561. Labyrinths

Labyrinths
Jorge Luis Borges
1962
Around 260 pages

I've already checked off Borges' previous work on this List, Ficciones. Labyrinths is a collection that features 13 stories from Ficciones, which meant I was halfway done with this book before I even started. Luckily, there were also some new stories, essays, and parables for me to sink my greedy fangs into. 

I don't know if I have ever read an author who has read as much as Borges. He references such a wide range of texts, that I swear he would have been a fellow List-er if he had been around for the glorious 1001 era. 

This is a short and easily digestible collection. If I had to pick out a favorite story, it would still be The Garden of the Forking Paths. I did enjoy reading his essays, particularly "The Argentine Writers and Tradition." I love it when writers write about writing.

It's strange that the List included basically a repeat, but of course, I'm happing to read anything Borges comes up with...again.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

In 2008 the London Society of Authors selected this as one of 50 outstanding translations from the last 50 years.

UP NEXT: The Golden Notebook by Doris Lessing

430. Ficciones

Ficciones
Jorge Luis Borges

1944

Around 175 pages

I had read this before in an undergrad class, where you are forced to dissect beloved stories until they are nothing more than bloody entrails and a hollow corpse. However, in this case, I was able to sustain my enjoyment through several term papers. That's the magic of Borges!

This is another collection of short stories, which only bothers me when I hate the author. You can tell that Borges loves telling stories and is a huge reader. All of the stories share the common motif of a labyrinth, with the most unforgettable story being The Garden of the Forked Paths. I've thought about that climax for years (how often can you say that?).

I might be wrong, but I believe this is the first Argentinian novel on the List. Always nice to hear from a non Western country which makes up 95% of this List. Borges is a beautiful writer, it's obvious that the man is a poet.

RATING: *****

Interesting Facts:

One of Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century.

Dedicated to writer Esther Zemborain de Torres Duggan, a friend and collaborator of Borges'.

UP NEXT: The Razor's Edge by W. Somerset Maugham