From the Bookshelf of NYRB Classics…

The Invention of Morel

Adolfo Bioy Casares,

Jorge Luis Borges (Prologue)

Start date: April 1, 2019

Finish date: April 30, 2019

Discussion: Book Discussions (general)

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Book Discussions (general)

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What Members Thought

Jan 09, 2008 Kimley rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 20th-century, south-american

I wouldn't even know where to begin to try and review this book. It's one of those "whoa" books that I'll be thinking about for quite a while.

If you dig Borges then this book's for you! ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Oct 23, 2007 Tosh rated it it was amazing

Shelves: books-bought

This little classic is a charmer and it seemed to have been a huge influence on Alain Robbe-Grillet and Alain Rensais' film "Last Year at Marriband.'

A man is stranded on an island yet he sees images of elegant dressed people hanging out at a hotel - but they can't see him. The book is haunting and I really really like it. ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Sep 14, 2014 Will rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, recommended

"To be on an island inhabited by artificial ghosts was the most unbearable of nightmares; to be in love with one of those images was worse than being in love with a ghost (perhaps we always want the person we love to have the existence of a ghost)." ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Dec 27, 2009 SarahC rated it really liked it

Shelves: four-seasons

This Argentinian surrealist novel was the influence of recent film and television shows, but, thankfully, I haven't seen those so I could look at the book in a totally separate way. I found it fascinating as an early-20th century view of frightening technology and the essence of what makes us and keeps us human beings. I loved the setting, the mystery, and the confused narrator. In addition to the technology theme, the narrator seemed to me to represent some elementals such as romantic obsession ...more

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Sep 29, 2008 Ami rated it really liked it

Shelves: bookclub

There are lots of cool parts in this book, but my favorite is this: in the museum on an abandoned island there is an aquarium underneath a glass floor. When the main character arrives on this abandoned island, no one has been around in so long that all the fish are dead, and he has to scoop them out.

You know things are probably not going so well when suddenly all of the fish--the exact same ones our main character meticulously cleaned out weeks earlier--reappear in the water and are alive.

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Jan 03, 2008 Stewart rated it it was amazing

Shelves: argentina, nyrb-classics

“Casares has produced an immensely readable novel that is the sum of its parts, with nothing extraneous lurking in the narrative. As a mystery it’s engaging, and all the threads come together in an intricate weave with no frayed lines to tug on.”

You can read my full review here. ...more

1 like · Like · see review