Since being published in 1986, over 70,000 copies of the book have been sold, and this year the work will be printed in its 10th edition.

The novel, which has been proclaimed by some literary critics as the grand text of the modern Slovenian literature and a literary reflection of the world's totality, is a narrative about a journey through the hidden landscapes of the human's inner world as well as an adventure story which is full of suspense and takes place in the Himalayas.

It describes an unusual friendship between an Indian sage called Yogananda and a young male European who would like to achieve eternal inner balance and find definite answers to questions about the purpose and meaning of his own existence.

Commenting on the release of the 10th edition, literary historian Tomo Virk explains there exists "some sort of uneasiness in terms of its reception among literary experts, perhaps somewhat similar to Bartol's Alamut, where the writer uses a genre typically regarded as trivial to articulate deep philosophical issues".

According to Virk, The Sorcerer's Apprentice is syncretic in terms of genre, which is why it needs to be read through a palette of multiple genre perspectives. "If we reduce them to only one, its communicative reach gets infringed."

Novel with double encoding
One of the novel's characteristics is the instability of genre perspective, which contributes to the fact that the novel is still a challenge for many readers. When asked if the novel is a literary masterpiece of a guide book that can help people in their quest of inner self, Virk believes it is bot. "Namely, if I use Charles Jencks's expression, it uses double encoding and, therefore, successfully addresses different types of readers." Virk consider this as one of the novel's qualities, while some see it as an obstacle to readers.

M. K. , translated by K. Z.