The Labyrinth, the Mind, the Imagination – Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges

Quain was in the habit of arguing that readers were an already extinct species. [Babylon Lottery, Ficciones]

Then Bioy Casares recalled that one of the heresiarchs of Uqbar had stated that mirrors and copulation are abominable, since they both multiply the numbers of man. [Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius, Ficciones]

 

This summer I reread Borges, the Argentine titan of literature. Today is his birthday so I thought this the perfect introduction. Warning: the reading is not easy, but the stories are brief. They will stay with you, challenge you, change you. Here are my thoughts on the collection.

 

Published 1962, 17 pieces in 174 pages

The collection is divided into two parts, the Garden of Forking Paths and Artifices. Borges challenges the way we think from the very first story about the strange and undocumented country of Uqbar. Here there are no nouns and spatial reasoning, where all is psychology and the universe is a series of mental processes. He shares the parable of the nine copper coins and the author is a heresiarch for challenging the mores of the times. “most people do not understand it.” The antithesis of our age, the age of reason and science, this story suggests we see the world through our own limited constructs, that science or seeing or the mere classification of things do not bring us any closer to understanding and truth.

Babylon Lottery examines the role of chance and fate in life, from the actual lottery to every occurrence everywhere at any time. The game began with winners and losers, with the attendant hope and fear. The “company” runs the game, and the Babylonian is “not highly speculative. He reveres the judgments of fate, he hands his life over to them.”

The titular story of part one Garden of Forking Paths explores the labyrinth and not a physical one as many people believed, but a story with various possible narratives based on life choices. Borges explores a physical labyrinth in the Library of Babel, an infinite collection of hexagonal galleries, a physical place with answers to everything imaginable.

In part two Artifices, the reader meets Funes with a near photographic memory and exceptional mind for details, but one not very capable of thought. In the Form of the Sword we learn about a man named Vincent Moon and how he received his scar, a story which ends with a surprise switch: the narrator is Vincent Moon.

Time stops for a year during the execution of the Jew Hladik so he can complete his play. Another story challenges the role of Judas in the bible, suggesting that Jesus is Judas. In his stories, Borges turns the framework of our thinking, taking the reader to places he has never seen and providing new and imagined perspectives. His language, references, and breadth of knowledge are significant and I find myself looking up unknown words and references, often left wondering what is real or imagined. Borges does this by design in the Circular Ruin when the protagonist discovers he is himself a dream. This particular story is connected to the Work of Herbert Quain in which Borges explains that he extracted this from Quain’s collection, Statements.

The labyrinth, the ruins, the mind, the idea that Jesus is Judas, the ideas in Ficciones are Borges’ challenges to traditional views and provincial minds. Perhaps what we see with our eyes is no more real than what we imagine. Borges might contend that what we imagine may be the highest form of understanding, knowing we are but actors, knowing and realizing it’s all a dream.

Aug 25, 2017

0 Comments

About the Author

Mylinh Shattan is a writer who has lived on three continents, served in the Army, worked in corporate America, and taught in college. She loves adventures, in the world and in the mind. Literature is relevant and learning is a lifelong pursuit, so you might as well have a bit of fun along the way.

Stay Up to Date

Rise above the tedium with the TreeHouseLetter. Always learning with a bit of fun.

Latest Posts

Through the Keyhole

3 Min read On laundry and language 2 Book recs Philosophy and Literature Excerpt: David Wemyss essay on speech and conversation * AVAILABLE ON PODCAST SPOTIFY * * On the corner of Park and Cherry, I shared my impression of X--- with my husband. Let's say I was less...

The Ever Restless Soul

5 Min read 1 Book rec on creativity 1 Song and artist rec Mother and daughter / parent and child AVAILABLE ON PODCAST SPOTIFY * This is for my friends K--- and M--- and for you, dear reader, but I suppose it's for myself more than anything. For the love of my...

Confusables, Contronyms, and Jane’s Potato Salad

2 Min read Word Nerd special Humor and the paraprosdokian Usage manual rec - The authority on grammar, usage, and style Essay rec - DFW on assignment to research the above lexicon and the Usage Wars AVAILABLE ON PODCAST SPOTIFY * The limits of my language means the...

The Music in the Stories: Pavan on Borges

7 Min read Book rec, three Borges stories Argentine composer and guitarist Carlos Pavan Literature: song and story Perfect memory Music in Prose * AVAILABLE NOW ON PODCAST SPOTIFY * Probably you were expecting a young and handsome Argentine, but then here I am, the...

Beyond Grade-School Sentences: Adding Depth and Texture to Writing

4 Min read Depth and texture in writing Cumulative and suspensive sentences The Music in Prose: Ernest Hemingway, Vivian Gornick, Ralph Waldo Emerson Crayon packs and colors Toolbox, improve writing immediately * AVAILABLE ON PODCAST Spotify iTunes * Grade-school...

On Theft, Death, and the Moon

3 Min read Ryokan, Japanese Zen monk René Descartes, Discourse- Part II on Method and Part IV on God and the Human Soul Rest in Peace to a fallen friend 2 book recs Haiku AVAILABLE ON PODCAST Spotify iTunes My friend was recently robbed. It made me sad and reminded me...

The Master Sentence and the Centenarian

5 Min Read One book rec Punctuation guide Sentence construction Language Lover and Word Nerd Special Toolbox, ages 9 to 109 * AVAILABLE ON PODCAST Spotify iTunes * A master sentence tends to be long though length is not its sole characteristic, nor is it a sign of a...

Topics

Inoculate yourself against the absurdity of life with a dose of the best ideas and writing. Always learning with a bit of fun.

TreeHouseLetter

Always learning with a bit of fun

 

 

Readers receive one to two letters a week, with 2 to 10 minute read time. Includes regular features:

 

The Music in Prose
Poetry for Emergencies
Toolbox

 

 

Be inspired by the best writing and ideas, and become better readers and writers in the process.

Thank you for joining! Please check your email for a confirmation.