What do you think?
Rate this book
La biblioteca de Babel: Cuentos selectos y un poema
Selected stories by Jorge Luis Borges, including La Biblioteca de Babel
- GenresContemporaryClassics
160 pages, Paperback
Published September 1, 2010
4 people are currently reading
105 people want to read
About the author
Jorge Luis Borges
1,595 books14.4k followersJorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator regarded as a key figure in Spanish-language and international literature. His best-known works, Ficciones (transl. Fictions) and El Aleph (transl. The Aleph), published in the 1940s, are collections of short stories exploring motifs such as dreams, labyrinths, chance, infinity, archives, mirrors, fictional writers and mythology. Borges's works have contributed to philosophical literature and the fantasy genre, and have had a major influence on the magic realist movement in 20th century Latin American literature.
Born in Buenos Aires, Borges later moved with his family to Switzerland in 1914, where he studied at the Collège de Genève. The family travelled widely in Europe, including Spain. On his return to Argentina in 1921, Borges began publishing his poems and essays in surrealist literary journals. He also worked as a librarian and public lecturer. In 1955, he was appointed director of the National Public Library and professor of English Literature at the University of Buenos Aires. He became completely blind by the age of 55. Scholars have suggested that his progressive blindness helped him to create innovative literary symbols through imagination. By the 1960s, his work was translated and published widely in the United States and Europe. Borges himself was fluent in several languages.
In 1961, he came to international attention when he received the first Formentor Prize, which he shared with Samuel Beckett. In 1971, he won the Jerusalem Prize. His international reputation was consolidated in the 1960s, aided by the growing number of English translations, the Latin American Boom, and by the success of Gabriel García Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude. He dedicated his final work, The Conspirators, to the city of Geneva, Switzerland. Writer and essayist J.M. Coetzee said of him: "He, more than anyone, renovated the language of fiction and thus opened the way to a remarkable generation of Spanish-American novelists."
Born in Buenos Aires, Borges later moved with his family to Switzerland in 1914, where he studied at the Collège de Genève. The family travelled widely in Europe, including Spain. On his return to Argentina in 1921, Borges began publishing his poems and essays in surrealist literary journals. He also worked as a librarian and public lecturer. In 1955, he was appointed director of the National Public Library and professor of English Literature at the University of Buenos Aires. He became completely blind by the age of 55. Scholars have suggested that his progressive blindness helped him to create innovative literary symbols through imagination. By the 1960s, his work was translated and published widely in the United States and Europe. Borges himself was fluent in several languages.
In 1961, he came to international attention when he received the first Formentor Prize, which he shared with Samuel Beckett. In 1971, he won the Jerusalem Prize. His international reputation was consolidated in the 1960s, aided by the growing number of English translations, the Latin American Boom, and by the success of Gabriel García Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude. He dedicated his final work, The Conspirators, to the city of Geneva, Switzerland. Writer and essayist J.M. Coetzee said of him: "He, more than anyone, renovated the language of fiction and thus opened the way to a remarkable generation of Spanish-American novelists."
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 1, 2023
Reflexivo
May 21, 2025
This anthology illustrates Borges' preoccupation with the nature of time and infinity as well as his fascination with the culture of the gauchos of his native Argentina. The Reclam editors have done a great job of footnoting the Spanish vocabulary so that an intermediate student such as myself can follow along without having to consult a dictionary at every turn.
In places Borges' attitude to the indigenous population of Argentina feels dated, although ultimately his sympathies are clearly with them rather than with characters who mistreat them. Overall, I enjoyed most of the stories and can appreciate why Borges felt an affinity for Kafka, one of my own favourites. My favourite was *El milagro secreto*, in which a condemned man makes a bargain with God and sees it fulfilled in an unexpected way.
In places Borges' attitude to the indigenous population of Argentina feels dated, although ultimately his sympathies are clearly with them rather than with characters who mistreat them. Overall, I enjoyed most of the stories and can appreciate why Borges felt an affinity for Kafka, one of my own favourites. My favourite was *El milagro secreto*, in which a condemned man makes a bargain with God and sees it fulfilled in an unexpected way.
November 25, 2025
«Quizá me engañen la vejez y el temor, pero sospecho que la especie humana - la única - está por extinguirse y que la Biblioteca perdurará: iluminada, solitaria, infinita, perfectamente inmóvil, armada de volúmenes preciosos, inútil, incorruptible, secreta.»
«[...] lágrimas de ira le quemaban los viejos ojos.»
«[...] lágrimas de ira le quemaban los viejos ojos.»
October 9, 2024
Cuentos para reflexión y pensar
March 22, 2025
"recordó que los sueños de los hombres pertenecen a Dios"
"El acto puro y general de morir era lo temible, no las circunstancias concretas"
"El acto puro y general de morir era lo temible, no las circunstancias concretas"
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews