Collected Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges (PDF)

Description

For the first time in English, all the fiction by the writer who has been called “the greatest Spanish-language writer of our century” collected in a single volumeA Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition From Jorge Luis Borges’s 1935 debut with The Universal History of Iniquity, through his immensely influential collections Ficciones and The Aleph, these enigmatic, elaborate, imaginative inventions display his talent for turning fiction on its head by playing with form and genre and toying with language. Together these incomparable works comprise the perfect one-volume compendium for all those who have long loved Borges, and a superb introduction to the master’s work for those who have yet to discover this singular genius.

User’s Reviews

Editorial Reviews: Review A New York Times Notable Book “A marvelous new collection of stories by one of the most remarkable writers of our century.” —The New York Times “The major work of probably the most influential Latin American writer of the century.” —The Washington Post Book World “An unparalleled treasury of marvels . . . Along with a tiny cohort of peers, and seers (Kafka and Joyce come to mind), Borges is more than a stunning storyteller and a brilliant stylist; he’s a mirror who reflects the spirit of his time.” —Chicago Tribune “An event worth of celebration . . . Hurley deserves our enthusiastic praise for this monumental piece of work.” —San Francisco Chronicle “Borges is the most important Spanish-language writer since Cervantes. . . . To have denied him the Nobel Prize is as bad as the case of Joyce, Proust, and Kafka.” —Mario Vargas Llosa “When I read a good book, I sometimes like to think I might be capable of writing something similar, but never, in my wildest dreams, could I write anything that approaches the level of cleverness and intellect and madness of Borges. I don’t think anyone could.” —Daniel Radcliffe About the Author Jorge Luis Borges was born in Buenos Aires in 1989 and was educated in Europe. One of the most widely acclaimed writers of our time, he published many collections of poems, essays, and short stories before his death in Geneva in June 1986. In 1961 Borges shared the International Publisher’s prize with Samuel Beckett. The Ingram Merrill Foundation granted him its Annual Literary Award in 1966 for his “outstanding contribution to literature.” In 1971 Columbia University awarded him the first of many degrees of Doctor of Letters, honoris causa (eventually the list included both Oxford and Cambridge), that he was to receive from the English-speaking world. In 1971 he also received the fifth biennial Jerusalem Prize and in 1973 was given one of Mexico’s most prestigious cultural awards, the Alfonso Reyes Prize. In 1980 he shared with Gerardo Diego the Cervantes Prize, the Spanish world’s highest literary accolade. Borges was Director of the Argentine National Library from 1955 until 1973. Andrew Hurley (editor/translator) is a translator of numerous works of literature, criticism, history, and memoir. He is professor emeritus at the University of Puerto Rico. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. Contents A UNIVERSAL HISTORY OF INIQUITY (1935) Preface to the First Edition Preface to the 1954 Edition The Cruel Redeemer Lazarus Morell The Improbable Impostor Tom Castro The Widow Ching—Pirate Monk Eastman, Purveyor of Iniquities The Disinterested Killer Bill Harrigan The Uncivil Teacher of Court Etiquette Kôtsuké no Suké Hakim, the Masked Dyer of Merv Man on Pink Corner Et cetera Index of Sources FICTIONS (1944) THE GARDEN OF FORKING PATHS (1941) Foreword Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius The Approach to Al-Mu’tasim Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote The Circular Ruins The Lottery in Babylon A Survey of the Works of Herbert Quain The Library of Babel The Garden of Forking Paths ARTIFICES (1944) Foreword Funes, His Memory The Shape of the Sword The Theme of the Traitor and the Hero Death and the Compass The Secret Miracle Three Versions of Judas The End The Cult of the Phoenix The South THE ALEPH (1949) The Immortal The Dead Man The Theologians Story of the Warrior and the Captive Maiden A Biography of Tadeo Isidoro Cruz (1829–1874) Emma Zunz The House of Asterion The Other Death Deutsches Requiem Averroës’ Search The Zahir The Writing of the God Ibn-Hakam al-Bokhari, Murdered in His Labyrinth The Two Kings and the Two Labyrinths The Wait The Man on the Threshold The Aleph Afterword THE MAKER (1960) Foreword: For Leopoldo Lugones The Maker Dreamtigers A Dialog About a Dialog Toenails Covered Mirrors Argumentum Ornithologicum The Captive The Mountebank Delia Elena San Marco A Dialog Between Dead Men The Plot A Problem The Yellow Rose The Witness Martin Fierro Mutations Parable of Cervantes and the Quixote Paradiso, XXXI, 108 Parable of the Palace Everything and Nothing Ragnarök Inferno, I, 32 Borges and I MUSEUM On Exactitude in Science In Memoriam, J.F.K. Afterword IN PRAISE OF DARKNESS (1969) Foreword The Ethnographer Pedro Salvadores Legend A Prayer His End and His Beginning BRODIE’S REPORT (1970) Foreword The Interloper Unworthy The Story from Rosendo Juarez The Encounter Juan Murafta The Elderly Lady The Duel The Other Duel Guayaquil The Gospel According to Mark Brodie’s Report THE BOOK OF SAND (1975) The Other Ulrikke The Congress There Are More Things The Sect of the Thirty The Night of the Gifts The Mirror and the Mask “Undr” A Weary Man’s Utopia The Bribe Avelino Arredondo The Disk The Book of Sand Afterword SHAKESPEARE’S MEMORY (1983) August 25, 1983 Blue Tigers The Rose of Paracelsus Shakespeare’s Memory A Note on the Translation Acknowledgments Notes to the Fictions Read more

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐I am loving this collection so far. I was originally introduced to Borges as a Spanish minor in college, and decided to give this a go. I love how well-read and well-travelled Borges is; you get an education in philosophy, religion, history, and literature while reading the most interesting, mind-bending, quietly humorous stories. Very edifying!

⭐Those words were written on my Amazon Marketplace receipt from Blue Leaf Books by someone with the initials EDG, along with a thank you for ordering the book on March 23, 2017. In fact, I did avoid the labyrinth for almost two years because I knew it would be quite a challenge. I had first “read” Borges’ “Labyrinths” as a 20-year-old. I’m sure I could not have understood any of it at that time. But the years have passed (I won’t say how many) and, fortunately, I decided this was the year that I would make the effort to read Borges’ Collected Fictions, beginning to end, slowly. Near the end of the book, I found myself going back through the pages and finding stories I wanted to read again right away. As one excellent reviewer (Michael Battaglia) wrote, “finishing a book isn’t quite the same thing as understanding what you just read,” and this is one book I feel must be read several times. Each time, you will understand more, but you will have the feeling that yet another reading will give you still more understanding. I found it amusing that one of the last stories, “Blue Tigers,” included the following sentence: “I did not sleep the night of Feb. 10.” I was reading this particular story during the afternoon of Feb. 11. Was Borges playing with my mind? I’ve since ordered a copy of Borges’ selected non-fiction and poetry. One must NOT avoid the labyrinth.

⭐Here are a few examples of weird choices of the translator:1.Borges: title is “Funes, el memorioso”Hurley: “Funes, His Memory”Other translations have “Funes, The Memorious”. Hurley writes that he didn’t want to use the “invented”, “Lewis Carroll-esque” word “memorious”, but it is in fact a word, albeit rare. (see OED: “Having a good memory”)2.Borges: (Deutsches Requiem) “Símolo de mi vano destino, dormía en el reborde de la ventana un gato enorme y fofo.”Hurley: “On the windowsill slept a massive, obese cat–the symbol of my vain destiny.”Now, “fofo” (flabby) is probably a hint a-la-Strangelove of the nature of zur Linde’s wound, which had “serious consequences”, but it is lost with Hurley’s “obese”.3.Borges’ great lines from “Tema del traidor y del héreo”: “De esos laberintos circulares lo salva una curiosa comprobación, una comprobación que luego lo abisma en otros laberintos más inextricables y heterogéneos”Hurley translates the first “laberintos” to “labyrinths” and the second to “mazes”. A Borges sentence with a recurring word is rendered into a sentence without any. Granted, there aren’t any synonyms for “laberinto” in Spanish, but it seems somewhat strange to use both English options in one sentence.4.Borges: (Ragnaroek) “En los sueños (escribe Coleridge) las imágenes figuran las…”Hurley omits the parentheses for some reason: “The images in dreams, wrote Coleridge, figure forth…”Examples of similar translating concepts can be found on almost every other page.Those of you who demand a translation which is as literal as possible without mutilating style and imagery, might find this one disappointing. Anyhow I would recommend this as a filler since it has all the stories in one volume, while the great Borges-di Giovanni translations (or revision-translations) do not include everything (they didn’t get the rights, absurdly enough).

⭐None of Borges’ stories are casual reading. Have a dictionary handy, and an encyclopedia. Good ones. Stop and think about each paragraph, certain sentences, finish the story and think about the whole thing. Read it again if you have to, they’re never very long. Then keep reading. Cycle back every so often and re-read one that struck you as amazing or one that didn’t resonate with you. Sometimes it doesn’t feel as though you are reading fiction. By the time one has completed reading the entire sum of the presented text one can add a merit badge to your sash.I would not recommend this book to everyone, but if I recommend it to you, know that I hold you in high esteem, I have a mature and demanding opinion of you, I believe that you understand things that have importance unto themselves. I believe you want to expand.Why not 5 Stars? Because every time you reach the stars you can look up and see that there are more stars, farther away, that await your effort to achieve.

⭐This book replaces me having to go to the library when I feel the need to read Borges. I’ve read multiple stories of his multiple times. I lent a co-worker his Labyrinths & am not worried if she keeps it. I’ve another Borges book to hold onto.

⭐Great book, good translation

⭐What a treat. Even translated to English, the adroit, mesmerizing, inventive hand of Jorge Luis Borges shows through. His work persuades me that he may have prefaced the Magic Realism movement. A fine collection.

⭐Everything arrived on time and as advertised

⭐Personally, I loved this book. The product itself was of high quality, it arrived exactly as expected and on time.The stories in the book though, that’s something else entirely. They are rich, and far more detailed than you could imagine for how short they are. The present amazing and thought provoking ideas wrapped up in a few pages. My personal favourite, ‘The Garden Of Forking Paths’, in incredible. It fills out the story perfectly initially, and you won’t quite understand it (Or I didn’t anyway) until the very last paragraph. There were other greats in there too, such as ‘The Library Of Babel’ and ‘The Circular Ruins’, but I have yet to read one that wasn’t simply mindblowing.

⭐I was looking forward to reading The Aleph which was described in the synopsis. Alas, I have been disappointed by the inaccurate description.

⭐Borges’ collected fictions contains, not to put too fine a point on it, some of the most wonderful, magical stories ever written. The labyrinthine workings of his mind are reflected in his stories – quite literally in some places – and you will almost certainly want to visit Tlön, or his library – where you may get to read the infinite Book of Sand – the book of all books – or perhaps Herbet Quains trifurcating “April March”.These stories have been the inspiration for so many authors over the years (and arguably for hypertext novels and “choose your own adventure” type books). Everybody should read them!

⭐Whereas most writers regurgitate the same subjects of love or family, Borges finds his inspiration from philosophical concepts, and dazzles you with the stories he creates out of them.

⭐fast service of a great book – love this

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