Borges A Reader: A Selection from the Writings of Jorge Luis Borges

by Jorge Luis Borges, Alastair Reid (Editor)

English, Spanish (translation)

Genres: Fiction, Poetry, Short Stories, Literature, Essays, Anthologies, Classics

369 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1981

About the author

Jorge 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."

Reviews

[Jon]

Many thanks to my local library director who graciously and personally checked out this book from the Lawrence Public Library so I could read the 1941 Retro Hugo nominee for Best Short Story entitled "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius" (pp. 111-122).

3.5 stars

Very odd short story. Reminded somewhat of "S" aka Ship of Theseus.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't think I've ever been sadder for a book to end than this one. Reading each page was like reading treasure.

[Scot · Rating 5 out of 5]

If one was to seek the meaning of life, the universe and everything, they would be wise to turn to the pages of Jorge Luis Borges. I doubt that you will find this particular collection of Borges' writings except maybe in the dark corner of a library or in a musky old bookstore but feel quite confident that any of his collections will do. A gifted writer of poetry and prose oft ignored outside of South America, Borges was widely read and deeply insightful, deftly quoting anything from Cervantes to Nietzche to Whitman to Hermes. This particular collection captures a wide array of Borges' work from his early poetry (which is often overlooked though incredibly moving) to his short stories which are what drew me to him and his late writing after he had gone blind which is both deeply introspective and strangely carefree. There are too many gems to name them all, though I will highlight a few. "Dawn" a poem that inspects the loose thread that holds reality together; "A vindication of Basilides the False" a close look at the influence and rejection of Gnostic teachings; "The total library" a further examination of the possible finiteness of possible combinations of letters and words; "Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius" a magnificent telling of a made-up country created by a secret society of intelligentsia and snuck into multiple world encyclopedias; and "The Aleph" about the discovery of a ball of light in a damp basement that is a window to everything happening in the world. Too many more to name! I highly recommend getting your hands on whatever Borges you can and take your time and enjoy!

[Pavel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Confirmed my suspicion that things happen because magic.

[Severin Fischer · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Mirror Made of Stories: Borges: A Reader Bent My Mind (in the Best Way)

Reading Borges: A Reader felt like walking into a library where every book leads to another universe. Or maybe a dream. Or both. I couldn’t tell anymore—and I kind of loved that.

This collection gathers Jorge Luis Borges’s best: short stories, essays, poems. It’s a maze, but the good kind. Each page holds puzzles, mirrors, tigers, time loops, and ancient books that may or may not exist. I kept rereading paragraphs, not because they were confusing, but because they shimmered with layers.

What hooked me was Borges’s calm voice. He writes about infinity and labyrinths and the weight of memory, but he does it like he’s telling you something quietly over coffee. I never felt lost. Just curious—like I’d stepped into a clever game where meaning always hides just around the corner.

The joy in this book isn’t just what it says. It’s how it makes your brain stretch and smile at the same time. It reminded me that thinking can be playful, and imagination doesn’t need rules.

I didn’t finish it all at once. I let it sit beside my bed and returned to it like a strange little treasure box. And every time, I found something new.

Borges: A Reader doesn’t just give you stories—it gives you portals. And I’ll keep walking through them.