The Manuscript Found in Saragossa (Penguin Classics) [Mass Market Paperback]

Jan Potocki (Author), Ian MacLean (Translator)

Book Description

Series: Penguin Classics | Publication Date: April 25, 2006

Alphonse, a young Walloon officer, is travelling to join his regiment in Madrid in 1739. But he soon finds himself mysteriously detained at a highway inn in the strange and varied company of thieves, brigands, cabbalists, noblemen, coquettes and gypsies, whose stories he records over sixty-six days. The resulting manuscript is discovered some forty years later in a sealed casket, from which tales of characters transformed through disguise, magic and illusion, of honour and cowardice, of hauntings and seductions, leap forth to create a vibrant polyphony of human voices. Jan Potocki (1761-1812) used a range of literary styles - gothic, picaresque, adventure, pastoral, erotica - in his novel of stories-within-stories, which, like the "Decameron" and "Tales from the Thousand and One Nights", provides entertainment on an epic scale.

Editorial Reviews

Language Notes

Text: English (translation)
Original Language: French --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 656 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Classics (April 25, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140445803
• ISBN-13: 978-0140445800
• Product Dimensions: 5.2 x 1.1 x 7.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #296,259 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I wish I could give SIX STARS to this one, June 28, 1998

By 

Kate Lawrence - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Manuscript Found in Saragossa (Penguin Classics) (Mass Market Paperback)

A quick note: Although Jan Potocki was Polish, he wrote The Saragossa Manuscript in French under the title "Manuscrit trouve' a' Saragosse." I still treasure a beloved and battered copy that bears a 1958 copyright. The translator of that edition, Elisabeth Abbott, did an outstanding job in rendering Potocki's tale into English. The story certainly captivated me at the time -- an 8th grader and a stranger to well-written literary fiction. I believe The Saraossa Manuscript is a landmark in this genre, but especially so considering that it was penned in 1804. The ink on the United States constitution was scarcely dry when Potocki put forth his novel and its ideas.

The Saragossa Manuscript stands out in its treatment of the supernatural. Today, if it were a movie, it might earn an "R" rating in its open treatment of sex. Potocki's novel predates works by beloved American authors such as Washington Irving, Nathaniel Hawthorn, and Edgar Allen Poe. Recalling the public burning of Thomas Hardy's "Jude the Obscure" in the 1890's, one wonders what would have been the outcry had this novel have resurfaced in Victorian times.

To the modern reader, the tone of The Saraossa Manuscript might be reminiscent of the Japanese film "Ugetsu" (The Tales of Moonlight and Rain) by director Kenji Mizoguchi. Its motif is reminiscent of Francis Ford Coppola's movie, "Dracula," where demons do not necessarily present themselves as horrid apparitions, but rather they corrupt their victims though sweet intoxicating seduction. Tanith Lee's novels depicting Azhrarn, Prince of Demons (from Tales of the Flat Earth series) come to mind. This brand of evil puts all mortals to the test, for evil masks itself and becomes beguiling. One needs only to look at 20th century history to see this pitfall all the way from Jim Jones to Adolph Hitler.

Potocki's novel is remarkable and certainly worth a visit by the student of literature and the genre fan.

49 of 55 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Fine book, sub-standard translation, November 6, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: The Manuscript Found in Saragossa (Penguin Classics) (Mass Market Paperback)

Some previous editions of Jan Potocki's great saga have been severely edited, or else divided over several volumes. One great strength of the present version is its completeness. And while it reads satisfactorily, no version has yet surpassed Elizabeth Abbott's pioneering English translation from the early 60s. Published in two volumes (The Saragossa Manuscript & The New Decameron), Abbott's is the only version that captures the humor of the original -- and let it be said, this is a hilarious novel, full of educated wit and irony (though you wouldn't guess it after reading the somber editions that have come out lately). On one hand, it courts Enlightenment ideas as they meld into what we know as science; on the other, it skewers superstition and religion. Elizabeth Abbott's version may only be available in used or antiquarian book stores, but it's really the only way to enjoy the book as it was intended to be read. Newer fans of this wonderful decameron will discover additional pleasures, and will drawn into the tale all over again. You also may want to rent or purchase the DVD of the great film version. Director Wojeich Has, noted for his meticulous adaptations, captures all the droll humor and twists in narrative in a way that makes the film a cult classic.

28 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Old-Fashioned in the best sense. Highly recommended., May 23, 1998

By 

Richard Thurston (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Manuscript Found in Saragossa (Penguin Classics) (Mass Market Paperback)

One of my favorite books ever. To describe 'The Manuscript Found at Saragossa' as a novel does not begin to describe the complexity, the richness and the humanity this book contains.

Among a host of themes explored in the volume, it can be read as a meditation on the enlightenment, an introduction to Jewish mysticism or a primer on Euclidean geometry.

The incredible ease with which tales are told from shifting points of view and alternating narrators. The time frame moves seamlessly from past to present, occasionally causing confusion but rewarding the patient reader.

Complicated but well worth the effort. In an age of increasingly personal, neurotic narratives this book reminds one of the importance of the book of ideas.