Labyrinths

Just finished one of the author’s other books a week or so ago.  Jorge Luis Borges is back, at least in this RA Favorite Book Reading List, he actually passed away  in 1986, living to be 87.  Ever read a book and think, I have read this somewhere.. and then find out, you did.  After just a few pages, I knew I was re-reading something I had recently read.  In the book Labyrinths, Borges includes a number of his short stories from Ficciones in the first part of the book; in fact, almost 100 pages worth of stories were included in this book.  Labyrinths contains short stories, essays and parables.  The Argentinian author continues to focus on similar themes on life in South America, reflecting on other author’s novels (Cervantes’ Don Quixote), plays (Shakespeare), philosophy (Hume, Kierkegaard), poems and books (Dante’s Inferno) and how this life has been already lived, “everything which can happen to a man, from the instant of his birth until his death, has been preordained to him” (he probably would like the Celestine Prophecy, huh?). His essay on the Argentine Writer and Tradition was one of my favorite, as my wife’s family is from Argentina and I appreciated a writer’s insight to life and influence on writers during his era.  He believes that Argentinian culture is Western culture and sets the stage for the rest of the region to follow the impact from this region of the world.  Interesting how much he focuses on religion, especially the Muslim religion. His parables reflect his thoughts on the authors who influence him and also Borges reflecting on himself.  His reflective essay on the Greek philosophers was enlightening in bringing common sense to the masses – I understand Aristotle better!  As I may have mentioned before, this is an English major’s joy to read Borges's work.  It is recent thinking on war, being human, thinking through our existence, and applying influences in our society.  All good.  The parables and essays really broken the book into a cohesive reading for me.  This is not linear or “beginning, middle, and ending” and the short stories vary greatly in what he is writing about.  This won’t be for everyone for sure.