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Labyrinths Selected Stories and Other Writings English and Spanish Edition Jorge Luis Borges James E Irby Donald A Yates Andre Maurois 9780811200127 Books

Download As PDF : Labyrinths Selected Stories and Other Writings English and Spanish Edition Jorge Luis Borges James E Irby Donald A Yates Andre Maurois 9780811200127 Books

Labyrinths Selected Stories and Other Writings English and Spanish Edition Jorge Luis Borges James E Irby Donald A Yates Andre Maurois 9780811200127 Books

I can't say I really "enjoyed" reading this. This collection is absolutely not for everyone, unless you happen to like headaches, obtuse storytelling, and some really wordy slogs. But it sure as heck is thought-provoking. Each "story" is really a thought experiment, and Borges then plays around with the ideas. Some of my favorites were:

* "Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote" -- What if a guy decides to write his own version of Don Quixote, by literally rewriting Quixote word-for-word the exact same? It's surprisingly funny in a nerdy, academic way and very well-executed...why this isn't the first story is beyond me.

* "Theme of the Traitor and the Hero" -- An Irishman writes a biography of his legendary great-grandfather Fergus Kilpatrick, and starts to poke at the hero myth.

* "The House of Asterion" -- I was so ready to forget this one, since it was aggravatingly boring and pointless...until the twist ending. My middle school self would squeal with delight if he read this.

All of the "fictions" (calling them stories implies there's a plot, and there's certainly little of that going around in here) are interesting in their own way, but some get a little too heady. If you don't like reading that requires work, boy will some of the later stories like "The Theologians" and "Averroes' Search" leave you pretty darn frustrated. At times it can feel like you missed out on some required class reading. And it doesn't help that some of the translations feel a little more clunky than necessary.

The essays at the end are pretty nice to see Borges expand on some ideas that show up in his stories, but unless you LOVE philosophy, it makes for some pretty dry reading. And the parables are neat but oddly shoved in with the essays. I think what keeps me from giving this five stars is Borges's genius is muddled by the collection throwing all these different things into one book. TWO introductions is also ridiculous; I could not give less of a crap about William Gibson's rambling, pointless musing on Borges.

But let me be clear: I really, really liked this. Borges was a keen and inventive thinker, and it's obvious how he blazed the trail for a lot of other writers, like Umberto Eco. He's rightfully required reading. I just wish the collection was given as much thought and care as Borges puts into every single one of his fictions.


Tags : Labyrinths: Selected Stories and Other Writings (English and Spanish Edition) [Jorge Luis Borges, James E. Irby, Donald A. Yates, Andre Maurois] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Forty short stories and essays have been selected as representative of the Argentine writer's metaphysical narratives,Jorge Luis Borges, James E. Irby, Donald A. Yates, Andre Maurois,Labyrinths: Selected Stories and Other Writings (English and Spanish Edition),New Directions,0811200124,American - General,Argentina;Social life and customs;Fiction.,1899-1986,Argentina,Borges, Jorge Luis,,Caribbean & Latin American,Fiction,Literary Collections,Literary Collections American General,Literature - Classics Criticism,Literature: Classics,Social life and customs,Translations into English,1899-

Labyrinths Selected Stories and Other Writings English and Spanish Edition Jorge Luis Borges James E Irby Donald A Yates Andre Maurois 9780811200127 Books Reviews

If you're buying this, you may want to think twice about buying Ficciones by Everyman, since the stories in the latter are all included in this book, and there is a lot more included in Labyrinths as well.

Unless you're OCD like me. Being a translator myself, I try to buy different translations and read each story/poem from one translation first, and then the other. I've previously read various German and Turkish translations of the stories/poems included in Labyrinths.

I did this with the first part (that corresponds to Ficciones)of Labyrinths,and Everyman's Ficciones, and even though I was expecting Everyman to be better, overall I -very slightly- prefer the translations in this (New Directions) book. (It's a tough call though, each book has its stronger passages, and surprisingly awkward ones that are better replaced by switching to the other).

Overall, a comprehensive Borges selection, and decent translation, hard to go wrong with this.
Good writers can transport the reader to another place. Few authors however, can rival Borges for imaginative use of the narrative form to transport the reader to a completely different plane of existence. In the span of a few pages he constructs a snow globe and populates it with sights, sounds, visions, events, forms, and inhabitants which elevate the consciousness and leave you astonished and wondering what in this world did he experience that provided the inspiration for these exhilarating stories? I don't know the answer, but anyone reading his works will be profoundly grateful that he found that inspiration and acted upon it.
I must admit that Borges is one of those "must read" authors that I had never gotten around to. Don't know why, just hadn't. But now that I have, I understand all the hoopla. His writing shows a classic, authorial imagination par excellence. It is clear that Borges was grandfather to Eco and so many others who write to celebrate and stimulate and challenge the intellect. Labyrinths is a collection of stories revolving--as the planets, the asteroids, et al, do around the sun--around the concept of the labyrinth, whether it be one of time or space or pure imagination. Every story stands on its own; every story illuminates another facet of the cosmic jewel of labyrinth-ness. Have you ever noticed how a wonderful writer gives so much to his audience? Borges certainly proves that hypothesis in this remarkable collection.
Perplexing, extraordinary, and full of historical/philosophical/theological allusions. Perhaps, the single most fascinating magic realism literature I have ever read. (big Murakami fan) It is easy to see why authors such as Pynchon, Gibson, and Murakami credit Borges with inventing the genre. Furthermore, I can see why most well-read fiction lovers hold Borges to such a high esteem. He weaves history, mystery, and the occult together into seamless works of fiction (sometimes no longer than 2 pages). At times it can be hard to distinguish the fictional from the historical, but this is undoubtedly purposeful and provides readers with a tingling curiosity.
I have been familiar with this collection of stories for many years and have always found them fascinating. The word "labyrinths" aptly describes the nature of the stories. "The Garden of Forking Paths," for example, has a strange, ultimately tragic, plot, but it is suggestive of the many-worlds view of quantum mechanics. "The Library of Babel" is another eerie, strange tale. There are many allusions. I never tire of reading these stories. I labelled the mood as "thoughtful," but it could also be classified as "dark."
I can't say I really "enjoyed" reading this. This collection is absolutely not for everyone, unless you happen to like headaches, obtuse storytelling, and some really wordy slogs. But it sure as heck is thought-provoking. Each "story" is really a thought experiment, and Borges then plays around with the ideas. Some of my favorites were

* "Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote" -- What if a guy decides to write his own version of Don Quixote, by literally rewriting Quixote word-for-word the exact same? It's surprisingly funny in a nerdy, academic way and very well-executed...why this isn't the first story is beyond me.

* "Theme of the Traitor and the Hero" -- An Irishman writes a biography of his legendary great-grandfather Fergus Kilpatrick, and starts to poke at the hero myth.

* "The House of Asterion" -- I was so ready to forget this one, since it was aggravatingly boring and pointless...until the twist ending. My middle school self would squeal with delight if he read this.

All of the "fictions" (calling them stories implies there's a plot, and there's certainly little of that going around in here) are interesting in their own way, but some get a little too heady. If you don't like reading that requires work, boy will some of the later stories like "The Theologians" and "Averroes' Search" leave you pretty darn frustrated. At times it can feel like you missed out on some required class reading. And it doesn't help that some of the translations feel a little more clunky than necessary.

The essays at the end are pretty nice to see Borges expand on some ideas that show up in his stories, but unless you LOVE philosophy, it makes for some pretty dry reading. And the parables are neat but oddly shoved in with the essays. I think what keeps me from giving this five stars is Borges's genius is muddled by the collection throwing all these different things into one book. TWO introductions is also ridiculous; I could not give less of a crap about William Gibson's rambling, pointless musing on Borges.

But let me be clear I really, really liked this. Borges was a keen and inventive thinker, and it's obvious how he blazed the trail for a lot of other writers, like Umberto Eco. He's rightfully required reading. I just wish the collection was given as much thought and care as Borges puts into every single one of his fictions.