The Invention of Morel

It was fascinating to learn that Morel and his companions on the island were merely a sort of projection. It is no wonder that they could not see the main character, because he was not around when their actions were recorded, however long ago. I am confused at what time the story takes place… I thought the setting seemed like a fairly long time ago, but television and telephones are mentioned. I guess those inventions have been around for awhile now.
I just finished the book. I had no idea it would end like the way it did. When I first started reading “The Invention of Morel” I had no idea that it was science fiction. I knew that science fiction was a genre that we would be reading, but the beginning half of the book didn’t suggest too much weird technological stuff.

It seems obvious to me that the character of Faustine is based off of Louise Brooks, considering that the author was obsessed with her… I think its interesting that Casares’s personal interests were in a way mirrored in his writing. I wonder if that is a common element in most author’s writing; it seems like it would be, considering that some of a person’s knowledge comes from their own experiences.

It is funny that my first reaction to the main character’s strange experiences on the island were due to madness. I never would have guessed the real situation, or even come close. I think it’s pretty awesome that people have the ability to genrate such weird ideas… But really, look at all the technology we’ve already created as a human race. Is it possible that we really could invent a way to preserve more that just pictures and sound, but actual sensation as well? The human experience as a whole? If this technology were to become a reality, would it really kill people? It kind of doesn’t make sense, because you can take a picture of a person and it doesn’t make their face melt off…

In the end the main character implies that Faustine was all he really had to live for. That seems sad to me, that he had nothing else, but a woman that he never had any real interactions with. As a fugative running from the law the type of the security he found on the crazy island with the projected people must have been comforting in a way. It must have been, because he commited himself to an eternity there, with people that he never really knew, exept for who they were and what they did in that one immortal week. In a sense what the main character did was smart. In a another it seems desperate and stalker-ish.

While reading the book I thought of the main character as a fairly uneducated man, but several things he said and did led me to believe that he was actually quite intelligent. It seemed to be implied that the main characrter was a writer, or journalist, and had political experience.
Another thing that I’ve been wondering about is the editors notes throught the book. It seems to me that the editors notes were written by Casares, in an attempt to make the story seem as if it were really written by the main character, as if it were a first account.