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A review by fargestift
Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges
5.0
I don't easily say this*, but I wish I would have read this earlier, as I think just knowing that these stories existed in such beautiful and to-the-point prose, could have been immensely helpful in certain situations. Within these few pages, lies the seeds of some of my favourite authors: Pynchon's historical fiction; Murakami's magical reality; D.F. Wallace's encyclopaedic style, yet I had no clue. It also contains many ideas pertaining to the concept of simulacra, which interests me deeply.
I didn't care that much for some of the latter stories of 'Artifices', especially 'The End', which needs some context to 'MartÃn Fierro' or something. 'Three Versions of Judas' also went a bit over my head with all its religious nomenclature. Generally, I think I was more partial to the stories of 'The Garden of the Forking Paths', like the rest of the world seems to be as well. I will still seek out some other collections, probably 'The Aleph', as soon as possible. Even if it contains just half of the ideas on display in 'Fictions', it will still be meatier than most books twice its size.
*As we wouldn't get our same understanding of a book if we read it earlier, I think this uttering is silly. Today, I'm too weak to refrain from committing this "crime".
I didn't care that much for some of the latter stories of 'Artifices', especially 'The End', which needs some context to 'MartÃn Fierro' or something. 'Three Versions of Judas' also went a bit over my head with all its religious nomenclature. Generally, I think I was more partial to the stories of 'The Garden of the Forking Paths', like the rest of the world seems to be as well. I will still seek out some other collections, probably 'The Aleph', as soon as possible. Even if it contains just half of the ideas on display in 'Fictions', it will still be meatier than most books twice its size.
*As we wouldn't get our same understanding of a book if we read it earlier, I think this uttering is silly. Today, I'm too weak to refrain from committing this "crime".