A review by saralynnburnett
The Book of Imaginary Beings by Jorge Luis Borges

3.0

This fun book is a collection of descriptions, musings, exerts, etc of imaginary beings the world over. Some of the 'tales' are just a blip, no more than a paragraph, while others run through several pages. There are also fantastic illustrations to accompany most of them. While I did throughly enjoy this book, it is the kind of book you can lay down for several days, and pick up something else to read that is more involved (which is exactly what I ended up doing...). Some of Borges snippets are a little dry, and not dry as in his sense of humor, but dry as in they were just a brief description of the being without any of his witty commentary thrown in. But others were laugh out loud funny. He's a master at slipping in just a sentence or two and cutting the culture or creature he's commenting on to the core. His gentle mocking is what kept me reading and I'm really glad I did! Consider it a 'high brow monster manual' and definitely a window into other works that will be of interest to you if you enjoy the mythical and imaginary.