A review by avinsh10
The Book Of Fantasy by Jorge Luis Borges
5.0
Besides Borges, I wasn't well acquainted with works of Ocampo or Casares. So, I was spellbound reading Casares's science fictionesque The Squid in its Own Ink and Silvina's dark romance The Atonement. They blended originality with tropes that came before to create such masterpieces. It's even more fascinating to learn about the stories that made such a strong impression on these writers. Ursula Le Guin's fantastic introduction lays the foundation for what to expect.But this book, surpasses even those expectations.
I'll try my best to express what fantasy means by categorizing these short stories.
Dreams:
Several stories here, blur the line between dreams and reality. Whether it be aspirational or REM state dreams.
1. Sennin by Ryunosuke Akutagawa
2. The Man Who collected the First of September, 1973 by Tor Age Bringsvaerd
3. The Tale and the Poet by Sir Richard Burton
4. The Red King's Dream by Lewis Carroll
5. The Dream of the Butterfly by Chuang Tzu
6. The Infinite Dream of Pao-yu by Tsao Hsueh-Chin
7. The Sentence-Wu Ch'eng En
Satirical & Witty Tales:
Some writers come up with such an absurd plot, that it might surprise you, make you laugh or even produce a melancholic response.
1. Enoach Soames by Max Beerbohm
2. Earth's Holocaust by Nathaniel Hawthorne
3. Josephine the Singer, or the Mouse folk by Franz Kafka
4. Lord Arthur Saville's Crime by Oscar Wilde
5. Horses of Abdera by Leopoldo Lugones
Horror, Suspense and Psychological:
Sometimes you're stunned by either overwhelming sensation of dread or freakish apathy towards existential crisis. And, sometimes you may need to overcome the ghost's of one's past or fear of the unknown. Welcome to the twilight zone!!
1. The Monkey's Paw by W.W. Jacob
2. The Return of Imray by Rudyard Kipling
3. Pomegranate Seeds by Edith Wharton
4. House Taken Over by Julio Cortazar
5. Anything you want! by Leon Bloy
6. Macario by B. Traven
7. Ben-Tobith by Leonid Andreyev
8. The Music on the Hill by H.H. Munro(Saki)
9. Lukundoo by E.L White
10. The Donguys by Juan Rodolfo Wilcock
11. The Man who likes Dickens by Evelyn Waugh
12. The Drowned Giant by J.G. Ballard
13. Being Dust by Santiago Dabove
Though provoking & moralistic:
Last but not the least, these type stories are open to interpretation, they're left to our imagination.
1. Before the Law by Franz Kafka
2. The Riddle by Walter de la Mare
3. The Tree of Pride & Tower of Babel by G.K Chesterton
4. A Parable of Gluttony & The Persecution of the Master by Alexandra David-Neel
There are many more nuggets of phantasy in this precious encyclopedia that are waiting to be revisited. Categorizing them is just like scanning the human body with various tools, you only understand bits and pieces but not the whole.
Regards,
Vinay
I'll try my best to express what fantasy means by categorizing these short stories.
Dreams:
Several stories here, blur the line between dreams and reality. Whether it be aspirational or REM state dreams.
1. Sennin by Ryunosuke Akutagawa
2. The Man Who collected the First of September, 1973 by Tor Age Bringsvaerd
3. The Tale and the Poet by Sir Richard Burton
4. The Red King's Dream by Lewis Carroll
5. The Dream of the Butterfly by Chuang Tzu
6. The Infinite Dream of Pao-yu by Tsao Hsueh-Chin
7. The Sentence-Wu Ch'eng En
Satirical & Witty Tales:
Some writers come up with such an absurd plot, that it might surprise you, make you laugh or even produce a melancholic response.
1. Enoach Soames by Max Beerbohm
2. Earth's Holocaust by Nathaniel Hawthorne
3. Josephine the Singer, or the Mouse folk by Franz Kafka
4. Lord Arthur Saville's Crime by Oscar Wilde
5. Horses of Abdera by Leopoldo Lugones
Horror, Suspense and Psychological:
Sometimes you're stunned by either overwhelming sensation of dread or freakish apathy towards existential crisis. And, sometimes you may need to overcome the ghost's of one's past or fear of the unknown. Welcome to the twilight zone!!
1. The Monkey's Paw by W.W. Jacob
2. The Return of Imray by Rudyard Kipling
3. Pomegranate Seeds by Edith Wharton
4. House Taken Over by Julio Cortazar
5. Anything you want! by Leon Bloy
6. Macario by B. Traven
7. Ben-Tobith by Leonid Andreyev
8. The Music on the Hill by H.H. Munro(Saki)
9. Lukundoo by E.L White
10. The Donguys by Juan Rodolfo Wilcock
11. The Man who likes Dickens by Evelyn Waugh
12. The Drowned Giant by J.G. Ballard
13. Being Dust by Santiago Dabove
Though provoking & moralistic:
Last but not the least, these type stories are open to interpretation, they're left to our imagination.
1. Before the Law by Franz Kafka
2. The Riddle by Walter de la Mare
3. The Tree of Pride & Tower of Babel by G.K Chesterton
4. A Parable of Gluttony & The Persecution of the Master by Alexandra David-Neel
There are many more nuggets of phantasy in this precious encyclopedia that are waiting to be revisited. Categorizing them is just like scanning the human body with various tools, you only understand bits and pieces but not the whole.
Regards,
Vinay