Wednesday, April 07, 2021

FICCIONES


Ficciones, Jorge Luis Borges, Grove Press, 1962, 174 pp (originally published 1956 by Emcee Editores, Buenos Aires, Argentina, translated from the Spanish by Anthony Kerrigan.)

Sometimes you go on a first date and just nothing happens. I was anticipating a huge, great experience when I first opened the book. So many readers seem to revere this writer. I read the first "story," thinking I'd gotten the hang of enjoying short stories lately. That piece, entitled "Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertuis" read like a foreign language to me, even though it was translated into English. I meandered through its 19 pages and arrived...no where. What did I just read?

At the rate of one a day, I pressed on. It was like being in a place where I did not, could not, know or read or understand the language. OK, I thought, as one sometimes does on a first date, who does this guy think he is?

After a few days I realized that these "stories" were more like essays or fictional book reviews about books and authors I did not know. Fine, so that is like being at a party where you are not hip to what everyone else is talking about. You just drink.

Finally I admitted that I was in over my head. I sent messages on Twitter to authors I follow who might be nice to me. They were. They offered some tips. I kept going.

I began to see a glimpse of what authors like William Gibson, John Updike, Mario Vargas Llosa and Carlos Fuentes have raved about. Borges, as some have said, "has read all the books." Books I probably will never read but books that formed a labyrinth in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

Carlos Ruiz Zafon wrote a four volume series of novels anchored by what he called the Labyrinth of Books. Labyrinths are a key image with Borges. I finished this collection of 17 stories and found three I especially liked: "The Form of the Sword," "Three Versions of Judas,"  "The South." I felt I had been through an initiation that might or might not have included ingesting certain substances. All I was sure about was that it had been an initiation.

Being a Leo, a feminist, a woman who asserts herself, I don't enjoy being made to feel dumb or inferior. Still, I had to admit I had been in the presence of an intelligence, insouciant for sure, but nobody's fool. Someone I could learn from.

I own another collection by Borges, entitled Labyrinths. It contains all of the stories in Ficciones plus other writings. When I get over myself, I will read that and see what else I can learn.

Because I know one thing for sure: many stories and novels are fairytales, designed to make us feel comfortable in the lives we think we are living. In a way, such literature is as much of a lie as what we get from advertising or politics. I suspect that writers like Borges had something else going on. I am interested in finding out more about that. We will have a second date.

22 comments:

  1. Nice review. Like the 'date' metaphor. I've *heard* of Borges and have read bits of people talking/raving about him. I almost bought a book on/by him too but then didn't. I think he's one of those people who definitely defies pigeonholing. His uber-intellectual reputation has put me off reading him so far. Maybe, some day, I'll try a first date - when I'm confident enough I'll stay all the way to dessert...

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    1. I think your caution is well thought out. South America seems to breed this sort of writer: Clarice Lispector is another example. I just get curious when I hear/read the raves. Thanks for getting my metaphor!

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  2. Wow I loved reading your thoughts on this book - happens that some books do this to us - a combination of very unrelated feelings and responses. Usually, I end up thinking of that book for long after I've read it even if the immediate impact was meh. I haven't read this author but everything you've said makes me want to, though I may wait a while until my attention span is bigger.

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    1. Thank you for loving my thoughts. If you do try this author I recommend taking him in small doses!

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  3. impressive review... i'm not very analytical and had, initially, a similar reaction. but the stories kept coming back to me so i tried it again and liked it a lot better, even tho i could tell i didn't grok much of what he was trying to communicate; but that's not unusual for me: a lot of stuff i dont get, like politics...

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    1. Thanks, mudpuddle! That is encouraging. I hope to like some of his stories better on a second read. Just between you and me, I don't think there is a lot to get in politics-:)

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  4. I've read a few short stories by Borges over the years but frankly I can't really recall much about them. Possibly because I didn't understand them. I salute you for your effort to read and understand.

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    1. Thanks for the salute! When I try again if I still don't understand I am sure there is help on the web. But yes, I like to try first.

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  5. You are obviously a more patient reader than I am. I've never tired this author and most likely I would not do well with his writing.

    I just started a short story collection by Flannery O'Connor, Everything That Rises Must Converge. I enjoyed her writing in the past and while I loved the first story in the collection, but, wow a very racist slant to the writing -- kinda shocking even if she did grown up in Georgia and this was published in 1964.

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    1. I think you can tell by my review, he tried my patience! I have Everything That Rises on my 1965 list, the year I am reading through lately. It was her last book. I have heard rumors of her racism. I also have a biography of her I want to read. She was an amazing writer but I suppose definitely a product of her time and location. I await your review.

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  6. I could never be this patient with a book. In fact I once DNFed a book after 2 pages...

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    1. Oh, I have books like that too. This one I took as a challenge which I still think about.

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  7. Sorry about your experience, but maybe you should really try another collection. I read this one when I was a teen and so loved it: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5787.The_Aleph_and_Other_Stories

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    1. Thank you, Emma. I will look for it. That is another book of his I had heard of but forgotten about.

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  8. What a creative review! Borges intimidates me and I don't expect to try reading him any time soon, but I admire your patience and determination.

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    1. I had fun writing it! It could be that sometimes I am just stubborn. I tried reading A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking once and gave up without a fight.

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  9. Excellent comparison to a first date. I think I will leave his writing to you, and look forward to hearing about your second date!

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  10. Creative review! Glad to hear you were determined to learn more about this collection and reached out to learn more about what you read.

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    1. Thanks. Sometimes I do that when I am flummoxed!

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  11. It seems rather difficult ... but I'm glad you will have a second date. I have not tried Borges yet but I'm glad for your reading & reporting back ...

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    1. Yes, it was tough for me but I always wanted to experience his writing.

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