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9 years after his death and 68 after the publication of his book “Morel’s invention”, Bioy Casares work remains a source of material. Even the producers of “Lost” have admitted the influence of that novel on the creation of the big-hit tv.
From the very first line of "Morel’s invention" one realizes that something is wrong on that secluded island in the Pacific Ocean. “Something miraculous has happened: Summer has come earlier than usual”. Whith these initial words, Bioy sets the stage for the reader to discover that something fantastic is going on, and the first resemblance with “Lost” emerges, where the island’s tropical temperatures do not seem to hinder polar bears’ from dwelling on it.
This American big-hit series, counting over 15 million viewers every week in the US alone, displays a deep influence from Bioy Casares’ reknown novel. While resemblances are plentiful, a recently-screened scene showing one of the series’ characters reading the novel, comes as an unmistakable sign of the Argentine writer’s influence.
From the conceptual perspective, novel and series share the idea of a reality distorted to the eyes of the characters, where mistery is gradually unearthed to the surprise of the reader/viewer.
One of the major resemblances lies in the main character: both in Bioy’s novel and in the series, it is a fugitive of justice. In the former, the character has fled his country to seek refuge on the island, whereas in the latter the fugitive, Kate Austen, (starring Evangeline Lilly) wanted for homicide and fraud, is shipwrecked along with his captor.
In one of the various desperate hypotheses crossing the novel main character’s mind, he considers the chance of having gone insane and that, therefore, the island is an asylum. In “Lost”, Hugo Reyes himself (starring Jorge Garcia) has been confined to one and hallucinates his former hospitalization partner, Dave, chasing him around the island.
The deserted museum described by Bioy relates directly to the second season hatch: bookshelves on the walls, secret passages and polyedric chambers...
“Invención de Morel”, written by Adolfo Bioy Casares, was a source of inspiration for all the creators of the successful American series “LOST”. Moreover, in the forth chapter of the new season, one of the characters appears reading this book.
Published back in 1940, “Morel’s invention” was Bioy’s first novel, where the concerns that would be subsequently approached throughout this work are first introduced: the sense of life, desire, death, time and loneliness.
After the launch of “Lost”, the sales of the novel in the US rocketed, placing it among the 100 best-sellers of the world’s top online bookstore, Amazon.com, and ranking among the 10 most popular books in the latinamerican literature category.
A “perfect” novel according to Bioy’s close friend and writer Jorge Luis Borges, its influence on popular culture is certainly evidenced.
