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armedaphrodite 's review for:
Labyrinths: Selected Stories & Other Writings
by Jorge Luis Borges
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.
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.