The Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares

Thank you to Emma @ Word and Peace for a copy of this interesting novella. Head over to her blog to read her interesting review (link above). 

Adolfo Bioy Casares (1914-1999) was an Argentinian fiction writer, and this is his most well-known work. It is a fantastic story, and wonderfully written. It was published in 1940, but its story seem to belong to a more modern world. 

We don't know very much about the narrator. Only that he is a fugitive and needs to hide somewhere.

"An Italian rug seller in Calcutta told me about this place. He said (in his own language): "There is only one possible place for a fugitive like you - it is an uninhabited island, but a human being cannot live there. Around 1924 a group of white men built a museum, a chapel, and a swimming pool on the island. The work was completed, and then abandoned."

Our narrator manages to get to the island, in spite of the rug seller's description of the diseases pestering it and all the horrors that are rumoured to happen there. Once there he discovers that the island is not deserted at all. There actually is a group of people on the island. He decides to hide away and find shelter a bit away from all the fancy buildings, a part of the island where nature is more severe. He is sure nobody will enter his way. 

As time passes he looks around and follow the people and their daily actions, being careful not to be seen.  He falls in love with a lady who spends part of her time by the pool, overlooking the sea. Her serenity and maybe a sense of solitude affects him. As time goes by, he becomes more daring, entering into the house to see what the people are doing. Once he is sure he has been discovered, but nobody seems to be seeing him.  Is he invisible for them?

There seem to be some kind of experiment going on. He carefully makes notes in his diary. In case he should not survive, or be able to leave the island. Then one day, the host of the party reveals what he has been up to during their visit. 

I will not spoil anything here, but it is quite an unexpected outcome to this story. Judging from the title, probably inspired by The Island of Dr. Moreau. There is no mad scientist here, or is it? But, like with Wells' classic tale, Bioy Casares are here playing with philosophical themes, morals, humans and their relationship with nature, as well as playing God and creating another kind of human world. 

It is a wonderfully written account on extra ordinary happenings. No dramatic highs and lows, just important notes and revelations, that one man thinks has to be left for mankind to know of. The love story is beautiful and quite different from what we usually read about. I was quite taken by this book, the story, the writing and the unexpected ending.