FICCIONES

loved it!

Lo amo!!!

Borges is one of my favourite Authors in any language. Beginning to learn Spanish has given me the opportunity to sample his prose in the original language. I know the English translations of these stories very well, but on first look it's going to be some time before I'm able to read these as freely as I like to! For now I have to content myself with reading lines I know so well with with the best Argentinian accent I can manage. (p.s. This book's text is Spanish, NOT English. When in doubt about the exact content of a book try searching on-line for the ISBN to check).

This was a great collection of short stories. Borges's elegance and form never cease to amaze when I read his stories. Many of these stories beg to be read several times as the ideas they present are so complex that the first reading isn't enough to understand them. The first book in this collection, El jardin de senderos que se bifurcan is really fantastic. In "Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius", Borges tells of a conspiracy to convince the world that another world really exists and that we have had contact with them. This conspiracy spans many generations and several centuries, and every time that a new discovery related to the made-up world appears, it comes closer to reality and existence. The story makes me want to question what is really necessary for an unknown (and possibly extinct) world to exist or have existed. Is it enough to have a written proof, or is that proof too easily manufactured? What is the difference between discovery and fabrication? Where is the line drawn? Does history only exist because we write it? Another story in this collection, "La loteria en Babilonia" reminds me of Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery", published 7 years after Borges's work. The two stories explore the role of chance in life and make one question what the nature of chance actually is. Are we really the slaves to it that we believe ourselves to be, or are we willingly subjected to its vagaries? In all, a great collection, but I preferred El jardin de senderos que se bifurcan to Artificios. It was the stronger collection, depending less on the journalistic style to tell compelling stories, and taking greater flights of fancy. But, for me, Borges is always worth reading.

Livro para ler e reler tranquilamente cada conto. A cada nova leitura vc descobre algo novo. Cheio de metáforas filosóficas é uma leitura surpreendente!

There some writers, like Borges, that can't be rated. He is one of the top scholars - philosopher -storyteller of the world!