In Der Hundertjährige (The Centogenarian), which deals with the problem of rejuvenation and also offers a final speculation on the Übermensch, Mircea Eliade … again balances technical expertise with mythological thinking. Unlike his other tales, centrifuges of virtuosity, Der Hundertjährige is tightly structured, with a beginning, a middle and a sudden, inevitable end. His new character Dominic has less definition but more bulk. Eliade pursues his doddering prey with tiny twists of plot, through the use of Irish legends and Etruscan myths. All have been dragged entertainingly into the book. Ultimately, though, Eliade's work is a tale of ideas: sacred and profane, political and religious. It is a book that Superman would have loved—and that anyone might admire, because Eliade is the Borges of science fiction.
Nicholas Catanoy, "Romanian: 'Der Hundertjährige'," in World Literature Today (copyright 1980 by the University of Oklahoma Press), Vol. 54, No. 1, Winter, 1980, p. 93.
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