'Labyrinths' Jorge L Borges

[sirinrob]

I read the Penguin translation of this. I am aware, that something is lost in translation, but I found this translation convincing. The warning about Hurley's translation given on here had been duly noted, and to my relief he hasn't had hand in this. As a spot check I compared on one of the pieces from the El Aleph in this edition against the Hurley version. This edition read far better, so I have confidence in this edition.

 

The work is split into 3 sections Fictions, Essays and Parables. The fictions take up about 2/3 of the book, and are drawn from Ficciones and El Aleph. the majority from both are included.

 

Each Fiction reads like a condensed novel in my view. Plot is often straightforward, acting a s framework for the development of a theme(s). Borges can be very sly , by leading the reader along a path and in the last line add an unexpected twist. some of the Fictions I could sense how it was going to end and I was proved right. A few were more obscure and will take rereading to see what he meant. The intellectual content is high and does require attentive reading, but the rewards are worth it. He covers philosophy, theology, mathematics and history. The main themes he considers are finitude/infinitude, reality/unreality, existence/nonexistence and real/mythic. I found that in one Fiction he would expound on reality, then a few fictions later treat reality from a diferent angle, but relating back. Amongst my favourites are 'The Library of Babel', The 'Deutsches Requiem' and the 'The Garden of forking Paths'

 

his writing style is at once lucid and obscure, direct and indirect and absolute and ambivalent. He is fond of paradoxes, which he only partially explains, which added to the fun of reading.

 

The Essays are erudite and I found drew threads within the fictions together and expounded on them further. With some of them, whilst I could follow the argument, I found myself disagreeing with him. The 'Refutation of Time ' being the example that springs to mind.

 

The Parables are late works, written when he was going blind. They are very short, but his sly humour is very evident. The one that really made me smile was 'Borges and I'.

 

I was impressed with this work and heartily recommend this as an introduction to Borges's work

[Ilona]

I actually found this among my family's large supply of random books a long time ago. I hadn't heard of it before, so I just put it on my shelf to maybe read later if I found the drive to. Reading this now reminds me of it and inspires me to actually read it, which I doubt I would have done otherwise. So thank you, Sirinrob!