I just recently read The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares. It's an interesting novella (about 100 pages) which puts romantic frustration in a narrative with some science fiction trappings. Bioy Casares was a friend of Jorge Luis Borges and there are a couple of connections to the edition I read. For one thing JLB himself wrote a foreword to the story. Also his younger Sister Norah contributed some nice illustrations.
What really surprised me afterwards was finding out that former Police drummer Stewart Copeland had written an opera based on it. Nice to see he's keeping his hand in, though.
2 comments:
The Invention of Morel is an admirable piece of surrealism/sci-fi that stands out for its painstaking explanations and what results is a totally logical book. It's fun to try to figure out what is happening alongside the narrator - my favorite section comes when he lays out every possible explanation for the strange events. The thing that's actually happening is a fairly brilliant literary invention, and the ending is both logical and acceptable.
What's weird is despite all this, it's too long. I got frustrated with the narrator for not figuring it out sooner. And there are these strange little loops in it that make it read a little too stream-of-consciousnessy (the introduction claims that this is a move away from that particular surrealist trend - I'd argue that some tendrils remain).
I see why Borges liked it, but it doesn't remind me of his writing at all. The book of his that I enjoyed long ago was Labyrinths. Next time we go to Russells I'll have to buy a copy - funny how books disappear.
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On a different note entirely I'm pretty sure you'll enjoy seeing this snippet of Jack Benny and Mel Blanc.
https://youtu.be/Gy1ztCTrBEU?si=a1hZQuSh_VwTPBPB
The section where he lays out all the possible explanations is very fun and involving. I wonder if that was Bioy Casares testing out ways he could end the story. The one he wound up picking was overall the best.
If it's too long in this form should it have been a short story? I'm not coming down on either side of the question. It almost certainly could have worked, and with a little more economy. But then it probably wouldn't have gotten the attention it did, except maybe from Borges. These are the decisions an author is faced with.
You're probably right that this story isn't all that Borgesian, outside of his liking it. Borges is an author I can always come back to. Especially Ficciones, but I also enjoyed A Universal History of Infamy.
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It's funny how Mel Blanc spent most of his career in vocal booths but you can still pick him out by sight. That's a great skit with him and Jack Benny.
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