Staff Pick
This intricate, sun-soaked daydream of a novel influenced classic films like The Shining and Last Year at Marienbad, and Jorge Luis Borges and Octavio Paz both called it "perfect." Recommended By Kai B., Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
Jorge Luis Borges declared
The Invention of Morel a masterpiece of plotting, comparable to
The Turn of the Screw and
Journey to the Center of the Earth. Set on a mysterious island, Bioy's novella is a story of suspense and exploration, as well as a wonderfully unlikely romance, in which every detail is at once crystal clear and deeply mysterious.
Inspired by Bioy Casares's fascination with the movie star Louise Brooks, The Invention of Morel has gone on to live a secret life of its own. Greatly admired by Julio Cortázar, Gabriel García Márquez, and Octavio Paz, the novella helped to usher in Latin American fiction's now famous postwar boom. As the model for Alain Resnais and Alain Robbe-Grillet's Last Year in Marienbad, it also changed the history of film.
About the Author
Adolfo Bioy Casares (1914-1999) was born in Buenos Aires, the
child of wealthy parents. He began to write in the early thirties, and
his stories appeared in the influential magazine
Sur, through which he met his wife, the painter and writer
Silvina Ocampo, as well Jorge Luis Borges, who was to become his mentor,
friend, and collaborator. In 1940, after writing several novice works,
Bioy published the novella
The Invention of Morel, the first of his books to satisfy him,
and the first in which he hit his characteristic note of uncanny and
unexpectedly harrowing humor. Later publications include stories and
novels, among them
A Plan for Escape,
A Dream of Heroes, and
Asleep in the Sun. Bioy also collaborated with Borges on an
Anthology of Fantastic Literature and a series of satirical sketches written under the pseudonym of H. Bustos Domecq.
Suzanne Jill Levine is the author of numerous studies in Latin
American literature and the translator of works by Adolfo Bioy Casares,
Jorge Luis Borges, Guillermo Cabrera Infante, and Manuel Puig, among
other distinguished writers. Levine's most recent book is
Manuel Puig and the Spider Woman: His Life and Fictions. She is a professor in the Spanish Department at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
Ruth L. C. Simms translated books by Adolfo Bioy Casares and Jorge Luis Borges.
Jorge Luis Borges (1899 – 1986), a giant in Latin American
letters, wrote numerous books of poetry, fiction, and essays, and was a
prodigious translator of authors such as Kipling, Woolf, Faulkner, and
Poe. He was a regular contributor to Victoria Ocampo's journal
Sur, and a frequent dinner guest of Silvina Ocampo and Bioy
Casares. Over one of their legendary conversations, the three friends
came upon the idea of editing the
Antología de la Literatura Fantástica, which was published in 1940.