Status Updates From Alef

The Other Death - not my favorite but pretty decent. Just didn’t feel like it had much depth, but I liked the narration.

Emma Zunz - great one. The character and circumstances felt so real. Uhh the writing is just so good. In such a short time I was so invested and the stories always have such a nice conclusion. Even if I might not have a cohesive theme now, it will surely be something that will stick in my head.

The House of Asterion - didnt understand this one. I liked the writing tho.

A Biography of Tadeo Isidoro Cruz - I liked this one. Some powerful lines in it. The idea that a whole life culminates in a single moment of understanding of the self, pretty powerful.

“Miro mi cara en el espejo para saber quién soy, para saber cómo me portar é dentro de unas horas, cuando me enfrente al fin. Mi carne puede tener miedo; yo, no.”

Story of the warrior and the captive maiden - pretty good. Borges, I can tell, likes to explore these themes of unity: that all people are one and the same. I like this theme a lot. It’s especially clear in the way that the characters of this story come not to be defined by their identities (region, race, allegiance) but by their shared destruction of such identities.

The Theologians - didn’t love this one. Hardly a story, just a lot of dense stuff that I wasn’t entirely following. I liked the ending but didn’t entirely gleam its meaning.

The Dead Man - very enjoyable and super short story. One I’ll definitely have to reread. Explores power and the pursuit of it in an intriguing way. But I also like how the main character is motivated more deeply by a sense of respect, or wanting to be respected. Very cool. (Could also be about masculinity?)