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Personal Anthology

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Jorge Luis Borges was born in Buenos Aires in 1899. His parents, multilingual intellectuals, would soon travel to Europe with their children in the hopes of finding medical treatment for the progressive (inherited) failing eyesight that Borges' father was experiencing. Borges was a brainy, precocious, nearsighted and bookish child who was deeply attached to his sister Norah, with whom he played nearly exclusively and happily, mainly in the protected indoors of the family's library, or in the garden, and at the Buenos Aires Zoo, where Borges adored tigers most of all. (Stroking the fur of a living tiger was a lifelong dream and one that he finally attained - in old age).

Borges wrote his first short story at age six and, amazingly, at the age of nine translated Oscar Wilde's short story "The Happy Prince" from English to Spanish, publishing the story in a local newspaper. It was simply assumed that his father (also "Jorge Borges") had done the translation. Borges was educated in the classics, was multilingual, and was eventually named Director of the National Library of Argentina. The irony of being blind - and also in direct control of "800,000 volumes" did not escape him.

This book was assembled by Borges himself, in the 1960s. It's an assortment of short stories, essays, fictions and nonfictions, and poems. It is a demanding and rewarding read. Like most of his work, his human subjects here are mainly males- of history, myth, and his own invention. Women are not much included in his oevre. I add that so that readers new to Borges are informed, in advance.

He does not court the reader so much as respect readerly intelligence. As such his work sometimes initially intimidates students - and later, thrills. It stays with you, permanently.

Borges was a master of several forms, and they are here. Most of his areas of interest are 'big' themes : art, poetry, mortality, loyalty, destiny, ancient and world history. (He even wrote articles about books or other articles that, in fact, did not exist - other than for his express purposes.) In his poetry and other pieces, notions of eternity versus mortality (for example: one's knowing that one will never again open a certain beloved book, travel a familiar street, or know or see a still-living loved one) is approached with profound humility and grace. There are meditations on a variety of men and topics, among them Shakespeare, 'the Aleph,' and Shih Huang Ti, the Chinese emperor who ordered that the Wall of China be built, and "likewise ordered all books antedating him to be burned."

Borges loves details, material culture, and even minutiae, too. There is much to hang on to in these pieces. It's a deliberate and purposeful sampling of some of his work - not a "best of," since one volume of 200 pages can't really do that. His writing demands full engagement. Many of his stories lack characters of romance, drama, or overt emotionality - but have great power nonetheless.

Several of his most well-known poems are included. "The Art of Poetry," as able an explication of the meaning of art, life, and eternity as you might ever read and "The Tango," a poem about (among other things) Argentina ("The South, behind suspicious walls,/Keeps a knife and a guitar." In conclusion: "An impossible recollection of having died/ Fighting, on some corner of a suburb.")

Borges is considered to be a modern master, and this collection illustrates why.

This work contains some , but no means all, or even most of Borges' best work. It contains ' The Maker' and 'Everything and Nothing'. It also contains the great memory story ' Funes' and one of Borges' signature stories' 'Death and the Compass'. It has an introduction by Anthony Kerrigan.

On principle it is difficult to read any work of Borges without coming away enriched.

He takes us somewhere else into a literary world of his own which resembles other literary worlds yet has a mysterious and wondrous quality all its own.

It is by this time a cliche to say that Borges is a great writer but I will repeat the cliche as I suspect most readers who have not read him yet and who will come to his work , will feel the very same thing.

Jorge Luis Borges (1899 - 1986) was one of the greatest Argentinean's writers of all times. Since 1970 he was candidate to Nobel Literature Prize, which he never attained. In 1980 he was bestowed Cervantes Prize, the Spanish major literary award. He influenced two generations of Latin American writers. Even those who despised him as "elitist writer" admired his powerful imagination and writing skills.

Jorge Luis was born in a high-class family. He was bilingual, due to his English grandmother. He moved with his parents to Europe where he resided from 1914 till 1921 and profited from enhanced education. When he returned to Argentina he fells in love with Buenos Aires. This love affaire begot several poetry volumes and inspired him many stories.

He actively participates in Literary Cenacles, collecting life long friends and unflinching foes. He used a mixture of irony and naivety to disarm his detractors and his quotes (real or attributed) are famous and endearing.

Borges was an omnivorous reader with a wide range of interests: Cabbala, Golems, Classic Mythology, Gaucho's life and hardships, Immortality, Predestination, Buddhism, Tango, Christianity and Reincarnation are just a sample. His tales, poetries and essays reflect this interest.

The present volume was the first of Borges' works I've read when I was in the last high-school year. It was a delightful experience. In just one dose I enjoyed all the genres of his creations.

"Funes the Memorious" elaborates on what happens if a person may recall every instant of his whole life. "The Aleph" deals with magic reality. "The Golem", is situated in the Middle Ages inside a European Ghetto. "Biography of Tadeo Isidoro Cruz" is a story derived from Jose Hernandez's epic poem "Martin Fierro"; here Borges cleverly creates a mini-biography of an important, yet secondary character.

With this book the reader has the unique opportunity of tasting a complete sample of this wonderful writer's work. More: a selection of his own chooses!

Give this book a chance, you will no be disappointed!

Reviewed by Max Yofre.

Published first in Spanish in 1961 and in English in 1967, Jorge Luis Borges' A Personal Anthology was released after Borges had achieved world-wide fame as the author of the short story compilations The Garden of Forking Paths, A Universal History of Infamy, and The Aleph, as well as numerous books of poetry and essays.

A Personal Anthology can be read as a sort of broad summation of the major themes and metaphors of Borges's literary life, or as a mere introduction into his expansive oeuvre. As an avid reader of Borges, to me his anthology is an exciting glimpse into the intellectual heart of the writer. As a truly "personal anthology", edited by Borges himself, the work is, in essence, Borges' own idea of his contribution to literature, philosophy, and criticism. It is, to a great extent, what Borges would choose to leave to that infinite library that he often invokes.

The literary styles within the text span the extent of Borges' work, from short story, to literary meditation, to essay and philosophical argument. The themes of Borges' works are primarily existential. His questions surround the nature of identity, time, and consciousness, and his narratives usually lead back to the questions of myth and history, creator and creation, philosophical idealism, and the line between the waking mind and the dreaming mind. Summarizing Borges' works proves difficult, as he draws heavily from history, philosophy, religion, and references to real and imaginary books. Meaning is meant to be layered; the sacred and the profane, the everyday and the fantastic weave together to create his strange literary vignettes.

In the the book we find some of Borges' most well-known short stories, including The Aleph, Death and the Compass, Funes the Memorious, The South, and The Zahir. He also includes pseudo histories like The Warrior and the Captive, the essay A New Refutation of Time, and his brief meditation Borges and I. Borges is attracted to paradox, to unanswered questions, and his anthology reflects that propensity. While A Personal Anthology portrays Borges' at the heights of his intellectual powers, which span numerous languages, histories and literary styles, the collection also gives us Borges in his most vulnerable state, a scholar going blind, asking questions he knows are beyond his grasp to answer.

For Borges fans, A Personal Anthology is an ideal compendium to have in the library, and for those new to Borges, the edition provides a perfect introduction into the fascinating world of the writer.

Borges is with Joyce, Proust, and Kafka among the titans of literature of this century. This personal anthology ranks with his best work, and will be read when the second rate books, and second rate reviews, have been forgotton. Order now!