Alister’s Reviews > The Aleph and Other Stories > Status Update

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 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?)

The Immortal - really great story. I was enthralled with the narrator and then the reveal was very cool and unexpected. I love the idea that our entire idea of reality is centered in our mortality. Our finitude defines even our perception of the world and of ourselves.