Customer Reviews

The Book of Theophil Magus or 40 Tales About Man

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I TOTALLY AGREE WITH THESE CRITICS:

"The Book of Theophil Magus or 40 Tales about Man" is situated in the strange no man's land where everyday life becomes truly magical. I consider these writings as splendid expressions of an unique vision of our fragmented but marvelously exciting world. Leonard Oprea's style combines a discovery of hidden meanings of words with a fabulous sense of secret humor. His works received the highest praises from the most influential critics, who rightly compared his vision to works by Thomas Mann, Borges or Paulo Coelho.
( Vladimir Tismaneanu - author, essayist and editor )

In "The Book of Theophil Magus" a great variety of sacred and profane themes, archaic, mythical, contemporary ( Moses , Gandhi , Christmas , children , journalism , pilgrimage etc.) serves as vivid stimulation for this literary adventure, written with humor, knowledge and wit... in an inviting dialogue with the reader.
( Norman Manea - author and essayist )

Leonard Oprea's "40 Tales about Man" range from the depiction of the everyday to the mythological and Borgesian to the religious. Honored with numbers of prizes in his native Romania, this writer is a true iconoclast and a true talent.
( Adam J.Sorkin - author, essayist and editor )

A marvelous book - this unique vision !
I warmly recommended to any reader this marvelous book, this unique vision about our world, about the humankind destiny.
They are tales about all sorts of people and the questions that beset them.
But also tales about saints and children, about old people and their loneliness, about Edgar Allan Poe and Mahatma Gandhi, about tigers, bears, foxes, crows, and eagles.
About Jesus Christ and the world of Lazarus, about journalists and witches, about native Americans and Buddha.
About a math teacher and a national hero, about how to make yourself a library, about how a hermit-writer and a monk-critic drive away the winter, about tearing the cat in two.
About Moses and Death, about the perfectly normal Quidam and Jacob's ladder.
About a wise dwarf and a peasant in the Twilight Zone, about far-from-doubting Thomas the Apostle, about Rabbis and their Itzaks, about ... all things.
A genuine yet carefully patterned hodge-podge about God and the world.
Therefore I agree enthusiastically with Andrei Codrescu's opinion concerning the author of this splendid book:
" In Romania, Leonard Oprea is a distinguished writer. His fiction and non-fiction work was censored during the Communist dictatorship. In my opinion, Leonard Oprea could make a genuine contribution to our current writing landscape."
( Andrei Codrescu - poet, author, NPR commentator, essayist )

The Book of Theophil Magus -
a marvelous adventure ; humor and wit ; profound meditation about man.
A masterpiece.
This book - a brilliant work of an iconoclast and true talent, Leonard Oprea.
A genuinely different voice. You cannot resist it.

When religion is what brings people together and what pushes nations to war, what saves our souls and what some ardently deny, a philosophycal perspective upon life seen with a religious mental eye by this author is more than welcomed. It represents the view of one of the best writers of our times, a successful transplant in the New World. It helps us understand deep corners of our minds. It will save us from rejecting spiritual transplants applied upon us in this uncertain world.
I strongly recommend this book.

THE BOOK of THEOPHIL MAGUS or 40 TALES about MAN is much more than a collection of fiction or fairy tales.
The Pope and the Chief Rabbi meet on Easter Island in the 21st century in a super-summit. Conference to decide which religion shall rule the world. And mankind sits on edge to learn the answer...
Jesus Christ revives Lazarus.But not as we know it.
Mahatma Gandhi - who was this man?
A Hermit and a Monk, a writer and a critic, want to drive away the winter. Why?
Quidam is a perfectly normal man.However,he has a hermaphrodite child and disquieting problems - and he finally explodes.
God gave us hands with five fingers. What did He mean by it?
A wild tiger is scared off by a humble lumberjack. How is it possible? asks the tiger Buddha.
Yes,I really enjoyed it.

This book of 40 Tales about Man, written by Leonard Oprea , is a book you can rarely find today. These stories are about the present world with all its challenges, from daily life to the Faith in God. There are provoking tales written with talent, with wit and humor. Amazing stories.
This book is really wonderful. I recommend it to everyone as a beautiful gift for Holidays. Enjoy!

Briefly - a magical book for everyone.
Since I got "The Book of Theophil Magus or 40 Tales about Man", I can firmly say that I got a wonderful friend or, if you want, "a friend in need, a friend indeed". This book is fascinating me almost daily. These "40 Tales about Man" are like "Exodus" from the Bible, a unique exodus across our world, a miraculous adventure in mankind's universe. There are stories about Jesus Christ and Buddha. There a stories about the ancient world and the modern world. There are stories about tigers and crows. There are stories about the "Twilight Zone" and about Moses and Mahatma Gandhi. There are funny stories and sad ones. This book is an incredible puzzle about our life, about our dreams and about our bitterness. I warmly recommend this wonderful work to everyone who really loves good literature. Briefly - a magical book for everyone.

The Book of Theophil Magus or 40 Tales About Man that make a genuine contribution to the current American writing landscape. 'I most enthusiastically define Leonard Oprea's writings as splendid expressions of a uniquely original vision of our fragmented, shattered, but marvelously exciting world... Leonard Oprea's style combines a discovery of hidden meanings of words with a fabulous sense of secret humor. His works received the highest praises from the most influential critics, who rightly compared his vision to works by Thomas Mann, Borges or Paulo Coelho,' writes author, essayist and University of Maryland Professor Vladimir Tismaneanu. The Book of Theophil Magus takes readers on a journey for the mind. Leonard Oprea's 40 tales transport his audience to a strange no man's land, where the most mundane and routine things become magical. " With humor, knowledge and wit... in an inviting dialogue with the reader ", Leonard Oprea crafts stories that cover the gamut of " sacred and profanes themes, ' according to well-known author and essayist, Norman Manea. The Book of Theophil Magus includes 40 tales and opens with a story about two dissimilar brothers, a hermit-writer and a monk-critic, who drive away the winter. Each tale is uniquely different, and the characters range widely from Gandhi, Edgar Allan Poe and a wise midget in ancient Alexandria, to St. Anthony of Padua, Lazarus, Jesus Christ and Moses. With unusual stories about peasants in `The Twilight Zone', rabbis, Buddhist monks, an elderly couple, journalists, children and animals, The Book of Theophil Magus is a brilliant work of literature that offers witty humor and deep reflection. Born in the heart of Transylvania in Romania, Leonard Oprea grew up to be one of the most honored writers in his country. A staunch anti-Communist dissident, he was forbidden by government order to publish his "subversive books." After the anti-Communist revolution in December of 1989, he became a well-known writer, journalist and editor in his country and beyond. Leonard Oprea has published other works, including Forbidden Areas, The Trilogy of Theophil Magus, The X-Ray of An Instant and The Straitjacket (the last two novels were forbidden by the Communist regime).

I wound't advise anyone to read (the less so to buy) this book. I don't mean any offence, but the book is poorly written, with no sense of structure or narrative construction. You have always the impression that what you are reading is nothing other than a boring pile of big, big words, scattered around in a most artless fashion. The book's extreme verbosity cannot cover for its obvious lack of style.

There are people who never stop talking about themselves, but then fancy the idea that they are also writers, that could be a dissaster.

L Oprescu