A review by jamobo
Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges

challenging funny mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

 

Borges could have written nothing else but this collection of 17 short stories— technically 2 separate collections, stapled together and then expanded with an extra 3 a decade later — and his name would have been cemented in literary history. Barely 200 pages total, Borges confounds the reader with a mixture of false histories, articles on books that don’t exist, questionable realities of the possibly ill, and outright fantastical tales — though no less enthralling.

Likely most famous among these is The Library of Babel, a tale of an impossibly huge building, each room an identical set of living quarters next to wall to wall shelves filled with every kind of book possible. Here, Borges peers into the unusual society that could form in such a place, the decisions of individuals and of groups, common rituals like what they do with the dead, but also what could turn someone violent and what factions, religious or otherwise might form. Questions aplenty and only a few definitive answers.

But this isn’t the only story of quality. Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote is one of the funniest short stories I’ve ever read, pure tongue in cheek absurdism and done so deftly you don’t even realise you’re laughing at first. The Lottery in Babylon is a simple story and an incredible critique of our capitalistic world and how much chance plays into anyone succeeding. 

Theme of the Traitor and the Hero lays its premise out in its title, but still does a wonderful job of unravelling its mystery. In doing so it asks the question of the reader whether the truth or the fiction are more important. The Secret Miracle sees a man on the verge of death ruminate on his masterwork, a novel he has yet to complete and the fraction of a second between the bullet leaving the gun and it reaching his head he feels time stop, giving him the brief yet endless opportunity to finish his work. A story about the lost pieces of art, made particularly poignant by its setting in WW2.

There are 12 more tales — just within this collection — that I’ve yet to touch on and won’t because it’ll take you no time at all to try them yourself and understand why he’s so lauded. Succinct, surreal and even salacious, it’s a bold move to name your book Fictions, but Borges’ work lives up to such a lofty title.