Fictions by Jose Luis Borges

Favorite word:

Dithyramb - a passionate or inflated speech, poem, or other writing.

The two stories that I enjoyed:

The Lottery in Babylon

The Garden of Forking Paths

“If you feel in over your head, join the club”

Ficciones, or Fictions, is the most popular collection of short stories by Argentine writer and poet Jorge Luis Borges, produced between 1941 and 1956.

I didn’t get it. I understand that Borges is an esteemed writer and if not among the greats of 20th century literature, but it’s not for me. I didn’t find any deeper meaning nor did I ever get “lost” in one of his stories. They were either too philosophical, including too many foreign (French + German) words, had obscure references, and didn’t seem to be headed anywhere. 

For most of the stories, I was confused, uninterested, and caught myself thinking about other things while the words seemed to just zoom past my eyes. Some of the stories included a French poet who recreated Don Quixote word for word; the fatal lottery in Babylon; the mysterious planet of Tlön; and a library containing every possible book in the whole universe.

This is one of those occasions where I will undoubtedly benefit from reading it again