The Sorcerer's Apprentice

The Sorcerer's Apprentice, by Evald Flisar, originally published in Slovenian in 1986, traces the protagonist on his journey to find enlightenment in the Himalayan Mountains. Like so many works of satire and picaresque, this one has serious moments. One does relate the protagonist's meanderings and musings to postmodern dilemmas: How do we escape materialism, over-work? How may one find happiness or inner peace amidst the clutter of daily life and the egoistic pursuits so prevalent in society? The novel’s setting is plausible. Yet, the mysterious and magical coincidences and happenings suggest something otherworldly. This novel contains the non-realistic qualities of Fabulist Fiction and also folkloric overtones found in magic realism. Intertextuality (connections to Kafka, Cervantes, Tibetan Book of the Dead) abound in this work, also.