Suspicion

Adolfo Bioy Casares, The Invention of Morel, trans. Ruth L.C. Simms (New York: New York Review Books, 2003).

The Invention of Morel is a wonderful novella, literally so. The cover of the NYRB edition — a photograph of Louise Brooks and books — is a bit of a lure: Brooks inspired the novella but plays no part in it. The setting is a mysterious island; the narrator, a man who realizes that he is not alone. No wonder the book appears in Lost, in the hands of James Sawyer.

In life and in the theatre

Adolfo Bioy Casares, The Invention of Morel, trans. Ruth L.C. Simms (New York: New York Review Books, 2003).

Also from this novella
Suspicion

A grudge against clocks

When Lucio Bordenave was fired from his job at a bank, his wife Diana, aka the missus, wanted him to work at a used-car showroom. He refused, and as it turned out, the place was being run by “a famous gang.” Lucio now supports his household, which includes doña Ceferina, an aged relative on his mother’s side, by repairing clocks and watches. But Diana isn’t crazy about that work.

Adolfo Bioy Casares, Asleep in the Sun, trans. Suzanne Jill Levine (New York: New York Review Books, 2004).

Lucio is a very patient man.

Related posts
Two passages from The Invention of Morel