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The Book of Sand & Shakespeare's Memory
The acclaimed translation of Borges's valedictory stories, in its first stand-alone edition
Jorge Luis Borges has been called the greatest Spanish-language writer of the twentieth century. Now Borges's remarkable last major story collection, The Book of Sand, is paired with a handful of writings from the very end of his life. Brilliantly translated, these stories combine ...more
Jorge Luis Borges has been called the greatest Spanish-language writer of the twentieth century. Now Borges's remarkable last major story collection, The Book of Sand, is paired with a handful of writings from the very end of his life. Brilliantly translated, these stories combine ...more
Paperback, 153 pages
Published
December 18th 2007
by Penguin Classics
(first published December 18th 1385)
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I knew Borges only through other authors who cited him—favorite authors like Umberto Eco. But I never got around to reading any of his books.
My father heard a piece on the radio about him, and bought this book to read while he recuperated from knee-replacement surgery. (I was somewhat amazed, as Dad rarely reads fiction.) When I visited him, I saw the book and told him I was interested in reading it when he was done. Dad said he'd loan me the book. A month later, I went to see him a...more
My father heard a piece on the radio about him, and bought this book to read while he recuperated from knee-replacement surgery. (I was somewhat amazed, as Dad rarely reads fiction.) When I visited him, I saw the book and told him I was interested in reading it when he was done. Dad said he'd loan me the book. A month later, I went to see him a...more
I fail to see what could have made so many people feel disappointed by this book. Perhaps it's just the fact that unlike most English speaking Borges readers, I was already well accustomed with Borges' less fantastical and erudite stories and poems instead of viewing him solely through the prism of Labyrinths. I found the whole book wonderful and painfully sad at the same time. I think my feelings towards it would be best explained by a quote from the book itself: I felt what we always feel when...more
These are densely layered short stories, and in many a single word beautifully unites theme(s) within the work.
My favorite lines come from a story, "August 25, 1983". It's in a section entitled Shakespeare's Memory. It may as well be a cleverly told forward for the short stories that follow. As the reader moves through the bodies of text, clues from "August 25, 1983" start to glimmer on the path like smooth white stones under a full moon.
This is just...more
My favorite lines come from a story, "August 25, 1983". It's in a section entitled Shakespeare's Memory. It may as well be a cleverly told forward for the short stories that follow. As the reader moves through the bodies of text, clues from "August 25, 1983" start to glimmer on the path like smooth white stones under a full moon.
This is just...more
The danger in making your writing appear so completely effortless is that your readers will under value it. I have, but how dare I? How is it possible to read the simple, elegant, clear writing and feel anything but awe? No awe. Respect. Admiration. But not a real liking. I'm disappointed in myself for that; it's disrespectful.
These stories are excellent. I liked the blending of real and supernatural and the simplicity with which we are expected to believe all that is presented to us...more
These stories are excellent. I liked the blending of real and supernatural and the simplicity with which we are expected to believe all that is presented to us...more
I am always so impressed by how tightly Borges can spin an intellectual concept into its absurd and rather profound conclusion within just a few pages of space. More often than not, I find myself drawn in and surprised with the outcome. While I don't find all of the stories within this collection to be perfect gems, each one entertains and intrigues on some level; the man never wastes your time. I most enjoyed Blue Tigers, There Are Other Things, and the two where the author encounters himself....more
This book contains the last short stories Borges published. While I was reading the first half of the book, I wasn't as impressed (I almost wrote "surprised," surprise perhaps being what I expect from Borges) as I thought I'd be, but by the time I started the second half, my opinion changed. The stories cover ideas such as taking on Shakespeare's memory, the perfect one-word poem and a book that has neither end nor order. I even enjoyed the translator's notes. Definitely one to re-read...more
These later stories of Borges don't seem to have quite the same magical, pull-at-the-edges-of-reality precision of those in Ficciones or Dreamtigers, but the best here (The Congress, The Book of Sand, Blue Tigers) still make this collection worth reading.
More Borges, more rockin'. Especially worth reading for the Lovecraft pastiche (Borges writing a mythos story? YES PLEASE!) Unfortunately this is a really short collection.
Borges is so totally original and unlike anyone who preceded him that it's kind of silly to try to explain him. His stories are fantastic and brief. He seems to me to be a kind of impossible alchemical admixture of the literary, the hallucinatory, and the mathematical: part Poe and part de Quincey, with Nabokov's eye for wonder.
"The Other", "Blue Tigers", and "Undr" are my favorites here.
"The Other", "Blue Tigers", and "Undr" are my favorites here.
A fascinating book. I'm going to need to read it again.
borges is a wonderful liar and blasphemer. i can only imagine how wonderful it would be: to sit across from him, a fire between him and me, and hear him tell a story.
borges has not only a knack for mythology, but also for .. heresy. i can't explain it, but i highly recommend any of his short stories.
borges has not only a knack for mythology, but also for .. heresy. i can't explain it, but i highly recommend any of his short stories.
simply a master.
This is not quite what I had hoped for, but I did find myself interested in his ability to go back and forth between his own words and literary allusions. I will forever be grateful for this lesson.
This was my introduction to Borges, and I'm now more than hooked. I particularly enjoyed the story 'Ulrikke' and the Lovecraft homage 'And There Are More Things'.
not, perhaps, borges' best, but that's not saying a lot.
Book club pick.
I love Borges.
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Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo (Spanish pronunciation: [xoɾxe lwis boɾxes]) was an Argentine writer and poet born in Buenos Aires. In 1914, his family moved to Switzerland where he attended school and traveled to Spain. On his return to Argentina in 1921, Borges began publishing his poems and essays in Surrealist literary journals. He also worked as a librarian and public lecturer. Bo...more
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