Locus Solus Paperback – 28 March 2017

I've loved just now learning about reading Roussel. What delusional ambitions! And then dense verbiage hinging on the ways words can just wobble. Be prepared to be confused, until all things are then next explained, sort of. The way he can densely detail a certain construct without the words ever really detailing a visual image, man. It is, as they say, sui generis. Now go get the other novel.

Written over a century ago, this collection of whimsical stories and pseudo myths comes with detailed explanations of impossible machines, as if someone were describing the paintings of Remedios Varo. There is no narrative to speak of, so no real plot, but anyone expecting such is missing the point and will likely not enjoy the imagery presented either. A lovely counterpoint to the 'hard' science fiction of the time such as Wells and Verne, this is to be read and enjoyed on its own terms of language and imagination.

This translation of Raymond Roussel's classic work is a pleasure to read, while remaining quite faithful to the original. Locus Solus is not a story in any conventional sense, but consists of a series of surreal vignettes (Roussel was an inspiration to the Surrealists) set in the villa of the fabulously rich and brilliant Master Canterel. Its panoply of mad scientific devices seems like hallucinatory transformations of the machines imagined by Jules Verne. The elaborate descriptions are a linguistic challenge, but the translation meets it.

Great!