3.3

1.1

Every few pages Borges manages to change my perception of the world. Some of these stories are eye-opening even if they fail to reveal the meaning of life, they still contain infinity. That said, there were a couple of stories that I didn't get into and "The Maker" section was a bit too specific to Argentina and Classics for me to fully appreciate. But, looking past that, Borges is a god. ( )

The fame Jorge Luis Borges received came nearly twenty years after writing his best short stories, many of which are collected in "The Aleph." These stories are all very short, from just a paragraph to a few pages. They do not fit clearly in genre fiction, but they are mostly fantastical.

There are references to ancient cultures and civilizations, discussions of immortality and fallibility, and a constant warping of time, mostly set in Argentina in the late 1800's or early 1900's. I spent very little time or effort trying to understand some of these ideas and I think I am better off for having simply read through the stories. While literary and high when they come from Borges, these stories might be considered pulp science fiction coming from other writers.

One criticism that I have seen in other reviews is that women are absent from the worlds Borges creates. This is definitely true. There is a one female protagonist - a woman plotting to avenge her father's death - in the entire book. In another story, an unnamed woman acts as a reason for Borges' characters to discuss loyalty and love.

The translation I read, by Andrew Hurley, is smooth and free-flowing. ( )

fragments marcats Santi