Reviews - Labyrinths: Selected Stories & Other Writings

You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.

458 reviews for:

Labyrinths: Selected Stories & Other Writings

Jorge Luis Borges

4.32 AVERAGE

anderskoehl's review against another edition

4.5

adventurous challenging

såkalt singulær litterær personlighet eller nå

drfuriosa's review against another edition

3.0

This was an intriguing, but often difficult, read. I will probably use "The Garden of the Forking Paths" and "The Shape of the Sword" as short stories to teach in my fall class, with "The Argentine Writer and Tradition" as an essay example. 3.5 stars.

g3magus's review against another edition

4.0

I've already read Labyrinth's, in myriad moments across infinity. I simply read it again now, for the first time.

An indelible work of fiction that makes of the reader a wanderer through the land of dream and reality asking questions toward how these things necessarily differ through short stories, parables, and essays that stretch the understanding of what constitutes the fantastical.

The mind of Borges is incredible and while there were plentiful moments where I felt my own imaginative horizons stretched to grasp at machinations of these writings, there were times that I had trouble being able to follow some of the narratives chosen particularly given the language employed to tell these tales.

Excited to look into his other work and embark again across these planes for all remaining and perpetual time. Or maybe again I'll find myself upon the shores of Labyrinth's reading it again, for the first time.

armedaphrodite's review

4.75

challenging mysterious reflective medium-paced

This is a collection of stories that lives up to the hype. Thought-provoking, funny, deep, and inventive in turns, each story is powerful in its own right, and many of them will be rattling around in my brain for the next few months. Their influence on fiction even to the present day is obvious, and while that does mean that some of the ideas can feel old hat, they are still presented in a way that feels unique and sharp, and short. These stories are quick punches.

I do wonder at the fact that this is a collection published as an English translation, with stories selected away from works published by Borges himself as standalone collections (i.e. Ficciones and El Aleph). Pretty much every story here mentions a labyrinth at some point (even if as a throwaway metaphor or description) and there are many other through-lines; are these a feature of all Borges' work, or criteria for selection into this separate collection? Either way, it feels deliberate and revealing enough that I don't think either answer would change my review, but I'll be looking into those other stories cut from Borges' collections to try to find out.

In addition, this collection ends with essays by Borges. Many of the ideas explored through the fiction are there explored through a non-fiction lens. Readers who feel they may struggle with the ideas in a more literary work might start there to prepare themselves for the pathways Borges wanted to explore. They add to my sense that this is an intentional collection, built around a theme by the English-language publisher, but not the worse for it.