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Labyrinths: Selected Stories and Other Writings (Penguin Modern Classics)
 
 
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Labyrinths: Selected Stories and Other Writings (Penguin Modern Classics) (Paperback)

by Jorge Borges (Author) "I owe the discovery of Uqbar to the conjunction of a mirror and an encyclopedia ..." (more)
4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
RRP: £9.99
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Product details

  • Paperback: 288 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin Classics; New Ed edition (28 Sep 2000)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0141184841
  • ISBN-13: 978-0141184845
  • Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.8 x 2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 12,587 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #1 in  Books > Fiction > 20th Century Classics > Borges, Jorge Luis
    #59 in  Books > Fiction > Anthologies

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Product Description

Product Description

Jorge Luis Borges was a literary spellbinder whose tales of magic, mystery and murder are shot through with deep philosophical paradoxes. This collection brings together many of his stories, including the celebrated "Library of Babel".


About the Author

Borges was born in Buenos Aires in 1899. A poet, critic and short story writer, he received numerous awards for his work including the 1961 International Publisher's Prize (shared with Samuel Beckett). He died in 1986. He has a reasonable claim, with Kafka and Joyce, to be the most influential writer of the 20th Century.
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I owe the discovery of Uqbar to the conjunction of a mirror and an encyclopedia. Read the first page
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Labyrinths: Selected Stories and Other Writings (Penguin Modern Classics)
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4.7 out of 5 stars (20 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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51 of 53 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Mind-bending brilliance, 14 April 2001
By A Customer
This must be the best selection of writing by the mind-bending Borges; much of his work reflects his Latin-American background which can make it a little less accessible - and can be slightly heavy going sometimes to a middlebrow like myself, but Borges, bless him, does not waste words. Where some writers will stretch an idea to fill a novel, Borges will condense it. There are more mind-bending ideas in this one book than most writers come up with in a lifetime, and each one will make you see the world in a strange new light. If a story loses you, no great loss... move on to the next one and your perseverance will be rewarded with interest. If you don't read the whole book at least read 'The Lottery in Babylon', which stuns you into questioning your perception of society - 'The Zahir'-which will chill anyone who has ever had a tune stuck in their head - and my personal favourite, 'The Library of Babel', which will strike a chord with anyone who has ever been daunted by the idea of ever hoping to make sense of the universe. The stories I could get my head round were utterly brilliant - I daresay I'll say the same about the rest of them one day.
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38 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars A fantastic, thought provoking read, 5 Feb 2003
By Depressaholic (London, UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
'Labyrinths' is a tremendously successful attempt to merge metaphysics and literature. Combining philosophy and storytelling is rarely done well (maybe Camus and Sartre are the best examples), but Borges achieves it in these stories. It is metaphysics that creates the labyrinths of the title, labyrinths of the perception of 'truth'. Despite being short, each story contains layers of deception from which there is no escape. These begin with the 'historical' gravitas given to each story by Borges' claim to have discovered a manuscript, or to be retelling fact. We are then plunged into a metaphysical fantasy in which the idea of 'the truth' becomes meaningless (or at least relative). It is the success with which Borges' achieves this, rather than the style in which he does, that is the strength of this collection. I came to Borges through reading Umberto Eco, who is shamelessly influenced by the Argentinian (in 'The Name of the Rose' Borge-esque motifs such as the labyrinth - both physical and metaphysical, false trails leading to the truth, the discovery of a manuscript, etc., are prominent, as is the monk 'Jorge of Burgos'!). Any fan of Eco should try this book, as should anyone who likes their brains to be given a little workout every now and then.
I found the non-fiction at the end a little tedious, but there is not much of this. The rest of the book is a delight. It is not hard to read, but leaves you feeling a little more clever by the finish. Do yourself a favour: read this book.
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20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars This book could change your life - or your perception of it!, 30 Mar 2001
By A Customer
This book is an amazing compendium of applied metaphysics. If that sounds a little dry, it is anything but. It is an exhilarating, vertiginous exploration of human experience. In 'Lottery in Babylon', for example, Borges chronicles a society that decides to introduce a national lottery. Instead of settling for rewards for the winners, however, the mysterious cabal behind the enterprise decide to inflict punishments too. Gradually the rewards and punishments become more and more elaborate, and the world more and more absurd - until you realise that it is the world we live in! Each one of these tales springs a similar, almost epiphanic, revelation. Warning: this book will make you question the nature of existence, your own identity - whether this is a genuine review or part of an elaborate scam by a manipulating organizing force. One consolation though: 'The Immortal' shows that eternal life is not all it's cracked up to be.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Pure Genius
I could go on praising Borges for many, many pages, but (just as he was), I will be short:
Borges style and content are utterly original: his metaphysical themes, his... Read more
Published on 7 Jul 2007 by Alexander Ivan Soffronow Pagonidis

4.0 out of 5 stars Each page contains a sparkling gem
This collection of short stories has long been a favourite of mine. Borges is a master of the genre, packing more into a single line than some authors manage in a chapter. Read more
Published on 21 Feb 2007 by Kurt Loba

5.0 out of 5 stars infinity within a book.
Borges claimed 'if you can summarise something in ten minutes, then why should you do anything else? Read more
Published on 5 May 2003 by deadbeat

5.0 out of 5 stars A book to revisit
I asked for this book for my 10th birthday...a bit advanced I thought when I unwrapped it but I loved the old cover of a spiral staircase reaching into the sky. Read more
Published on 13 Oct 2002 by DM Webster

5.0 out of 5 stars The finest work of one of a unique genius
There have been a few people in history whose minds appear to be operating on a different level; Jorge Luis Borges was one of these people. Read more
Published on 4 Jul 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars a life changing book
This is a book of short stories and essays that could well change the way you look at the world forever. Read more
Published on 22 Jun 2000

1.0 out of 5 stars An example of the King's New Clothes ?
I have read and enjoyed a wide variety of literature in my lifetime, but never before have I found such rubbish masquerading as itellectual work. David Bickford. UK.
Published on 23 April 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars I have written this before and I will write this again...
You have read this before and you will read this again. The cycle of things revolves in the sphere of mirrors and passages whose centre is everywhere and whose circumference is... Read more
Published on 21 April 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars Lo imposible--the impossible
Borges es capaz de meter en un cuadrado perfectamente delimitado en número y centímetros una circunferencia infinita. Read more
Published on 15 Feb 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars A book with many wonderful and really, really weird stories.
This was the first book I read by Jorge Luis Borges, and it opened a complete new world of litterature for me... Read more
Published on 21 Oct 1998

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