Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius [Paperback]

Jorge Luis Borges (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 15, 1982

`Here is a handsome edition of one of Borges' ficciones, in a translation first published in Labyrinths in 1962. It's an important story in the Borges' canon, incorporating most of the author's philosophical and esthetic preoccupations in a typically brief compass. With great solemnity and a convincing array of scholarly detail (including annotated references to imaginary books and articles), Borges contocts a fable of an alternate world and its infiltration of our own. The reality of Tlon is idealist: material objects have no existence; language has no nouns; its principal discipline is psychology, since its inhabitants see the universe as nothing but a series of mental processes. A series of 24 illustrations accompanies the text. Their disturbing resemblances to our reality make them appropriate reflections of Borges's imaginative constructs.' -- The Kingston Whig-Standard

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Jorge Luis Borges (born August 24, 1899 in Buenos Aires, Argentina; died June 14, 1986 in Geneva, Switzerland) was an Argentine writer who is considered one of the foremost literary figures of the 20th century. Best-known in the English speaking world for his short stories and fictive essays, Borges was also a poet, critic, and man of letters. He died in 1986.

Product Details

• Paperback: 78 pages
• Publisher: Porcupine's Quill (October 15, 1982)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0889840725
• ISBN-13: 978-0889840720
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.6 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,407,986 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A group of scientists create the imaginary world of Tlon., April 24, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius (Paperback)

Thoroughly perplexing and enjoyable. Borges has a knack for deciphering the indecipherable and drawing us into his world. His blindness only serves to stimulate his understanding of the complexities of the human mind. In Spanish, the language is densely poetic yet subtle in its explications. If different realities or universes exist, Borges has discovered them in Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The most effective head reaming in 16 pages, April 26, 2002

By 

Todd Ellner "biblioholic, not in recovery" (Portland, Oregon USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius (Paperback)

Borges manages to completely skew and alter one's perceptions of time, reality, language and psychology in 16 pages of text and two dozen evocative yet cryptic drawings. It is reminiscent of the Codex Seriphinianus but more concentrated.