Libro de Arena

The Book of Sand has thirteen stories - an accidental or fatal number, the author tells us, but not magical - and they all, more or less, deal with the same theme. While, in each and every story, there is a mystery, an enigma, a puzzle that may or may not be solved, the answer is always the same. Borges wants us to look beyond the artifices of our lives, beyond the linguistic, economic, political and religious restrictions we have given ourselves, and see the world for what it actually is. One of the - many and varied - literary techniques that Borges uses is that of the literary reference. Always, the narrator uses an obscure reference to better make a point, or to expand the depth of a scene or image, using Tacitus, Sigurd and Brynhild, Ibsen, more. Yet, nestled quietly in between real authors and works are fictional creations, authors that are clever combinations of existing writers, works with titles that are pure fancy. The point that Borges is making is, I believe, that, with the passing of time and the simultaneously corrupting and enhancing efforts of language and culture, it does not matter if these works ever existed or not. To be affected by them it enough, to make a point or drive home an idea is enough. Four hundred years on, invoking the 'fighting windmills' phrase, does it matter if Cervantes ever really existed? Does it matter if I have or have not read the exploits of the man from La Mancha? In Borges world, the answer is no. In one story, 'Utopia of a Tired Man', Eudoro Acevedo is transplanted from his home in the 20th century, to a place many thousands of years into the future. He meets a man, who explains the fall and rise again of mankind, who reveals the future history until 'now', when everything is different. He explains: 'The planet was populated by collective ghosts - Canada, Brazil, the Swiss Congo, and the Common Market. Almost no one knew anything of the history that preceded those platonic entities, but, of course, they knew every last detail of the most recent congress of pedagogies, or of imminent breakdowns in diplomatic relations, or of statements issued by Presidents...These things were read to be forgotten, for, only hours later, other trivialities would blot them out.' This lengthy quote is perhaps Borges' most blatant and clear attack on the culture in which he lived. He quite obviously has a love of nature and literature and life, and bemoans the seeming lack of interest that most other people display. While the rest of the story is an interesting look at the future, it is clearly fanciful, and not an ideal world for Borges. Rather, it was written to make us think, something we just don't do enough. The stories, composed when Borges was over 70, are for the most part an exercise in memory. A narrator of one - Ulrike - will remember a fleeting love. Another story has a group of men conversing on the problem of knowledge, which inspires an old man, 'a bit lost in metaphysics', to share a story of his yout

The review's title is, of course, a paraphrase of one of the best stories in this collection, one written when Borges was already old and wiser than ever. His wisdom is a disenchanted one, but then again he was never an exactly cheerful writer. His scope is infinite, as he deals not only with far distant lands but also with entirely imaginary ones. One of the most peculiar characteristics of Borges, acutely present in this slim volume, is his constant mixing up of reality with fantasy, of different epochs, and of true and imaginary identities.The best example of this is the first tale, "The Other", an encounter between the young and the old Borges. Both are sitting on a bench by a river, but the young one is in Geneva in the twenties, while the old is in Cambridge, Mass., in 1969. Their conversation is friendly but distant, and it is simply impossible to read it without imagining what you would say to your younger self if you had a chance to talk to him. All the stories are good -vintage Borges-, but some of my favorites are: "Utopia of a Tired Man", a chilling encounter with a man from the distant future; "The Night of Gifts", a gaucho story of learning about sex and death in a single night; "There are more things" (English title in the original), an homage to H.P. Lovecraft; "The Book of Sand", about an infinite book.This mature collection is a strong sample of Borges's best qualities: concision, brevity, high-octanage imagination, philosophical profundity without pretentiousness.

"El Libro de Arena" nos presenta a Borges en todo su esplendor, como cuentista de una imaginación extraordinaria y un control magistral sobre el lenguaje y los argumentos. Estos ultimos usualmente tan retorcidos y sofisticados que podrìan compararse, en intensidad y sofisticación mental, a un estilo platonico de encrucijadas filosoficas o al famoso metodo-critico paranoico de Dali. Este compendio parece ser la continuacion obligada y obvia de "Artificios". En ambos libros, Borges utiliza su maestria literaria- acaso tambien academica e intelectual -para plasmar diferentes tópicos como la fragmentación del tiempo como vehículo para autocontemplarse en asincronía ("El otro"), el enigma que encierra la idea una sola palabra omipotente ("Undr" y "El Espejo"), objetos inconcebibles y misticos ("El disco" y "El Libro de Arena"), el misterio de una Secta intangible y eterna ("La secta de los treinta"), o la utopía de una empresa que solamente puede cumplir su objetivo mediante su disolución ("El Congreso").En cada cuento, la pluma de Borges esta presente, inigualable, inconfundible, incisiva... La tensión y la resolución de las tramas reciben el distintivo toque borgeano; ese toque magico que nos sorprende, nos confunde, nos asombra a cada instante. En suma, "El Libro de Arena" es un libro indispensable para todo lector avido de fantasias y enigmas, retos e incognitas... pero escrito con el distintivo genio de Borges que con una precision casi epigramatica, elabora cada cuento con la diligencia y constancia de un albañil, así como con la precisión y planeamiento de un arquitecto. El poeta Borges, asoma solo subrepticiamente ("Ulrica"), endulzando esta monumental obra y llevándola a un climáx de literatura.

Jorge Luis Borges has been a fountain of inspiration for writers of this past generation including Italo Calvino, Gabriel Garcia Marquez and Umberto Eco. All, without apology, offer a debt of gratitude to Borges, and this book is as fine a collection of Borges short fiction as any. Beginning with The Other, there are too many favorites here to name them all, but will offer these tonight as strongly recommended: The Mirror and the Mask, The Disk, The Book of Sand, and the awesomely eerie There Are More Things. Enjoy!

This collection of fairly late production contains some of the very best Borges stories. One of my favourite stories is the title story, The book of sand. The idea of a perpetually changing and endless book is simultaneously both a great dream and a nightmare for avid readers throughout the world. Borges' large literary scope - he has read an extraordinary amount of both well and less known authors- his characteristic introductory quotations and his extremely compact, precise language are the main reasons that lead me to do some translations of his work into Finnish that may have helped to revive an interest in this incomparable Argentian master over here. In my opinion, this book is worth not only reading bur re-reading until the pages turn into powder - or shall we say sand...