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paracyclops's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This very slim book, originally published in Spanish eighty-four years ago, manages to pack in an intricate plot, a detailed (if ambiguous) character portrait, an exemplary piece of SF speculation, and an essay in the craft and aesthetics of prose. For the last, a great deal of credit is due to Ruth L.C. Simms, whose translation was published 1964—I can't comment on how faithful or accurate it is, but it's a great piece of writing. Adolfo Bioy Casares was a protégé and close friend of Jorge Luis Borges, and The Invention of Morel has a similar character to many of Borges's stories. It's as interested in ideas as it is in psychology, or experience, or any of the other things literature is supposed to be interested in, and like a Borges story it hangs around for just long enough to explore the implications of the idea at its heart. If, like me, you're someone who wishes Borges could have interested himself in writing stories more than four or five pages long, it seems that Bioy (as he was called by everyone who knew him) may offer a remedy.
Taken purely on its merits, this is an exemplary science-fiction story. It postulates one particular technological innovation, and explores its implications through the narrow lens of a single character's encounter with it. Borges wrote an introduction for the novella that is essentially an argument for the value and importance of fantastical fiction, and Casares writes with full commitment to the consistency and coherence of his invention. This is not a piece of whimsy or 'magical realism'. However, it has been claimed by the establishment of 'literary fiction', and seems not to have been recognised by SF or fantasy people as a piece of their history. This makes it a very interesting text to consider in the context of debates around the definitions of the 'literary' and the 'fantastic', and the questions of hegemony and elitism that attend them. Perhaps because they never attached themselves to any particular community of writers, and always wrote with unimpeachable creative and technical rigour, Borges and Casares are rarely considered as authors of speculative fiction.
The first-person narrator, who we come to know through his diary (annotated by a later editor), is a fugitive, trapped in an isolated location. Mysterious other figures appear there after his arrival. They seem oblivious to his presence, but he is terrified of capture, inhabiting a lowland region subject to an unpredictable pattern of dangerous tides. This is a) just my cup of tea, and b) also a pretty fair description of Susanna Clarke's Piranesi, another book that I love. Despite my life-long love affair with Borges, I have never previously read any of Bioy's work. I can see that I need to fix that, urgently, both for its influence, and for its intrinsic pleasures. There's not a great deal I can say about this book without dropping spoilers, but suffice it to say that it is ingeniously designed, meticulously crafted, and beautifully written. The narrator is sometimes naive, and sometimes incoherent, but Bioy somehow manages to convey that without ever compromising on the aesthetic or structural qualities of the prose. The Invention of Morel is an absolute gem of a book.
Taken purely on its merits, this is an exemplary science-fiction story. It postulates one particular technological innovation, and explores its implications through the narrow lens of a single character's encounter with it. Borges wrote an introduction for the novella that is essentially an argument for the value and importance of fantastical fiction, and Casares writes with full commitment to the consistency and coherence of his invention. This is not a piece of whimsy or 'magical realism'. However, it has been claimed by the establishment of 'literary fiction', and seems not to have been recognised by SF or fantasy people as a piece of their history. This makes it a very interesting text to consider in the context of debates around the definitions of the 'literary' and the 'fantastic', and the questions of hegemony and elitism that attend them. Perhaps because they never attached themselves to any particular community of writers, and always wrote with unimpeachable creative and technical rigour, Borges and Casares are rarely considered as authors of speculative fiction.
The first-person narrator, who we come to know through his diary (annotated by a later editor), is a fugitive, trapped in an isolated location. Mysterious other figures appear there after his arrival. They seem oblivious to his presence, but he is terrified of capture, inhabiting a lowland region subject to an unpredictable pattern of dangerous tides. This is a) just my cup of tea, and b) also a pretty fair description of Susanna Clarke's Piranesi, another book that I love. Despite my life-long love affair with Borges, I have never previously read any of Bioy's work. I can see that I need to fix that, urgently, both for its influence, and for its intrinsic pleasures. There's not a great deal I can say about this book without dropping spoilers, but suffice it to say that it is ingeniously designed, meticulously crafted, and beautifully written. The narrator is sometimes naive, and sometimes incoherent, but Bioy somehow manages to convey that without ever compromising on the aesthetic or structural qualities of the prose. The Invention of Morel is an absolute gem of a book.
efimerabonhomia's review against another edition
4.0
La invención de Morel es la ratificación hecha libro. Nos situamos en una isla donde un personaje nos localiza intentando ponernos en contexto de lo que lo ha llevado a estar en los confines del mundo. Podemos sacar nuestras propias conclusiones gracias a breves diálogos internos escritos con maestría, en algún momento parece que el personaje principal mantiene un diálogo con el lector.
Es en medio del nudo de la historia cuando nos empezamos a dar cuenta quién es Morel y por qué tiene atrapado en la reiteración al propio protagonista y los espejismos. De nuevo podemos encontrar brevemente enlazado ese mito de la caverna de Platón, donde todas las imágenes que proyectan hacia el personaje pueden ser simplemente sombras. Y no sólo se puede relacionar este mito con el relato breve que se nos presenta, también podemos encontrar en el nombre una alusión a un personaje de H.G. Wells.
Aparecen personajes que se proyectan en la historia como impasibles e inalcanzables, como la propia Faustine cuya unión con el protagonista nos es contada como un catastrófico sucesos de hechos que no se han vuelto deseos. Es un libro de ciencia ficción que transita en la absoluta crisis filosófica para llevar al lector al desconcierto y que encuentre la solución en el caos del protagonista. Una invención, como bien su título indica, sorprendente y surrealista que lleva en sí misma una crítica que se puede extrapolar al propio país del autor, Argentina.
Si os tuviese que pedir que le dieseis una oportunidad a un autor, probablemente Bioy Casares estuviese entre los primeros que nombraría. Tiene una agudeza para contar historias dignas de perderse en una o varias lecturas.
Nuestros deseos se convierten en obsesiones que trasladan a nuestras realidades a visiones lejos de lo que realmente sucede. Nunca somos consecuentes con que nos traiciona el subconsciente. En La invención de Morel encontraréis un poco de vosotros mismos.
Es en medio del nudo de la historia cuando nos empezamos a dar cuenta quién es Morel y por qué tiene atrapado en la reiteración al propio protagonista y los espejismos. De nuevo podemos encontrar brevemente enlazado ese mito de la caverna de Platón, donde todas las imágenes que proyectan hacia el personaje pueden ser simplemente sombras. Y no sólo se puede relacionar este mito con el relato breve que se nos presenta, también podemos encontrar en el nombre una alusión a un personaje de H.G. Wells.
Aparecen personajes que se proyectan en la historia como impasibles e inalcanzables, como la propia Faustine cuya unión con el protagonista nos es contada como un catastrófico sucesos de hechos que no se han vuelto deseos. Es un libro de ciencia ficción que transita en la absoluta crisis filosófica para llevar al lector al desconcierto y que encuentre la solución en el caos del protagonista. Una invención, como bien su título indica, sorprendente y surrealista que lleva en sí misma una crítica que se puede extrapolar al propio país del autor, Argentina.
Si os tuviese que pedir que le dieseis una oportunidad a un autor, probablemente Bioy Casares estuviese entre los primeros que nombraría. Tiene una agudeza para contar historias dignas de perderse en una o varias lecturas.
Nuestros deseos se convierten en obsesiones que trasladan a nuestras realidades a visiones lejos de lo que realmente sucede. Nunca somos consecuentes con que nos traiciona el subconsciente. En La invención de Morel encontraréis un poco de vosotros mismos.
atilatamarindo's review against another edition
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
thatsmrsnyder's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
A beguiling, deceptive little book that had me wondering what the hell was happening for the first two thirds than wondering why on earth we're not talking about this book continuously for the remainder. It's one that's gonna linger in the back of my mind for a long while, and holds more than a passing resemblance to Susanna Clarke's "Piranesi", another book that I absolutely loved, thought "Morel" predates it by many decades.
ldv12's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
lucalrbass's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.5
maluce's review against another edition
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
macla's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
A descoberta é genial, o desfecho dele se inserindo nas memórias e a dualidade dos tempos interessantíssimo
mertriestoread's review against another edition
medium-paced
3.0
It's a book about a man who is a fugitive, decided to stay at an island that has no inhabitants. One day, he saw a few people one the hill and he was curious about them.
This book left me with a long thought. I was wondering what it wanted to tell me. After I did some research and read some reviews, I came to conclusion that the fugitive (don't know what his name even though this book is his diary) is mad or at the brink of madness. He was alone at a deserted island with minimal surviving skills and whatever he saw on the hill could illusions and he was probably hallucinating. On second thought, he could be imagining the whole island and his true location could be in a psychiatric ward. The book ended simply so and I guess readers are free to have own conclusions about it.
Is it mind-blowing read? Not to me. Anyway, I picked this book because it is listed as one of the recommended books under 200 pages and I wanted to get out off my reading slump, this book did it.
This book left me with a long thought. I was wondering what it wanted to tell me. After I did some research and read some reviews, I came to conclusion that the fugitive (don't know what his name even though this book is his diary) is mad or at the brink of madness. He was alone at a deserted island with minimal surviving skills and whatever he saw on the hill could illusions and he was probably hallucinating. On second thought, he could be imagining the whole island and his true location could be in a psychiatric ward. The book ended simply so and I guess readers are free to have own conclusions about it.
Is it mind-blowing read? Not to me. Anyway, I picked this book because it is listed as one of the recommended books under 200 pages and I wanted to get out off my reading slump, this book did it.
bexlrose's review against another edition
3.0
An interesting premise, well explored and not without its merits, but for my tastes it was a little too much of a fantasy adventure story. Which is sad as that's exactly what Jorge Luis Borges is lamenting in the introduction: that people don't like adventure stories anymore. In his introduction, Borges calls it a perfect book and I really enjoyed the introduction, more than I've actually enjoyed books I've read by Borges so I was throroughly willing to like this particular adventure story. However, I'm sure that fans of Jules Verne and the likes would love it. 3 stars.