Jorge Luis Borges' "Labyrinths" is a collection of short stories and essays showcasing one of Latin America's most influential and imaginative writers. This "Penguin Modern Classics" edition is edited by Donald A. Yates and James E. Irby, with an introduction by James E. Irby and a preface by Andre Maurois. Jorge Luis Borges was a literary spellbinder whose tales of magic, mystery and murder are shot through with deep philosophical paradoxes. This collection brings together many of his stories, including the celebrated "Library of Babel", whose infinite shelves contain every book that could ever exist, 'Funes the Memorious' the tale of a man fated never to forget a single detail of his life, and 'Pierre Menard, Author of the "Quixote"', in which a French poet makes it his life's work to create an identical copy of "Don Quixote". In later life, dogged by increasing blindness, Borges used essays and brief tantalising parables to explore the enigma of time, identity and imagination. Playful and disturbing, scholarly and seductive, his is a haunting and utterly distinctive voice. Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986) was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. A poet, critic and short story writer, he received numerous awards for his work including the 1961 International Publisher's Prize (shared with Samuel Beckett). He has a reasonable claim, along with Kafka and Joyce, to be one of the most influential writers of the twentieth century. If you enjoyed "Labyrinths", you might like Franz Kafka's "Metamorphosis and Other Stories", also available in "Penguin Modern Classics". "His is the literature of eternity". (Peter Ackroyd, "The Times"). "One of the towering figures of literature in Spanish". (James Woodall, "Guardian"). "Probably the greatest twentieth-century author never to win the Nobel Prize". ("Economist").
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
If Jorge Luis Borges had been a computer scientist, he probably would have invented hypertext and the World Wide Web.
Instead, being a librarian and one of the world's most widely read people, he became the leading practitioner of a densely layered imaginistic writing style that has been imitated throughout this century, but has no peer (although Umberto Eco sometimes comes close, especially in Name of the Rose).
Borges's stories are redolent with an intelligence, wealth of invention, and a tight, almost mathematically formal style that challenge with mysteries and paradoxes revealed only slowly after several readings. Highly recommended to anyone who wants their imagination and intellect to be aswarm with philosophical plots, compelling conundrums, and a wealth of real and imagined literary references derived from an infinitely imaginary library. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
'Classic' Borges...blazing with the imaginative, the philosophical, the mysterious...in a mixture of dreamworlds, fantasy, and life's labyrinths. -- Jeri Lynn Crippen, Lovin' Life, 1 October 2004
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
83 of 88 people found the following review helpful
By David Alston
Format:Paperback
First, a memory: at the age of 19, I walked into a college elective course on Latin American literature, and was presented with a syllabus which included several works by Gabriel Garcia-Marquez, Carlos Fuentes, Manuel Puig, Julio Cortazar, and Jorge Luis Borges. We were to begin with Borges, which became a life-changing discovery.
Since then, Borges has come to stand alongside Vladimir Nabokov as my favorite writer; they are two people whose writing I couldn't imagine not knowing. And LABYRINTHS is the place to begin - it's where I started, and once a year or so, it's the collection I most readily return to.
Other reviewers have done an excellent job of summing up his style, so instead of rehashing, I'll zero in on some favorites: "Death And The Compass," which blends Borges' vast knowledge of global histories and religions with his love of pulp and genre conventions; the end results are a metaphysical mystery like no others. Or "The Sect Of The Phoenix," which - in the most simplistic analysis - is a birds-and-bees discourse undertaken with unusual originality, and enhanced with anthropological allegories.
Other high-water marks include "A New Refutation Of Time," "The Garden Of Forking Paths," the brief "Borges And I" and "Pierre Menard, Author Of The Quixote." I would note that there's not a false moment to be found here, and after dozens of re-readings, I still enjoy finding new secrets hidden within these crystalline fictions, parables and essays.
Anyone with a love of literature should get to know Borges.
-David Alston
Since then, Borges has come to stand alongside Vladimir Nabokov as my favorite writer; they are two people whose writing I couldn't imagine not knowing. And LABYRINTHS is the place to begin - it's where I started, and once a year or so, it's the collection I most readily return to.
Other reviewers have done an excellent job of summing up his style, so instead of rehashing, I'll zero in on some favorites: "Death And The Compass," which blends Borges' vast knowledge of global histories and religions with his love of pulp and genre conventions; the end results are a metaphysical mystery like no others. Or "The Sect Of The Phoenix," which - in the most simplistic analysis - is a birds-and-bees discourse undertaken with unusual originality, and enhanced with anthropological allegories.
Other high-water marks include "A New Refutation Of Time," "The Garden Of Forking Paths," the brief "Borges And I" and "Pierre Menard, Author Of The Quixote." I would note that there's not a false moment to be found here, and after dozens of re-readings, I still enjoy finding new secrets hidden within these crystalline fictions, parables and essays.
Anyone with a love of literature should get to know Borges.
-David Alston
89 of 101 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I had the pleasure to read borges in his native languaje (Spanish). I even have the honor to consider him one of my own, since im from Argentina. Sometimes I regret that Maradona is a better example of an Argentinian than Borges, and better known worldwide.
I first red Borges when i was 15 (im 17 now), i started with "The Aleph", and i just didnt have the intelectaul requirements to understand it. Buy right now im reading "Personal Anthology", and i find it simply wonderfull.
His obsession with Mirrors, Cats and Labyrinths its very intresting. His conception of the world is strange and difficult to describe, and his love for knowledge and languajes is outstanding.
Borges gave his life to literature, and he died saying "I wasnt happy... books took my life". He took a sacrifice to teach others. He gave his whole life to his readers, and i, as a reader, am very very greatfull. Literature would have a huge hole without this genious of literature.
I apologize for any grammar mistakes... this is not my native languaje, but i thought an Argentine perpective of Borges was, at least usefull, if not necessary.
I first red Borges when i was 15 (im 17 now), i started with "The Aleph", and i just didnt have the intelectaul requirements to understand it. Buy right now im reading "Personal Anthology", and i find it simply wonderfull.
His obsession with Mirrors, Cats and Labyrinths its very intresting. His conception of the world is strange and difficult to describe, and his love for knowledge and languajes is outstanding.
Borges gave his life to literature, and he died saying "I wasnt happy... books took my life". He took a sacrifice to teach others. He gave his whole life to his readers, and i, as a reader, am very very greatfull. Literature would have a huge hole without this genious of literature.
I apologize for any grammar mistakes... this is not my native languaje, but i thought an Argentine perpective of Borges was, at least usefull, if not necessary.
81 of 93 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have difficulty imagining a world without the literature of Borges. It would be incomplete. His works - so unique, so eclectic, so intellectually stimulating, and so enjoyable - seem so essential.
Jorge Luis Borges is one of the great writers of the twentieth century. His literary works include short stories, essays, and poetry, but not novels. He was never awarded the Nobel Literature Prize, a rather remarkable failure by the Nobel Committee. Borges will be read and respected long after many Nobel Prize winners of the last century have been forgotten.
"Labyrinths" is an exceptional collection, great as an introduction to Borges, but equally suitable for the reader already familiar with his works. It consists of 23 of his best known stories, ten literary essays, eight short parables, an elegy to Borges from Borges himself, and a very useful bibliography.
The detailed bibliography helps make Borges' works more accessible. In the last fifty years Borges' works in English have been published as a confusing mix of overlapping collections, largely due to complications regarding publishing rights.
Translations also differ. The first sentence in The Form of the Sword (from Ficciones) - "His face was crossed with a rancorous scar: a nearly perfect ashen arc which sank into his temple on one side and his cheek on the other" - is recognizable, but transformed in The Shape of the Sword (from Labyrinths) - "A spiteful scar crossed his face: an ash-colored and nearly perfect arc creased his temple at one tip and his cheek at the other." While both translations are good, I suspect that the effort to master Spanish would be paid in full by the joy of reading Borges in his native language.... Read more ›
Jorge Luis Borges is one of the great writers of the twentieth century. His literary works include short stories, essays, and poetry, but not novels. He was never awarded the Nobel Literature Prize, a rather remarkable failure by the Nobel Committee. Borges will be read and respected long after many Nobel Prize winners of the last century have been forgotten.
"Labyrinths" is an exceptional collection, great as an introduction to Borges, but equally suitable for the reader already familiar with his works. It consists of 23 of his best known stories, ten literary essays, eight short parables, an elegy to Borges from Borges himself, and a very useful bibliography.
The detailed bibliography helps make Borges' works more accessible. In the last fifty years Borges' works in English have been published as a confusing mix of overlapping collections, largely due to complications regarding publishing rights.
Translations also differ. The first sentence in The Form of the Sword (from Ficciones) - "His face was crossed with a rancorous scar: a nearly perfect ashen arc which sank into his temple on one side and his cheek on the other" - is recognizable, but transformed in The Shape of the Sword (from Labyrinths) - "A spiteful scar crossed his face: an ash-colored and nearly perfect arc creased his temple at one tip and his cheek at the other." While both translations are good, I suspect that the effort to master Spanish would be paid in full by the joy of reading Borges in his native language.... Read more ›
20 of 22 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
Borges combines fiction, fact, science, imagination, and philosophy like no other. The stories in Ficciones demonstrate his unparalleled depth, each needs to be read several times to determine what transpires. He often allows for several levels of interpretation, for example 'The Garden of Forking Paths'; which perhaps serves as the best first story for one new to Borges, they will quickly learn just what they have sank their teeth into. Borges shatters such accepted notions as the linear nature of time, the limits of reality, the difference between fiction and history. He is simultaneously toying with modern man's universe and offering metaphysical theories. I don't think he is as appreciated in the US as in South America, where his influence is pervasive. Must read stories include "Theme of the Traitor and the Hero", "Three Versions of Judas" and "The Library of Babel"; indeed the entire book. His stories are even more profound in Spanish than English. This book is a must for any fan of literature.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Welcome to the Magical World of Borges
Jorge Luis Borges, one of the most imaginative writers I have come across, could have been a mathematician, a physicist, a philosopher or a theologian. Read more
Published 9 days ago by Leonard Seet
5.0 out of 5 stars
Creme de la Creme
There are few authors in whom I delight as much as Borges. He is a virtuoso. All his stories are extraordinary tales, none lacking. Read more
Published 2 months ago by francis lemfield
5.0 out of 5 stars
The best
Start with Labyrinths. I find these even superior to Borges' on work with di Giovanni. They are wonderful to compare. Read them both!
Published 2 months ago by Barbara L. Ross
4.0 out of 5 stars
I enjoyed this book immensely
I enjoyed this book immensely; not just the fiction, but the essays and parables as well.
The stories were thought-provoking and engaging beyond belief. Read more
The stories were thought-provoking and engaging beyond belief. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Dan
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Compelling Collection of Short Stories
This was my first time reading any of J.L. Borges' work. I have to admit that it took me a while to get into the stories. Read more
Published 6 months ago by ellie59
5.0 out of 5 stars
Maybe I'm Amazed
I'm still new to the world we now live in, in which a remembered book title can float through my mind at one moment-- and then show up in my mailbox the next. Amazing. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Ava Wooton
4.0 out of 5 stars
"The beginner with Borges can find a seductive entrance...
...to his enchantment through the short stories collected in "Labyrinths" (1962), which transmits his poetic magic irresistibly even through translation. Read more
Published 12 months ago by John P. Jones III
5.0 out of 5 stars
Redefines what a short story can accomplish
Those new to Jorge Luis Borges should be forewarned.
This collection of short stories, essays and poems redefines the extent of meaning that can be conveyed in a very... Read more
This collection of short stories, essays and poems redefines the extent of meaning that can be conveyed in a very... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Steve Reina
3.0 out of 5 stars
Replete with spelling errors
Both the back cover and James E. Irby claim to have revised this current edition; in the postscript to his original introduction Mr Irby states "this new revised edition... Read more
Published 23 months ago by David Z. Black
4.0 out of 5 stars
Uneven
I was not as impressed by this book as I expected to be. Perhaps it's because I've read plenty of other stories which use techniques which Borges pioneered, but I didn't find many... Read more
Published on December 26, 2010 by A. Argyriou
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