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I wanted to like Borges, but could never get into him. His writing usually has interesting ideas in it, but once I finish one of his stories I never think about

I wanted to like Borges, but could never get into him. His writing usually has interesting ideas in it, but once I finish one of his stories I never think about it again. Maybe I just don't like short stories.

moab 10y ago
Unfortunately he really only writes short stories. Some of his work is even shorter (like most of the work in Dreamtigers). I would give the stories there a try, as they don't take very long to read and will almost certainly stay with you. https://thefloatinglibrary.com/2008/09/13/a-problem/ https://thefloatinglibrary.com/2008/09/13/a-problem/ (dreamtigers): https://thefloatinglibrary.com/borges/ https://thefloatinglibrary.com/borges/
- jacques_chester 10y ago
  He was better known in his own country as an essayist than a short-story writer. The essays are fantastic, but stressful if you came from first encountering him as a fiction-writer. The writing style is almost identical. You keep waiting for the shoe to drop. That said, his essays on Dante are ... very powerful. Deeply moving.
ajones05 10y ago
Some of his stories leave me that way, too. Others, even very short ones, have stayed with me every since I read them. Here are two of my favorites that are both very short: "The House of Asterion" http://ddm.ace.ed.ac.uk/project-files/Asterion/story.html http://ddm.ace.ed.ac.uk/project-files/Asterion/story.html and "The Circular Ruins" https://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/users/00/pwillen1/lit/cruins.htm https://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/users/00/pwillen1/lit/cruins...
- nsajko 10y ago
  You may accuse me of a lack of imagination, but I don't understand how Asterion's story is supposed to be conveyed by him. Taking him at his word he shouldn't be able to write, and it would be most fitting if his story were just an internal monologue but the "footnote" about 14 meaning infinite disallows that possibility.
  - jfarmer 10y ago
    The "power" of a short story rests in its ability to imply interesting things that your imagination can play around with. When you read the original story of Theseus and the Minotaur do you ask yourself the same question? Is the story less powerful because it couldn't be true as written? The Apollodorus Bibliotecha is real compendium of Greek myths written in the 1st or 2nd century AD. The first section of the first book is the story of Theseus and the Minotaur. The House of Asterion is the same story told from the Minotaur's perspective. The fact the the story itself includes the meta-fictional footnote implies this isn't the "original" and that the person writing this isn't the Minotaur himself. Borges like to play with this conceit in many of his stories, e.g., "Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote." Don Quixote itself uses the same conceit, i.e., that what you're reading is something found and transmitted (and possibly altered). So, to start, it might be worth putting up this story and the story of Theseus and the Minotaur side-by-side. What are some differences? For example, why does Borges have the Athenians sending nine people into the labyrinth rather than seven? Borges wrote extensively about Dante and the Minotaur is in Dante's inferno, so it wouldn't totally surprise me if there's some connection between the nine people who get sent in and the nine circles of Hell in the Inferno. etc. etc. etc. Peeling back these onion layers is why a lot of people enjoy reading Borges.
    - jfarmer 10y ago
      Er, that should read the first section of the third book, namely the same book/section quoted at the start of the short story.

moab 10y ago

Unfortunately he really only writes short stories. Some of his work is even shorter (like most of the work in Dreamtigers). I would give the stories there a try, as they don't take very long to read and will almost certainly stay with you. https://thefloatinglibrary.com/2008/09/13/a-problem/ https://thefloatinglibrary.com/2008/09/13/a-problem/ (dreamtigers): https://thefloatinglibrary.com/borges/ https://thefloatinglibrary.com/borges/

jacques_chester 10y ago
He was better known in his own country as an essayist than a short-story writer. The essays are fantastic, but stressful if you came from first encountering him as a fiction-writer. The writing style is almost identical. You keep waiting for the shoe to drop. That said, his essays on Dante are ... very powerful. Deeply moving.

ajones05 10y ago

Some of his stories leave me that way, too. Others, even very short ones, have stayed with me every since I read them. Here are two of my favorites that are both very short: "The House of Asterion" http://ddm.ace.ed.ac.uk/project-files/Asterion/story.html http://ddm.ace.ed.ac.uk/project-files/Asterion/story.html and "The Circular Ruins" https://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/users/00/pwillen1/lit/cruins.htm https://www.sccs.swarthmore.edu/users/00/pwillen1/lit/cruins...

nsajko 10y ago
You may accuse me of a lack of imagination, but I don't understand how Asterion's story is supposed to be conveyed by him. Taking him at his word he shouldn't be able to write, and it would be most fitting if his story were just an internal monologue but the "footnote" about 14 meaning infinite disallows that possibility.
- jfarmer 10y ago
  The "power" of a short story rests in its ability to imply interesting things that your imagination can play around with. When you read the original story of Theseus and the Minotaur do you ask yourself the same question? Is the story less powerful because it couldn't be true as written? The Apollodorus Bibliotecha is real compendium of Greek myths written in the 1st or 2nd century AD. The first section of the first book is the story of Theseus and the Minotaur. The House of Asterion is the same story told from the Minotaur's perspective. The fact the the story itself includes the meta-fictional footnote implies this isn't the "original" and that the person writing this isn't the Minotaur himself. Borges like to play with this conceit in many of his stories, e.g., "Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote." Don Quixote itself uses the same conceit, i.e., that what you're reading is something found and transmitted (and possibly altered). So, to start, it might be worth putting up this story and the story of Theseus and the Minotaur side-by-side. What are some differences? For example, why does Borges have the Athenians sending nine people into the labyrinth rather than seven? Borges wrote extensively about Dante and the Minotaur is in Dante's inferno, so it wouldn't totally surprise me if there's some connection between the nine people who get sent in and the nine circles of Hell in the Inferno. etc. etc. etc. Peeling back these onion layers is why a lot of people enjoy reading Borges.
  - jfarmer 10y ago
    Er, that should read the first section of the third book, namely the same book/section quoted at the start of the short story.