About this title: In "The Mystery to a Solution", John Irwin examines the deeper significance of the genre Poe created and the meaning of Borges's efforts to "double" its origin. Drawing on history, literary history, and practical and speculative criticism, Irwin pursues issues underlying the detective genre into areas as various as the history of mathematics, classical mythology, the double-mirror structure of self consciousness, the anthropology of Evans and Frazer, the structure of chess, automata, the mind-body problem, the etymology of labyrinth, and scores of other topics. Throughout his inquiry, Irwin ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Johns Hopkins Univ Pr, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1994
ISBN-13:9780801846502ISBN:0801846501
Description: Very Good. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall 0-8018-4650-1 Scholarly Book The mystery to a solution. 481pp including index, black and white photos, some underlining in the beginning of book, previous owner's stamp on inside cover and name and date on FEP, 8vo, very good. read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Hardcover; Second Printing
ISBN-13:9780801846502ISBN:0801846501
Description: Near Fine in Near Fine dust jacket. Hardcover. The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1993. 1st Edition/2nd Printing. Near Fine Book in Near Fine Dust Jacket. Price Intact. Light wear to Book and Jacket. Aside from light spine end wear and scratches to Dust Jacket, overall a clean and tight copy. Additionally, Dust Jacket protected with a new clear archival cover. Book wrapped in bubble wrap. Media mail delivered in a box, Priority in a Flat Rate Envelope. Shipped quickly. Prompt response to ... read more
Edition: First Thus
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A.
Date Published: 1996
ISBN-13:9780801854668ISBN:0801854660
Description: Very Good ++ Trade paperback, xxiii + 482 pages including black-and-white illustrations; very tiny corner bumps, very tiny pale stains at two back corners, otherwise unread condition, uncreased, very clean and unmarked. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: John Hopkins
Date Published: 2nd printing, 1994
Description: Very Good+/Very Good hard cover. 8vo, cloth, 481pp, illus. edgewear, scrapes, dust jacket. erased pencilled underling on two pages of preface. text clean and tight. mystery. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Pre
Date Published: 1996
ISBN-13:9780801854668ISBN:0801854660
Description: New. BRAND NEW and ready for dispatch. Delivery normally within 4/7 days. Our reputation is built on our Speedy Delivery Service and our Customer Service Team. read more
Binding: PAPERBACK
Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press
Date Published: 1996
ISBN-13:9780801854668ISBN:0801854660
Description: New. 0801854660 Pub date: 1996. Condition: BRAND NEW. We are a tested and proven company with over 400, 000 satisfied customers since 1997. Choose expedited shipping for much faster delivery. Delivery confirmation on all US orders. read more
Description: Very good; Collectible. Ex-library book. No writings/underlines/highlights except library marks. inside pages are nice and clean. Satisfaction guaranteed! Fast! read more
"Irwin posits self-reflexiveness as a series that begins "n, n+1, (n+1)+1," and continues to infinity.
If you are thinking, that is thought, obviously. But if you are thinking about thinking (what you are doing now, perhaps), you have not just reached the second level, but a third. That is, there is a thought about thinking about thinking, and it just goes on and on from there-- the Russian doll par excellence.
Irwin's thesis is that Poe's "tales of ratiocination" are re-readable (unlike mysteries in which everything hinges on the solution of a crime and the reader's excitement at paralleling, perhaps overtaking, the detective in his/her pursuit of that solution) because they are, ultimately, about self-reflection, about thought, and that they continually reveal new facets with each reading. He argues that Borges's stories meant to "double" Poe's tales do in fact double those tales, by making this dimension explicit, and he does it all through really fantastic explications of some difficult concepts.
Unfortunately, he does lose himself occasionally in digression, particularly in the biographical sections of this book, which have a great deal less to do with the work of either Poe or Borges than his even own thesis claims. But he often approaches exactly that speed of thought that he is trying to explicate (that of Poe or Borges), and, as a kind of trebling of their work, this book is pretty amazing."
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