The Invention of Morel differs from prior texts that we have read in this course thus far in that the altercation of reality within the narrative can be credited to an active source: Morel’s invention. In most of the texts we have read, an alternate reality just sort-of happens, without any explanation. Perhaps this reflects the novella’s loose classification under modernism— the disruption of reality remains coherent in that there is a credible cause for this disruption. Yet, this source does not result in a neatly-tied ending, which is how the novella also exposes some postmodern influences.
We never mentioned this in class, but I have been wondering if this book can fall under the category of magical realism. Its format and style remind me of Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s Chronicle of a Death Foretold— both works take a journalistic approach to chronicling confusing and somewhat unexplainable occurrences. Yet, Bioy Casares’ approach differs in that it focuses on a more “intimate” account of the speaker’s experiences as opposed to trying to make sense out of multiple accounts. I am not sure if this book should be considered magical realism in that it combines both fantastical and realistic elements, or if it introduces an entirely different form of reality.
I like how you noticed that the virtual reality in this book is different from others, something I did not even pay attention to. This augmented reality perhaps seems the most “virtual” out of all of the ones we have looked at because of its use of technology, but it also seems to me the most fake. To me, this book almost veered away from looking at a virtual reality to a focus on immortality and one’s consciousness living on after death–we never knew about Morel’s invention until 2/3 of the way through the book. I think magical realism would be an acceptable classification of this novel. When I think of magical realism, I think of something that appears to be something until it is actually something entirely different. I do also think that this novel is very postmodern with its unfinished, questioning ending.