Ficciones

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It’s tough to glean meaning when stories begin without a shred of context — though Borges insists that they “do not require extraneous elucidation” — and end with the reader in a state of epiphany and confusion. There is anger there, under the charm and the playful games; anger at the systems of man and the futility of certain behaviors, at the machinery of government.

I believe that this elaborate maze of misconceptions, false steps and deception was a main influence on Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco. This is the first story in this book that has a substantial plot to go along with the play of ideas; hence, I enjoyed reading it more than the previous tales. Thousands of the greedy abandoned their sweet native hexagons and rushed up the stairways, urged on by the vain intention of finding their Vindication. For anyone likewise less learned than Borges I can attest that taking this approach still provides for an engaging read and is not necessarily the easy way out.

We use Google Analytics to see what pages are most visited, and where in the world visitors are visiting from. No me gustaría decir que Borges no es para todos, Borges es de hecho para todos los lectores, para quien quiera aproximarse a su literatura y encontrarse ante una experiencia única y singular. There is no concept of time there, for present is undefined and indefinite, the future has no reality except as present hope, and the past has no reality except as present recollection. Steam rises from his mug in front of the book, obscuring some words, spinning others through a haze.

Las ideas se entrelazan o unen a través de un hilo conductor, dando como resultado un todo, que tampoco me atrevo a definir, pero donde la experiencia lectora es de lo más enriquecedora—, solo hay tres de ellos que me fascinaron: La biblioteca de Babel, Funes el memorioso y El sur. My brain cells concluded that, although some of the allusions are obscure, this tale is far more readily grasped than the first one. fact checking sites are once again refuting claims that 98 million Americans got cancer from the polio vaccine. These parallel or successive universes repeats themselves as a hand of card does after multiple runs.As we say one overdoes something until one perfects it, Borges has developed a much serene, subtler prose from the baroque style employing strained and startling metaphors from his early days, and mind you that quieter style has beauty of undertones which may take you to so many avenues in so little words. One day Dahlmann brushes his forehead against something in a dark stairway and realizes afterwards that he is bleeding. Lo tuve que leer dos veces, y no sé si ya estaba agotado o fue demasiado para mí, pero quedé exactamente igual (si alguien fuera amable de explicármelo, agradecido estaré). There have been very few authors in the history of literature who could produce such impact of originality and Borges is certainly right up there. Repeated labyrinth imagery, scenes of deception, and challenges to our perceptions of what is real echo throughout the stories of Ficciones.

The Approach to Al-Mu'tasim" originally appeared published in A History of Eternity ( Historia de la eternidad) (1936). John Barth“The economy of his prose, the tact of his imagery, the courage of his thought are there to be admired and emulated. This feeling — of being drawn into something without understanding what it is or why — only increased the further I progressed into Borges’ mysterious short story collection. They have become essential in the history of Western thought, and he will have had the chance to know them during his lifetime. If we don’t know what time it is or what day it is or what year it is, we can’t possibly be crippled by the knowing our own age.

My brain nearly overloaded several times, but reading some critical analyses of these works helped tremendously with my understanding and appreciation of these works … well, at least most of them. In life, he suffered from a sense of unreality, as do many Englishmen; dead, he is not even the ghostly creature he was then. Presently, he imagines me with steel-rimmed glasses, clumsy-footed, maybe married, he cannot decide, but above all, rather irritated by his missing book. I was so completely lost that I’ll confess I had to put this book down and retreat to a fluffy romance while I mentally regrouped for another attack on this book. Lo que sí diré es que Borges no es para todos los momentos; uno debe ser consciente de que quizá acercarse a su obra no será para un momento en el que te apetezca leer algo rápido, o en el que, por razones externas o internas, será complicado para ti mantener la concentración al 110%.