Borges intro. recommendation?

Britalian · Dec 1, 2008

Gents, I'm interested in trying something by Borges. Could those of you familiar recommend a book as an introduction to his works.

holymadness · Dec 1, 2008

Don't read Borges.

Britalian · Dec 1, 2008

Originally Posted by holymadness

Don't read Borges.

that's that settled then.

RJmanbearpig · Dec 1, 2008

Originally Posted by Britalian

that's that settled then.

Any collection of his short stories should be a good place. I really want to get back into reading Borges and Calvino. If you like Borges you might also like a Serbian author named Danilo Kis.

Flambeur · Dec 1, 2008

Penguin published three pretty good collections of his works - fictions, non-fictions, poems.

chas · Dec 1, 2008

Ficciones

Britalian · Dec 1, 2008

Originally Posted by RJmanbearpig

Any collection of his short stories should be a good place. I really want to get back into reading Borges and Calvino. If you like Borges you might also like a Serbian author named Danilo Kis.

I am a fan of Calvino, so if we are in the same vein with Borges, looking good.

King Francis · Dec 1, 2008

Originally Posted by Britalian

Gents, I'm interested in trying something by Borges. Could those of you familiar recommend a book as an introduction to his works.
Yes, the Collected Fictions. His volume Ficciones, contained therein, is widely considered his best. The stories "Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius" and "Funes, His Memory" are excellent places to start. Borges is not as eminent as Calvino, in my opinion, but he's a rewarding read.

johnapril · Dec 1, 2008

Theft in a Pastry Shop by Italo Calvino

Edward Appleby · Dec 1, 2008

Most of the stories are pretty easy to dip into. Labyrinths is a classic collection.

Britalian · Dec 2, 2008

Originally Posted by King Francis

Yes, the Collected Fictions. His volume Ficciones, contained therein, is widely considered his best. The stories "Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius" and "Funes, His Memory" are excellent places to start.

Borges is not as eminent as Calvino, in my opinion, but he's a rewarding read.

I recall the Hitch saying he was probably the finest writer in the English language; he also went to S.America to visit him in his later years and read to him in his failing health.

TheIdler · Dec 2, 2008

The Aleph and Other Stories has some of my favorite Borges short stories, like The Immortal and The Two Kings and the Labyrinths...if you don't like anything in the collection, you probably don't like Borges.

ppllzz · Dec 2, 2008

Originally Posted by King Francis

Yes, the Collected Fictions. His volume Ficciones, contained therein, is widely considered his best. The stories "Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius" and "Funes, His Memory" are excellent places to start.

Borges is not as eminent as Calvino, in my opinion, but he's a rewarding read.

joke?

borges beats calvino hands down, esp. in imagination and creativity

skidsm · Dec 2, 2008

i read ficciones after numerous recommendations and didn't get it. maybe i'm just stupid, but i don't think so -- i read about a book a week, and my favorite stuff is beckett, joyce, and other complicated stuff.

not bashing it, i would love to try it again and find a way through it that made sense.

King Francis · Dec 2, 2008

Originally Posted by andyliu52

joke?

borges beats calvino hands down, esp. in imagination and creativity

Have you even read Invisible Cities, or The Non-Existent Knight? Borges is brilliant and fascinating, and his best stories are moving, but his work displays nothing like the comic genius of Calvino, who can provide humor, pathos, and profundity within a single work. His high good humor is most evident in, as the author himself put it, the tale of "an empty suit of armor that persuades itself it is a man and carries on through its own will-power."

Borges intro. recommendation?

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