Borges and I and Borges and I or Just Borges

Labyrinths

Selected Shorts & Other Writings 

By Jorge Luis Borges

Reviewed by Aaron DeWeese

I followed the winding labyrinth from Cervantes, to Sterne, to Rabelais, to Chesterton, on and on into paradoxical writings I go, 'til I come to believe that irony is the all.

Paradoxically, Borges sits in a library high above; that is cerebrally and intuitively. Borges being a librarian only partially explains how he came to read such obscure authors. I am impressed, and inspired to leave postmodern commonality in literature behind.

What can be said of the stories, essays, and strange parables collected here? They are short, and very complex. More than once I was left dazed, as if something large and unseen had just gone over. It helps immensely that Borges recites the same themes throughout, working them as a magical dough a baker might make 10,000 unique delicacies from.

"Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius" was disturbing and explains a lot by means of an elusive encyclopedia of another world, only proclaiming in the end that there are inhuman laws we cannot grasp; and they are very much at work.

I'll only mention a few of the stories I really enjoyed: "The Lottery in Babylon", "The Library of Babel", "Funes the Memorious", "Three Versions of Judas" (blasphemous, yet invoking contemplation of Erasmus' Free Will and Luther's Predestination), "The Sect of the Phoenix", "The Theologians"—I realize now I run the risk of listing them all, so I'll stop (I loved "The Zahir").

Each contains such an anvil of information and idea in so few words. The stories are powerful, nearly explosive, and leave permanent altering. I thought they were complex until I came upon Borges' Essays. These were mind blowing. "A New Refutation of Time" was reminiscent of Augustine's digressions on time, which ironically, were quoted from. Both turned my head on end. There is just so much deep thinking packed here. I feel I am at a loss. I feel I should read it again and take notes to quote from. Definitely.