In Search of Klingsor. Jorge Volpi

      IN SEARCH OF KLINGSOR

      Jorge Volpi

       Translated by Kristina Cordero

       DEDICATION

      FOR ADRIAN, ELOY, GERARDO, NACHO, AND

      PEDRO ANGEL, MY FELLOW CONSPIRATORS

      CONTENTS

       Cover

       Title Page

Dedication

Epigraph

Preface

BOOK ONE

Laws of Narrative Motion

LAW I: All narratives are written by a narrator

LAW II: All narrators offer one, singular truth

LAW III: All narrators possess a motive for narrating

Crimes of War

Hypotheses: From Quantum Physics to Espionage

HYPOTHESIS I: On Bacon’s Childhood and Early Years

HYPOTHESIS II: On Von Neumann and the War

HYPOTHESIS III: On Einstein and Love

HYPOTHESIS IV: On Gödel’s Theory and Marriage

HYPOTHESIS V: On Bacons Departure for Germany

       Brief Autobiographical Disquisitions: From Set Theory to Totalitarianism

       DISQUISITION I: Infancy and the End of an Era

       DISQUISITION II: Youth and Irrationality

       DISQUISITION III: The Arithmetics of Infinity

       DISQUISITION IV: Liberty and Lust

       DISQUISITION V: The Search for the Absolute

       The Uranium Circle

       Parallel Universes

       The Quest for the Holy Grail

       BOOK TWO

       Laws of Criminal Motion

       LAW I: All crimes are committed by a criminal

       LAW II: Every crime is the portrait of a criminal

       LAW III: Every criminal possesses a motive

       Max Planck, or a Lesson in Faith

       Reasons for Discouragement

       Johannes Stark, or a Lesson in Infamy

       The Game of War

       Werner Heisenberg, or a Lesson in Sadness

       The Dangers of Observation

       Erwin Schrodinger, or a Lesson in Desire

       The Laws of Attraction

       The Liar’s Paradox

       The Dimensions of Affection

       Niels Bohr, or a Lesson in Will

       Chain Reaction

       The Uncertainty Principle

       Hidden Variables

       Kundry’s Curse

       BOOK THREE

       Laws of Traitorous Motion

       LAW I: All men are weak

       LAW II: All men are liars

       LAW III: All men are traitors

       Dialogue 1: On Those Forgotten by History

       The Conspiracy

       Dialogue II: On the Rules Governing Chance

       The Bomb

       Dialogue III: On the Secrets of Destiny

       The Realm