Scan barcode
paul281f's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
2.75
verbminx's review against another edition
This is one of those things that I will probably be "currently reading" forever. I dip into it now and then!
jedwardsusc's review against another edition
4.0
The Manuscript Found in Saragossa is a bizarre book. The first half is amazing. The second half becomes a little overly obsessed with the "my honor has been insulted, so we must duel!" stories, but there were enough flashes of brilliance throughout to keep me reading. Stories twist inside of stories. Characters step outside the narrative to comment on the narrative: "Isn't it confusing that there are so many stories inside of stories?" There are random asides to discuss mathematics and religion. The names are impossible to keep track of. Chronology goes everywhere, so characters get killed and then resurrected on a regular basis. It's a little like The Thousand and One Nights meets a Tarantino film. Lots of fun, but definitely not for everyone.
scheu's review against another edition
4.0
Technically my rating is an 'incomplete'. I enjoyed what I read of it, but after two months I'm still not excited about it. Surprisingly racy for its time, that's for sure.
alireza93's review against another edition
4.0
"Hervas fell into the blackest of melancholy. He constantly kept in his sight his hundred volumes, the children of his genius, conceived in rapture, born of pain mingled with pleasure and now consigned to oblivion. He saw his whole life wasted, his present and future existence destroyed. It was then also that his mind, trained to understand all the mysteries of nature, unfortunately turned to the abyss of human misery. By measuring its depth he saw only evil everywhere, and said in his heart, 'Who are you, author of evil?' "
sarapalooza's review against another edition
4.0
The Manuscript Found in Saragossa/
Manuscrit trouvé à Saragosse
Jan Potocki
A frame-tale novel ala One Thousand and One Nights… set in Spain, written in French… by a Polish man. Strange enough mix for you?
It gets stranger - check out the story behind the story online if you’re interested - it was written in French, lost in part, back-translated from a found Polish edition, and finally compiled in its current form after the author’s death.
The story is mysterious, magical, and genre hops like mad - looking for a dash of mysticism with your picaresque ramblings? Like mathematic theorizing with your love stories? Want a bit of philosophy with your battle campaigns? It’s got a whole lot of everything, but somehow Potocki blends his inspirations together in a cohesive and realistic way.
#themanuscriptfoundinsaragossa #manuscriptfoundinsaragossa #ManuscrittrouvéàSaragosse #potocki #janpotocki
Manuscrit trouvé à Saragosse
Jan Potocki
A frame-tale novel ala One Thousand and One Nights… set in Spain, written in French… by a Polish man. Strange enough mix for you?
It gets stranger - check out the story behind the story online if you’re interested - it was written in French, lost in part, back-translated from a found Polish edition, and finally compiled in its current form after the author’s death.
The story is mysterious, magical, and genre hops like mad - looking for a dash of mysticism with your picaresque ramblings? Like mathematic theorizing with your love stories? Want a bit of philosophy with your battle campaigns? It’s got a whole lot of everything, but somehow Potocki blends his inspirations together in a cohesive and realistic way.
#themanuscriptfoundinsaragossa #manuscriptfoundinsaragossa #ManuscrittrouvéàSaragosse #potocki #janpotocki
tlkoehn's review against another edition
4.0
Some time ago, I had the good fortune to be recommended [a:Edward Whittemore|207381|Edward Whittemore|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1373469662p2/207381.jpg]'s [b:Jerusalem Poker|12690929|Jerusalem Poker (The Jerusalem Quartet, #2)|Edward Whittemore|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1325886424l/12690929._SY75_.jpg|679014], & the rest of his Jerusalem Quartet series, which enthralled me as a masterpiece of historical fiction (though one might argue the best descriptor of its genre is simply as "epic"), & remains among my favorite works of literature to this day. My reasons for picking up the Manuscript Found in Saragossa were simple: it was remarked to me that Whittemore likely took inspiration from this work, & as a student of folklore & linguistics, the figure of Jan Potocki & his travels, studies of the Slavic peoples, & involvement in the history of ethnography, presents a fascinating character.
I must admit my enjoyment of the first half of the book was hindered slightly by a variety of events in my life, not to mention being buried in classwork, all of which caused me to take much longer than I might have liked to read it. To my mind, this was not the way to read this book. It is densely threaded with stories & characters that it becomes easy to lose track of which thread is being followed, even if read all at once. Part of this has to do with how the work is structured: as it purports to be the found journal of Alphonse van Worden, it's organized by days, & a majority of the days are taken up by van Worden traveling with a band of gitanos (the travel itself not described with much detail), before the various characters that he's met all sit together & listen to various among them telling at length of their life stories, including their own travels, & the various characters they claim to have met, who each told them their own life stories. As has been remarked elsewhere, there are points in the book where we are genuinely being told a story in a story in a story in a story.
Despite the density, the work is still quite interesting, & once I had gotten back to having a steady reading intake, the book was easy for me t0 finish. While it's definitely a product of its time, one can tell it was written by a student of ethnology, & the translator did a wonderful job of making the text relatively accessible to the modern audience. Well worth reading for anyone interested in historical impressions of ethnology, secret societies & conspiracies, interactions/characterizations among ethnic & religious groups in Spain, storytelling formats, & historical epics with an extraordinary cast of characters. I have no doubt Whittemore did take inspiration from this book, & ultimately am glad to have read it.
I must admit my enjoyment of the first half of the book was hindered slightly by a variety of events in my life, not to mention being buried in classwork, all of which caused me to take much longer than I might have liked to read it. To my mind, this was not the way to read this book. It is densely threaded with stories & characters that it becomes easy to lose track of which thread is being followed, even if read all at once. Part of this has to do with how the work is structured: as it purports to be the found journal of Alphonse van Worden, it's organized by days, & a majority of the days are taken up by van Worden traveling with a band of gitanos (the travel itself not described with much detail), before the various characters that he's met all sit together & listen to various among them telling at length of their life stories, including their own travels, & the various characters they claim to have met, who each told them their own life stories. As has been remarked elsewhere, there are points in the book where we are genuinely being told a story in a story in a story in a story.
Despite the density, the work is still quite interesting, & once I had gotten back to having a steady reading intake, the book was easy for me t0 finish. While it's definitely a product of its time, one can tell it was written by a student of ethnology, & the translator did a wonderful job of making the text relatively accessible to the modern audience. Well worth reading for anyone interested in historical impressions of ethnology, secret societies & conspiracies, interactions/characterizations among ethnic & religious groups in Spain, storytelling formats, & historical epics with an extraordinary cast of characters. I have no doubt Whittemore did take inspiration from this book, & ultimately am glad to have read it.
bozonbozonski's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
jacobbou's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0