Reviews

L'invenzione di Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares, Jorge Luis Borges

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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.

bexlrose's review against another edition

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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.

acdolan13's review against another edition

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mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

5.0

kmmi_booklover's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

ferlosofo's review against another edition

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2.0

Si bien el libro tiene algunos pasajes intensos e interesantes, me parece que la narrativa se queda un poco floja. Parte del libro da muchos detalles, pero desemboca en un final un tanto apresurado. Claro, es necesario comprender el contexto cronológico en el cual se escribe, pero siempre la idea principal gira en torno a la tecnología y a la posibilidad de emular parte de la vida humana. No es el peor de los libros, pero tampoco el mejor.