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The Sorcerer’s Apprentice
by Evald Flisar
$24.95 paperback
2012, 264 pages, 5.5 x 8.5
ISBN: 978-0615694740
Order through Amazon.com
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Is the book you’re holding in your hands a novel? Yes. Is it an adventure story? Definitely. Is it a love story? No, it’s a story about a complicated yet dangerously beautiful friendship.
Is it a philosophical novel? Yes, but it’s accessible even to the average reader. Is it suspenseful? It is a page turner! Is it a book dealing with spirituality? Definitely, but not in the usual way. Is it Paolo Coelho? Far from it. Is it a serious novel? Very much so.
Is it a work of art? Most critics claim that it is. Is it a work of imagination or a report of real events? Both. Is it a book about the meaning of life? Most readers say that it is. Is it the sort of book that readers keep on their bedside table? Most of them do, for a number of years.
Is it the book that tries to answer the question “Who am I?” Yes, but with surprising results.
How popular is The Sorcerer’s Apprentice?
In Slovenia, a Central-European country of two million people where the novel was first published, the sales of eight editions have reached more than 65,000 copies. In terms of population and prospective readers, that would mean over 11 million copies in the US, 2 million in the UK, 2 million in France, 2 million in Italy, 3 million in Germany, 4.4 million in Russia, 10 million in the Spanish speaking world, 40 million in India, and over 50 million copies in China!
Worth reading? See for yourself.
Evald Flisar (1945, Slovenia). Novelist, short story writer, playwright, essayist, editor. Studied comparative literature in Ljubljana, English literature in London, psychology in Australia. Globe-trotter (travelled in more than 80 countries), underground train driver in Sydney, Australia, editor of (among other things) an encyclopaedia of science and invention in London, author of short stories and radio plays for the BBC, president of the Slovene Writers’ Association (1995 – 2002), since 1998 editor of the oldest Slovenian literary journal Sodobnost (Contemporary Review). Author of eleven novels (six short-listed for kresnik, the Slovenian ’ “”Booker’ “”), two collections of short stories, three travelogues (regarded as the best of Slovenian travel writing), two books for children and teenagers (shortlisted for Best Children’s Book Award) and thirteen stage plays (six nominated for Best Play of the Year Award, twice won the award). Winner of the Prešeren Foundation Prize, the highest state award for prose and drama. Various works, especially short stories and plays, translated into 32 languages, among them Bengali, Hindi, Malay, Nepali, Indonesian, Turkish, Greek, Japanese, Chinese, Arabic, Polish, Czech, Albanian, Lithuanian, Icelandic, Russian, Italian, Spanish etc. Stage plays regularly performed all over the world, most recently in Austria, Egypt, India, Indonesia, Japan, Taiwan, Nepal, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Bulgaria and Belarus. Attended more than 50 literary readings and festivals on all continents. Lived abroad for 20 years (three years in Australia, 17 years in London). Since 1990, resident in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
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