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themorbidcorvid's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.5
anunusedmoniker's review against another edition
4.0
Easy, delightful, fun. What else do you want in a book?
But then again, this version is absurdly expensive. 16$!??!?
I bet you can find a better version for a lower price. This isen't exactly the kind of thing you read 15 times, and it's more expensive than an actual novel.
But then again, this version is absurdly expensive. 16$!??!?
I bet you can find a better version for a lower price. This isen't exactly the kind of thing you read 15 times, and it's more expensive than an actual novel.
ronan_lynch's review against another edition
2.0
I'm torn about this book. I was expecting a literary piece by Borges, but it turned out to be a sort of dictionary for a small collection of imaginary beings (from other people and cultures).
It does oftentimes provide future reading material for said creatures and somewhat explain their appearance and function, but only a few I found interesting to read about. I'd forgive that and give a higher rating if it was a genuine dictionary with provided images and additional material to give as much insight as possible, but that wasn't the case.
It does oftentimes provide future reading material for said creatures and somewhat explain their appearance and function, but only a few I found interesting to read about. I'd forgive that and give a higher rating if it was a genuine dictionary with provided images and additional material to give as much insight as possible, but that wasn't the case.
sl6677's review against another edition
4.0
This is a neat little book, a collection of creatures from world mythology in their various forms. I wished there was more exposition and analysis. The artwork was interesting if a bit childish for most of the imaginary beings.
remembrance_of_thoth's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.0
opossumble's review against another edition
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
zachlittrell's review against another edition
3.0
Borges is right, don't read this cover to cover, but just poke and prod around and have fun. I would've been overjoyed back in middle school to have gotten my paws on something like this, where the authors take these imaginary creatures far more seriously than even some past and ancient writers.
It's a bit scattershot, and sometimes a little suspiciously dryer than I'd want from Borges. I wonder what on earth made him, or his co-author, hold back. I can't imagine he could in good conscience repeat the following description:
And not point out that it actually sounds...nothing like an owl.
Siren: a supposed marine animal, we read in a brutally frank dictionary.
It's a bit scattershot, and sometimes a little suspiciously dryer than I'd want from Borges. I wonder what on earth made him, or his co-author, hold back. I can't imagine he could in good conscience repeat the following description:
The Hsiao is similar to the owl but has a man's face, an ape's body, and a dog's tail.
And not point out that it actually sounds...nothing like an owl.
laydownyoursoul's review against another edition
5.0
This was like sitting around a campfire with Borges and Guerrero, retelling their favourite stories from all of history.
Wow, wasn't sure what to expect going into this book, but it ended up being a delightful read. Thoroughly entertaining, this alongside the shortness of each entry made it very moreish and I kept coming back and reading more whenever I had a few minutes to spare. Highlighted a lot of passages and opened a huge number of tabs to do further research.
Was very interesting seeing some modern authors alongside the ancient or medieval, in particular the recurrence of Kafka and C.S. Lewis, alongside Poe was interesting in terms of potential influence and placing Borges in a cultural and historical context. Also gained an appreciation for a lot of classic and historical sources that I previously might not have given a chance, but am now interested in reading having seen them transformed or translated by Borges.
Very cool how this blurred the line between fiction and non-fiction. At least one entry falsely claims to come from a real mythological creature backed by historical sources, and several more stories I wonder to what extent are being retold based on myth vs just being a new tale created by Borges.
Some parts and quotes I liked:
The creature from Perelandra which starts singing with renewed enthusiasm once the human narrator leaves, rejoicing in regaining its privacy.
"The blessed were to be reborn in the form of spheres, and... they would roll into eternity"
"The name of this fish is Bahamoot [Behemoth]... as its support, water; and under the water, darkness: and the knowledge of mankind fails as to what is under the darkness" followed by an alternate theory of what is under a creature - another (longer) list of things on top of each other, where what is at the bottom is still unknown.
"Pliny says that he saw a Hippocentaur, preserved in honey"
"To oblige it I behave as if I had understood and nod. Then it jumps to the floor and dances about with joy"
On the "Double" or Doppelganger - "it comes to fetch men to their deaths. Meeting oneself was, therefore, most ominous"
"The Holy Spirit had compose two books. The first, as we all know, was the Bible; the second, the Universe, whose creatures contain immortal teachings"
The story of the Chinese Foxes was delightful.
"There can be nothing accidental in a book dictated by a divine intelligence" (on kabbalah)
"They were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come"
"Chesterton derived his famous metaphor for night: 'a monster made of eyes'"
The idea that a holy hare is rewarded by being sent to the moon, where it uses a magic mortar to create the elixir of life.
The story of the Hydra's one immortal head, that is still alive today and buried "hating and dreaming"
"The idea of a house built expressly so that people will become lost in it may be stranger than the idea of a man with the head of a bull... it is fitting that at the centre of a monstrous house there should live a monstrous inhabitant"
"No one, of course, would occupy himself with such studies if there were not a creature called Odradek" (about the study of where this name comes from). And of the same creature's laugh "it is only the kind of laugh that has no lungs behind it"
"To mitigate the astonishment this allegory may produce, let us recall that the Panther was not a fierce and fearsome beast for the Saxons, but rather an exotic sound"
"This is not a beast as is commonly understood; but its true nature is [a substance]"
Wow, wasn't sure what to expect going into this book, but it ended up being a delightful read. Thoroughly entertaining, this alongside the shortness of each entry made it very moreish and I kept coming back and reading more whenever I had a few minutes to spare. Highlighted a lot of passages and opened a huge number of tabs to do further research.
Was very interesting seeing some modern authors alongside the ancient or medieval, in particular the recurrence of Kafka and C.S. Lewis, alongside Poe was interesting in terms of potential influence and placing Borges in a cultural and historical context. Also gained an appreciation for a lot of classic and historical sources that I previously might not have given a chance, but am now interested in reading having seen them transformed or translated by Borges.
Very cool how this blurred the line between fiction and non-fiction. At least one entry falsely claims to come from a real mythological creature backed by historical sources, and several more stories I wonder to what extent are being retold based on myth vs just being a new tale created by Borges.
Some parts and quotes I liked:
The creature from Perelandra which starts singing with renewed enthusiasm once the human narrator leaves, rejoicing in regaining its privacy.
"The blessed were to be reborn in the form of spheres, and... they would roll into eternity"
"The name of this fish is Bahamoot [Behemoth]... as its support, water; and under the water, darkness: and the knowledge of mankind fails as to what is under the darkness" followed by an alternate theory of what is under a creature - another (longer) list of things on top of each other, where what is at the bottom is still unknown.
"Pliny says that he saw a Hippocentaur, preserved in honey"
"To oblige it I behave as if I had understood and nod. Then it jumps to the floor and dances about with joy"
On the "Double" or Doppelganger - "it comes to fetch men to their deaths. Meeting oneself was, therefore, most ominous"
"The Holy Spirit had compose two books. The first, as we all know, was the Bible; the second, the Universe, whose creatures contain immortal teachings"
The story of the Chinese Foxes was delightful.
"There can be nothing accidental in a book dictated by a divine intelligence" (on kabbalah)
"They were full of eyes within: and they rest not day and night, saying, Holy, holy, holy, Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come"
"Chesterton derived his famous metaphor for night: 'a monster made of eyes'"
The idea that a holy hare is rewarded by being sent to the moon, where it uses a magic mortar to create the elixir of life.
The story of the Hydra's one immortal head, that is still alive today and buried "hating and dreaming"
"The idea of a house built expressly so that people will become lost in it may be stranger than the idea of a man with the head of a bull... it is fitting that at the centre of a monstrous house there should live a monstrous inhabitant"
"No one, of course, would occupy himself with such studies if there were not a creature called Odradek" (about the study of where this name comes from). And of the same creature's laugh "it is only the kind of laugh that has no lungs behind it"
"To mitigate the astonishment this allegory may produce, let us recall that the Panther was not a fierce and fearsome beast for the Saxons, but rather an exotic sound"
"This is not a beast as is commonly understood; but its true nature is [a substance]"
fizzbitch's review against another edition
3.0
A funny little book, but too inconsistent/shallow in its entries, where I noticed several critical absences in the discriptions of certain animals.
It might be cute as a book to occasionally glimps in what kind of mythological creatures there are, but I wouldn't call it a essential guide to mythological beasts by a long shot.
And no, I have not found a better candidate. But I can imagine making one shouldn't be all that difficult.
"The Dragon is perhaps the best known but also the least fortunate of fantastic animals. It seems childish to us and usually spoils the stories in which it appears. "
This alone cost the book half a star.
It might be cute as a book to occasionally glimps in what kind of mythological creatures there are, but I wouldn't call it a essential guide to mythological beasts by a long shot.
And no, I have not found a better candidate. But I can imagine making one shouldn't be all that difficult.
"The Dragon is perhaps the best known but also the least fortunate of fantastic animals. It seems childish to us and usually spoils the stories in which it appears. "
This alone cost the book half a star.