Borges - Starting to Get It

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

When I first read the short stories of Borges, I bought a collection of all his fictions and dove in. I couldn't get into it. It was one of those "what's the big deal?" and "I don't get it" moments. I decided I wanted to give him another try so I bought Labryinths, just because it's smaller and I didn't feel like handling that 700 page behemoth.

It's totally different this time. There have been times when I revisit a text I didn't like and enjoy it, but never to such an extreme extent as I am now experiencing with Borges. The dude's imagination was just astounding. I've never read an author that bends my mind the way he does. His ways of describing the infinite, the unfathomable, the mysterious are so good it's scary, literally. The Library of Babel creeped me out big time, just due to the vastness of his vision.

I know there's a few here who consistently cite him as a favorite. I get it.

[Charles Darnay]

Glad to hear it! I had a somewhat similar experience. Aside from a few poems, my introduction to Borges was Labyrinths. There were a few stories that just went right over my head, or that I didn't care about at all. I think opening the volume with "Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis, Tertius" was a mistake; this is one of his more inaccessible works. But "Garden of Forking Paths" redeems him completely, in my opinion. And "Circular Ruins" and "Funes The Memorius" made me fall in love his with work.

[Kyriakos]

The first time i read Borges, turning from De Maupassant, Kafka and the like, i did not find his style that great either. Now at least 10 of his stories rank as my favorites of any writer.
In a way he can be said to be the antithesis of Kafka, in that unlike Kafka he does not surround himself with charming darkness, but instead has full view of the story's labyrinth, and leads it to a completion that casts light on the entirety of it.
Try "The other death", which in my view is one of his masterpieces.

[Lokasenna]

I loved Borges from the moment I encountered him, though I must admit I have little to compare him with given my limited knowledge of 20th century short stories. Not only was I really taken with the complexity and imagination of his ideas, but also the beauty of his language.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

I've been keeping track of my favorites as I read. They are:

* *"Tiōn, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius"
* * *"The Lottery in Babylon"
* * *"The Circular Ruins"
* * *"The Library of Babel"
* * *"The Shape of the Sword"
* * *"Death and the Compass"
* * *"The Secret Miracle"
* * *"The House of Asterion"
* * *"The Zahir"

[stlukesguild]

The problem with Borges, which was pointed out by Harold Bloom, is that he is so seductive to the obsessive reader that you cannot help but become a "Borgesian" ("Guilty!"). Both Borges and Kafka were like some insidious drug. My first experience with both of them left me wondering what the big deal was... but something kept calling me back... and before I knew it I was addicted.

Once you are completely gone on Borges it will be time to partake of Italo Calvino. I recommend starting with The Complete Cosmicomics and The Baron in the Trees. :yesnod:

[Des Essientes]

The best testament to Borges' greatness I have ever read is from Witold Gombrowicz. Just arrived in Argentina when WW2 started, he stayed for 25 years, he met Borges personally and he was merciless in his unfavorable characterization of Borges the man in his novel Trans-Atlantic and his dairies, but he readily admitted that Borges the writer, the author of those magnificent stories, was an amazing being.

[Charles Darnay]

The problem with Borges, which was pointed out by Harold Bloom, is that he is so seductive to the obsessive reader that you cannot help but become a "Borgesian" ("Guilty!"). Both Borges and Kafka were like some insidious drug. My first experience with both of them left me wondering what the big deal was... but something kept calling me back... and before I knew it I was addicted.

Once you are completely gone on Borges it will be time to partake of Italo Calvino. I recommend starting with The Complete Cosmicomics and The Baron in the Trees. :yesnod:

I was introduced to Calvino well before Borges. I first came across Invisible Cities on this forum back in the day (2006 I believe) and it remains one of my favourite books.

[Lokasenna]

I've been keeping track of my favorites as I read. They are:

* *"Tiōn, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius"
* * *"The Lottery in Babylon"
* * *"The Circular Ruins"
* * *"The Library of Babel"
* * *"The Shape of the Sword"
* * *"Death and the Compass"
* * *"The Secret Miracle"
* * *"The House of Asterion"
* * *"The Zahir"

Excellent choices there!

Might I recommend 'Three Versions of Judas'? That's one of my favourites.

[Pierre Menard]

I highly recommend checking out his non-fiction (and poetry for that matter). Just as creative and thought provoking as his stories are.


As for his fiction, I have a great fondness for the story 'The South' or 'El Sur' in Spanish and highly recommend it (and everything he's written).

[Heteronym]

I was hooked from the moment I read Fictions. Nowadays I'm the proud owner of a four-volume set of his collected works. I've been reading his dialogues with Osvaldo Ferrari; besides being an excellent short-story writer, he was also a good raconteur and loved to talk about books and writers. He almost always had a kind work for everyone, and he was very humble and self-deprecating.

I'm less familiar with his poetry, but another source of great reading, apart from his short-stories, are his essays. I love to re-read those more than his stories, actually, and I'm always happy when Borges introduces me to a new writer, which he frequently does.

[Anymodal]

Once you are completely gone on Borges it will be time to partake of Italo Calvino. I recommend starting with The Complete Cosmicomics and The Baron in the Trees. :yesnod:

I was introduced to Calvino well before Borges. I first came across Invisible Cities on this forum back in the day (2006 I believe) and it remains one of my favourite books.
It's funny because I owe Borges the discovery of Calvino. In a text that may be called a story ('The dream of coledrige http://www.caressa.it/testi/borges01.html) I got to know about Marco Polo and Kublai Khan and Coleridge. After searching a little bit I came upon a commentary on 'The invisible cities'. It inmediatly caught my atention... Now I have read it and its an extraordinary book. I'm looking foward to reading more of Calvino.
I don't know what to read next. I have in mind 'The Nonexistent Knight' or the 'The Cloven Viscount'. Any suggestions?




I've been keeping track of my favorites as I read. They are:

* *"Tiōn, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius"
* * *"The Lottery in Babylon"
* * *"The Circular Ruins"
* * *"The Library of Babel"
* * *"The Shape of the Sword"
* * *"Death and the Compass"
* * *"The Secret Miracle"
* * *"The House of Asterion"
* * *"The Zahir"

Excellent choices there!

Might I recommend 'Three Versions of Judas'? That's one of my favourites.
I like 'Three versions of Judas' very much. May I add some of my top favorites:
* The immortal (My personal favorite piece of literature, I've never read nothing like it)
* The writting of the god
* The book of sand
* The aleph
* The other




I highly recommend checking out his non-fiction (and poetry for that matter). Just as creative and thought provoking as his stories are.

I was hooked from the moment I read Fictions. Nowadays I'm the proud owner of a four-volume set of his collected works. I've been reading his dialogues with Osvaldo Ferrari; besides being an excellent short-story writer, he was also a good raconteur and loved to talk about books and writers. He almost always had a kind work for everyone, and he was very humble and self-deprecating.


I'm less familiar with his poetry, but another source of great reading, apart from his short-stories, are his essays. I love to re-read those more than his stories, actually, and I'm always happy when Borges introduces me to a new writer, which he frequently does.

Check out what I posted yesterday about his poetry http://www.online-literature.com/forums/showthread.php?t=70946.
More than his poetry his essays are excelent. I recommend 'The history of Eternity" and his lectures 'Seven nights' (especially the one about 1001 Nights)

By the way, nice borgesian nickname and signature Pierre Menard

[Charles Darnay]

It's funny because I owe Borges the discovery of Calvino. In a text that may be called a story ('The dream of coledrige http://www.caressa.it/testi/borges01.html) I got to know about Marco Polo and Kublai Khan and Coleridge. After searching a little bit I came upon a commentary on 'The invisible cities'. It inmediatly caught my atention... Now I have read it and its an extraordinary book. I'm looking foward to reading more of Calvino.
I don't know what to read next. I have in mind 'The Nonexistent Knight' or the 'The Cloven Viscount'. Any suggestions?


These two plus Baron in the Trees form a trilogy that is enjoyable, but not his best.

Invisible Cities is the top of my Calvino list. if on a winter's night a traveler is probably the one he is best known for, and it is wonderful. Marcovoldo is one that provides an amazing insight into humanity and is filled with that unique Italian humour.

And of course there is Cosmicomics: it didn't resonate with me as some of his others, but it is certainly worth reading.

[Anymodal]

Thanks, I think I'll start with Marcovoldo then

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

I did a class discussion today on Borges' "The Lottery in Babylon." Not necessarily recommended....

[Charles Darnay]

I did a class discussion today on Borges' "The Lottery in Babylon." Not necessarily recommended....

I found this one of the easier stories to understand in Labyrinths; which, in my own pretentious way, makes it one of my least favourites. It's also not a great story, but you can't win them all, even if you're Borges.

[Mutatis-Mutandis]

Don't get me wrong, I recommend the story--it's one of my favorites--I'm just not sure I'd recommend teaching it, unless you like blank stares and lamentations of confusion.

[Anymodal]

I found this one of the easier stories to understand in Labyrinths; which, in my own pretentious way, makes it one of my least favourites. It's also not a great story, but you can't win them all, even if you're Borges.
What?? I think it's one of his best stories. The idea of the destiny governed by a lottery, by randomness it's very fun to me