Customer Reviews

Being or Nothingness

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I received this book by mail in an anonymous envelope apparently sent from Sweeden. It has 21 numbered pages, and purports to be a translation of a Sweedish translation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's lost manuscript. The text is a disjoint composition of narrative, quotes, warnings, editorial remarks and personal notes. Some parts seem to be disordered. Many allusions to or quotes from Hofstadter, Doyle, Sartre, etc. are found in the book. Page 13, contains a rectangular hole where some words (3?) have been cut out of the book in a discussion of the meaning of life with reference to Adams. This seems like an elaborate viral marketing campaign, but for what I am not sure.

"...Dear Sir,

Enclosed you will find a Swedish translation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's long lost manuscript,
"Being or Nothingness,"
commonly referred to as
"The Giant Rat of Sumatra."
Unfortunately the English original vanished shortly after its appearance and we have,
as of yet,
not managed to retrieve it.

I send the book to you since it is oddly intertwined with Professor Douglas Hofstadter and his book
"I am a strange loop,"
which will soon be released by your Publishing House.

"Being or Nothingness"
contains a letter in English,
directed to Professor Hofstadter,
which might make you curious about the rest of the book.
Should that be the case, you will need to have the book translated to English, twenty-one rather short pages.

I realize this is an UNUSUAL WAY OF PROMOTING A BOOK PROJECT.
If you are not interested....."
[from the book of the back jacket by The Translater to Basic Books]

The book can be read in its entirety in seven minutes.... it has no relationship whatsoever with Sartre, except for being existential in an existential way.... the anonymous author said he'd meet me in September, but I've had no contact.... I expect we might meet in a parallel universe, perhaps drinking coffee and cognac in a little cafe on the bank of the Seine.