A review by oofym
The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares

mysterious 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? No
About as perfect as you can make a metaphysical (sci-fi?) novella. It's got the mystery, it's got the philosophical quandaries, but most importantly it has the VIBES.

Yeah I really enjoyed this, it's a very tightly executed book, I felt like it had the perfect amount of everything. Sometimes it feels like It wants the reader to put on their Agatha Christie detective hat, at others it wants you to go read metaphysics by Descartes.

I think a part of a review on the back of the book sums it up much better than I ever could:
"The theme is not cosmic, but metaphysical: the body is imaginary, and we bow to the tyranny of a phantom."

There's alot of interesting propositions contained in such a short novella, questions of the human soul or consciousness, allegories to the garden of Eden, how do we quantify time and space, science fiction on the credibility/importance of our senses and perceptions, and best of all: time loops.

Highly recommend, rarely are such short books so worth the purchase as this one was.