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Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 863.62
EAN num: 9781590170571
ISBN number: 1590170571
Label: NYRB Classics
Manufacturer: NYRB Classics
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 103
Printing Date: August 31, 2003
Publishing house: NYRB Classics
Release Date: August 31, 2003
Sale Popularity Level: 128435
Studio: NYRB Classics
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Product Description:
The Island of Doctor Moreau inspired this 1940 novella. Set on a mysterious island, The Invention of Morel is a story of suspense and exploration as well as an unlikely romance, where every detail is both crystal clear and deeply mysterious. Susan Jill Levine's revision of Ruth Simm's translation offers a new experience of an uncanny work of genius.
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Rated by buyers 
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It is very hard to review this book without spoiling it. So I will endeavor not to.
It is about reality, the self, immortality, adventure and love. All in a very compact format, with a mind bending ending.
If you liked Philip K. Dick's UBIK and other of his short stories of that genre, you may actually love this book.
Rated by buyers -
This novel is a metaphor about interpersonal communications, and tells about the transformation of an individual trying to be accepted by a society to which -initially- he doesn't belong. It is based on a wonderful idea, that in my opinion is enough to classify this book as a masterpiece, even if the writing style is not particularly rich. The book has two different layers: its appearance and its not-openly disclosed messages. The appearance is an intriguing novel based on a sci-fi type of idea: a fugitive man escapes to an island populated by people that are totally not interested in him. His initial fear and attempts to hide from them slowly transforms into his desperate wish to interact with them, pushing him up to the final limit when, understood that the people are inanimate, endless cyclic tridimensional representation of a party that happened years before (and that, due to the radiations ejected by the special movie camera used, lead to the death of their actors) the man sacrifice his own life by simulating being one of the group, filming himself with the special cameras and preparing to die for that.
This may be read as a metaphor of the compromises that we accept in order to be part of a society: in the end our feelings, our dreams, our goals are only representations and, when we are finally part of it, our individuality expires.
Rated by buyers 
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I bought this book via amazon as I heard it was the basis of the TV series "Lost," which I love. Borge's also gives a blurb saying it is "a perfect novel." (But despite the praise he receives, I find Borge's writing to be extremely abstruse, so maybe I should have been more wary of his recommendation.)
I'm not sure if it was due to the translation, but I found some of the writing a bit choppy, unclear, and incoherent--some of the sentences just don't really make any sense in the paragraph they are in.
I won't give anything away, but not much happens in the story, and the end is just a convoluted explanation of the confusion (which I found became quite repetitive early on) the main character experiences during the very first half or three-quarters of the novella (it's only 100 pages). And I found the conclusion totally unbelievable anyway. This could have been just a short story.
In short, I wouldn't recommend buying it, as the money could be used for a more satisfying and real novel-length book.
Rated by buyers -
The cover picture and the blurb on the back indicate that Louise Brooks had something to do with it all....And so, knowing this, I brought what I knew of LB to my reading of 'The Invention of Morel'. As a result, I don't find fault with the character development (as other reviews here do) - why should I? This tale is about the elusive nature of beauty, the mystery of cinema, the hard to pin down quality of a great silent movie actress. To imagine what the narrator experiences - the coming to life of someone who's charisma and beauty resembles that of Louise Brooks - against the backdrop of a strange island, the eerie repetitious jazz music on the phonograph, the at once lush and deadened landscape - is descriptive enough. The narrator never knows the characters - Half-crazed, he doesn't even know himself! This is an absolutely brilliant, highly atmospheric tale.
Rated by buyers -
My interest in this book stemmed from Sawyer on the tv show "LOST" reading this book on the show. Thought the writers might be trying to tell us something so I gave it a read.
It is about a man on an Island running away from the law, convicted of life imprisonment. He finds an island that is inhabited with people he cannot make contact with. Approximately three buildings exhist on the island, a museum, a chapel and mill. A marsh and reef encircle the island with a map given as guide. This book is really ahead of its time being written in 1940!! It definately has some LOST weirdness in it. It has buildings with machines that carry on functions that are mysterious. I wonder if the writers of LOST will incorporate some ideas of this book in the story. Recommended for any LOST fan.
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