Labyrinths [Paperback]

 

 

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I am embarrassed to admit that this was my first proper exposure to Borges - though I had seen, and was intrigued by, many fragments of his works quoted by other authors, which is what eventually prompted me to pick up this book. The experience has turned out to be a mixture of joy and disappointment.

Allowance has to be made for the fact that the English translations in this collection are not those revised and approved by Borges. The sparks of stylistic brilliance occurring every now and again in this book made me wonder how different an impression I would get from the authorised translations (which, sadly, cannot be published any longer).

The majority of the stories introduce metaphysical ideas dressed as fiction, which is something that I do not care for - though this, of course, is a matter of personal preference. Some stories appear to be merely jokes of philosophic or literary nature while some closely (perhaps too closely) remind the style of Poe or Bierce. This quality may or may not be an artefact of translation; however, I certainly feel that the central premise of 'The Secret Miracle' is essentially the same as that of 'An Occurrence on Owl Creek Bridge' by Bierce. I recognised this even though I only ever read the latter story some 40 years ago, in a Russian translation - so the similarity must be real.

On the other hand, there are some true gems in this book - for example, 'Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius', whose intense poetic beauty transcends the metaphysical content, or 'Averroes's Search', which I find quite disturbing.

In the latter, a Moorish scholar writes, "with slow sureness, from right to left", a commentary on Aristotle's 'Poetics' (accessible to him only as a translation of a translation) and struggles with the meaning of the words 'tragedy' and 'comedy' that keep cropping up in this work but are not to be found in any other book in his library. The scholar tries to console himself with the thought that what we seek is often nearby, and later that day attends a learned gathering at a cleric's home. There, a theological and literary discussion takes place and a famous traveller tells, by way of an entertaining account, about a large painted house he visited in China: the house had balconies on the inside and was full of people watching other people who were wearing crimson masks and doing strange things. The whole thing is dismissed as lunacy by the listeners, including the scholar - who thus misses the revelation and remains in the dark about the meaning of the puzzling words in Aristotle: theatre and drama are unknown to his medieval Islamic world.

In the final paragraph of 'Averroes's Search' Borges reveals that his intention was "to narrate the process of a defeat ... of a man who sets himself a goal which is not forbidden to others, but is to him". Borges then ponders over his own difficulty with imagining Averroes based on the scraps of information about him found in various sources. The multi-lingual versions of people's names, book titles and place names scattered around the story also point to the difficulty of penetrating Averroes's way of thinking and understanding the world in which he lived; this mirrors the difficulty experienced by Averroes in the story. Fittingly, an extra layer of the same nature is added in the translation by the fact that the title of the Spanish-language original (La Busca de Averroes) cannot be adequately rendered in English because it has a dual meaning - "the search of Averroes" and "the search for Averroes" - and both interpretations are relevant to the story. Another aspect of the sublime irony of the whole situation is that the Western world largely owes its re-discovery of Aristotle to Averroes, who is also known as Ibn Rushd. Moreover, his commentary was read by medieval European scholars as the Latin translation of a Hebrew translation - not unlike the way in which Averroes reads Aristotle in the first place according to Borges (it is not known whether the real Averroes was able to read in Greek or Syriac).

The description of a failure to understand in 'Averroes's Search' is so compelling that it got me thinking: could it be that I miss the point of some of the stories in this collection in a similar way? I reckon that I will have to return to them one day and try again - and perhaps this time read these stories in the authorised translation if I can get hold of it.

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.

Borges is not quite like any other author I've ever read. Some of his influences appear to have been Swift (in his brilliant, mock high-serious parodies of scholarly writings) and E.T.A. Hoffman (in the often arcane subject matter of his stories, and in their sheer weirdness). He shares with his contemporary, Nabokov, great stylistic elegance and a love of intellectual puzzles.

And he's clearly influenced the work of a host of artists, writers, and thinkers: the Foucault of "What Is An Author?," Stanley Fish's reader response theories, the paintings of Remedios Varo, the novels of Auster and Pynchon, even the recent film "Memento," all bear unmistakable traces of his influence. Perhaps the writer Borges most resembles is Kafka - he and Kafka were masters of the short story, managing in a few taut pages to pack a dazzling breadth and depth of ideas, effects, and implications. Most significantly of all, both Borges and Kafka are in many ways sui generis.

So you really must READ Borges (who, shockingly, never won the Nobel Prize) to get a full measure of his originality. His stories are mysterious, elliptical, hauntingly beautiful. The best of them are capable of expanding the boundaries of consciousness by forcing the reader to question the nature of knowledge, of time, of identity, of reality itself. In short, the effect is, as I believe they called it way back in the 60s, a mindf***.

If you've never read Borges before, "Labryrinths" is an excellent place to start, as it includes not only many of his most memorable stories, but some astute pieces of literary criticism ("The Argentine Writer and Tradition"), as well as his short, fable-like "Parables" (of which, for me, the most resonant are "Everything and Nothing" and "Borges and I"). The heart of this collection, though, are stories like "Pierre Menard, Author of the 'Quixote,'" "The Library of Babylon," and "Funes the Memorious." They contain images that will haunt your dreams.

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5.0 out of 5 stars The diverse seas of the world
Trying to full describe the writings of Jorge Luis Borges is like trying to explain exactly why Leonardo da Vinci's art still captivates. Read more

Published 13 months ago by E. A Solinas

5.0 out of 5 stars Hypnotically Hyperreal
Borges has ability to bring you into the multi-dimensional pockets of his hyperrealistic stories. A most romantic observer, and a wonderful story teller.

Published on Jun 20 2004 by elenaruey

4.0 out of 5 stars The bibliography is a lie!
The back cover of this book glibly promises "a biographical and critical introduction, as well as an extensive bibliography. Read more

Published on Mar 9 2004 by William J. Tychonievich

3.0 out of 5 stars Labyrinths With No Bottom!
If you cannot gather from the title, Jorge Luis Borges' Labyrinths, is a collection of short stories and other writings based on labyrinths--you know, mazes. Read more

Published on Dec 2 2003 by Nobody!

5.0 out of 5 stars Sci-fiction? I dont think so- you missed the boat
6 Characters in Search of an Author and It is so if you think So are hardly sci-fi. Its called theatre of the absurd, folks, not sci-fi. Hey , Im a Lit major (B.A. Read more

Published on Sep 3 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars How Does One Critique Perfection?
I believe it is in the introduction of Labyrinths where it is said that the reasons Borges never wrote a novel were because his short stories were so clear, so concise, that they... Read more

Published on Aug 3 2003 by netchild

5.0 out of 5 stars WHAT'S THE SECRET OF THE SECRET SECT?
Several of the previous reviewers of LABYRINTHS have done an excellent job of discussing its nature and general contents as well as addressing Borges, his background, and his... Read more

Published on April 1 2003 by Loren D. Morrison

4.0 out of 5 stars A winding Labyrinth of odd prose
'Odd prose' is perhaps the best phrase for Borges, being nearly oxymoronic. For Borges's musings, it seems very appropos. Read more

Published on Mar 11 2003 by KNO2skull

5.0 out of 5 stars A great read for avid philosophy and poetry readers alike.
If you enjoy poetry, you will love Borges' unique style.
If, like me, you're more inclined to philosophy you will love Borges' refreshing and entertaining treatment of... Read more

Published on Sep 18 2002 by Robert Rosenbaum

5.0 out of 5 stars superlative writing
The short stories which comprise "Labyrinths" are all amazing. Borges is able to put his ideas into words unlike any writer I have studied. Read more

Published on April 14 2002 by D. Montros

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