5 h 8 minAudiobook8 minSummaryRead it, hear it, the 15-minute summary, and print and large print at costPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
What if nature holds powers that turn a laboratory into a place of dread?
In Strange Forces, Leopoldo Lugones brings science, myth and the occult onto the same stage. A scientist pursues a hidden power in nature. In Yzur, a stubborn experimenter tries to teach a monkey to speak, convinced that apes choose silence to escape work. The search for knowledge becomes an encounter with something no one fully understands.
The Horses of Abdera turns an old Greek legend into a city's struggle with its own prized animals. The Rain of Fire retells the biblical destruction of Gomorrah as cosmic horror. After the tales, a closing essay presents Lugones's account of the universe's beginnings through a series of lessons, carrying the collection's questions from strange creatures to the cosmos.
What you’ll discover
- The silence of Yzur Meet a monkey whose silence draws a determined man into an unsettling experiment.
- A city faces fear Enter Abdera, where horses act together and leave citizens facing a danger they cannot explain.
- Fire from the sky Experience a biblical tale through the dread and wonder of cosmic horror.
- Science meets the occult Explore a world where scientific inquiry and hidden forces share the same ground.
- A vision of beginnings Follow the closing essay beyond the tales into Lugones's vision of the cosmos.
Is it for you?
This book suits readers who like early science fiction, weird tales and the roots of Latin American fantasy. It also suits anyone curious about Borges and his forerunners. Those who want fast plots and modern pacing may find its dense, ornate style slow.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A cosmic essay closes the book
- Horses turn on the city of Abdera
- A monkey that will not speak
- Fire falls on a doomed city
- Science and the occult share one stage
- A poet's style makes science strange
Who’s who
- YzurA monkey chosen for an experiment in speech, whose silence puzzles the man who tries to teach it.
- The experimenter in YzurA learned and stubborn man who believes apes can talk and spends years trying to prove it.
- The horses of AbderaAnimals long prized by a Greek city, which begin to act together in a way that frightens its people.
- The people of AbderaCitizens of a Thracian city who must face a danger that their laws and soldiers cannot explain.
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- Hardcover
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- Large print paperback
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- Large print hardcover
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Strange Forces
by Leopoldo Lugones· 1906
Scientists and other seekers encounter forces they cannot fully understand.
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Language: English
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1 of 6
A cosmic essay closes the book
The book ends with an essay on the origin of the universe, after the stories. Lugones sets out a cosmogony, which means an account of how the cosmos came to be. He presents it as a series of ten lessons, in the voice of a lecturer who wants to explain matter, energy and the shape of the heavens.
The essay mixes the science of its day with daring guesses. Lugones draws on physics and chemistry as they were understood around 1900, and he leans toward the idea that all matter is one thing in different forms. For him the world is not made of dead pieces. It is made of forces, and those forces may be tied to each other in ways that we cannot see.
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The author
Leopoldo Lugones
1874–1938 · Argentine poet
Leopoldo Lugones (1874–1938) was an Argentine poet, short-story writer, and journalist. He was born in Villa de María del Río Seco, Córdoba, and later lived in Buenos Aires. He published the poetry collection Las montañas del oro in 1897 and the story collection Strange Forces in 1906. He died in Tigre.
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What is Strange Forces by Leopoldo Lugones about?
It is a 1906 collection of tales that joins science, myth and the occult. It offers stories of strange creatures, ancient cities and hidden natural powers, followed by an essay on the origin of the universe.
What is Yzur about?
Yzur is a story about a man who believes monkeys can speak and tries to teach one named Yzur. It is a calm, unsettling tale about the line between humans and animals.
Is Strange Forces science fiction or horror?
It is both, and also fantasy. Lugones blends scientific ideas of 1900 with myth and dread. Many readers call it an early landmark of Latin American science fiction and weird fiction.
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