selected stories & other writings A New Directions paperbook -- NDP186
library binding, 256 pages
English language
Published July 6, 1986 by New Directions Pub. Corp..
Although his work has been restricted to the short story, the essay, and poetry, Jorge Luis Borges of Argentina is recognized all over the world as one of the most original and significant figures in modern literature. In his preface, Andre Maurois writes: "Borges is a great writer who has composed only little essays or short narratives. Yet they suffice for us to call him great because of their wonderful intelligence, their wealth of invention, and their tight, almost mathematical style."
Labyrinths is a representative selection of Borges' writing, some forty pieces drawn from various of his books published over the years. The translations are by Harriet de Onis, Anthony Kerrigan, and others, including the editors, who have provided a biographical and critical introduction, as well as an extensive bibliography.
~from the back cover
4.5 - I probably would have been better off reading ficciones. Some of the back half essays were well written but not mind melting like the short stories.
Picked up chiefly to read the short story 'Library of Babel'. It is an interesting thought experiment on futility of sorting through a very large data set.
While some of the stories were built around fascinating ideas, they had basically no plot or characters. Which was fine for some of them. Tlon, Uqbar, and Orbus Tertius is pretty good. The Don Quixote one, too. But too many of the rest also had uninteresting ideas, so I stopped. Maybe I'm just not smart enough. Oops!
