fascinating choices." In his introduction to the Spanish version of "La tarde del dinosaurio," he says: "In three of the stories from this book the children will lay bare the world of those who claim to control it, and will reduce it to a laughingstock of truth... Brothers and sisters, queens and slaves, false adults incapable of accepting the laws of the game, people that an Aubrey Beardsley or an Egon Schiele would have drawn with the perverse perfection of sterile desire, of a pursuit whose sole incentive is that of not catching the prey, whether it be named Patricia or Alexandra, Igor or Alina. False adults, for the simple reason that adults are false. And the adolescent turns to its past in a last, desperate act of resistance; but its sex and its hair and its voice drag it to the peak that the boy of the dinosaur contemplates in final horror. Now there are no victims or assassins in those rooms of the house; the last of its visitors is able only to utter one useless word: Mercy."

How long is Afternoon of the Dinosaur?

Afternoon of the Dinosaur by Cristina Peri Rossi is 124 pages long, and a total of 31,496 words.

This makes it 42% the length of the average book. It also has 38% more words than the average book.

How Long Does it Take to Read Afternoon of the Dinosaur Aloud?

The average oral reading speed is 183 words per minute. This means it takes 2 hours and 52 minutes to read Afternoon of the Dinosaur aloud.

What Reading Level is Afternoon of the Dinosaur?

Afternoon of the Dinosaur is suitable for students ages 10 and up.

Note that there may be other factors that effect this rating besides length that are not factored in on this page. This may include things like complex language or sensitive topics not suitable for students of certain ages.

When deciding what to show young students always use your best judgement and consult a professional.

Where Can I Buy Afternoon of the Dinosaur?

Afternoon of the Dinosaur by Cristina Peri Rossi is sold by several retailers and bookshops. However, Read Time works with Amazon to provide an easier way to purchase books.

To buy Afternoon of the Dinosaur by Cristina Peri Rossi on Amazon click the button below.