Reviews

The Garden of Forking Paths by Jorge Luis Borges

idlerwh33l's review against another edition

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challenging reflective medium-paced

mari_books's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

This isn’t my usual genera - fiction/fantasy short story. I really enjoyed Borgues rich descriptions, though I admit the vocabulary sometimes lost me. There were only two stories I didn’t really like - On Exactitude in Science and Death and the Compass.
in On Exactitude I had no idea what was happening, seems like I need to be in a Lit class to break it down. And, in Death and the Compass I feel like our detective gets killed right when things get interesting.
I really liked The Book of Sand best, and also The Circular Ruins
I feel that Bourges was of posing reality and infinity to the reader is amazing and unexpected,

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chairmanbernanke's review against another edition

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4.0

Good and intriguing stories

d_t_havarson's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious tense fast-paced

4.0

Draga Karolina,

Evo sam napokon poslušao Jacka Edwardsa i počeo čitati kratke i zabavne knjige. Ova knjiga je stvarno odlična uvertira u Borgesa i nadam se da ću uskoro moći čitati još njegovih djela. Ovdje je nekoliko njegovih kratkih priča, mislim da bi ih trebalo tretirati kao crtice, jer, osim zadnje, ne dosežu duljinu novela. Borgesovo pisanje je stvarno mistično, svaka od priča daje dojam metateksta koji je tu da ti objasni situaciju u kojoj si se kao čitatelj našao, a ne da ti priča priču o nekome ili nečemu. Kažem situaciju jer sve četiri crtice skaču direktno u srž zbivanja, iako su sadržajno vrlo različite. Nema mnogo karakterizacije, a onda kad je ima, prezentirana je kroz pothvage likova, a ne kroz opise njihove povijesti ili nekih drugih prolaznih osobina. Svaki od tekstova doima se kao neki stari, izgubljeni svitak i imaš dojam kao da je otrgnut iz dugog niza baš takvih tekstova koji bi ti, kad bi ih sve mogla sakupiti, otkrili neku duboku tajnu koja bi te zauvijek promijenila. Pisac je jako brz što se tiče bacanja vrlo, vrlo, opskurnih (izmišljenih?) pojmova pred čitatelja, što ga često ostavlja pomalo izgubljenog, ali ga pretvara u aktivnog sudionika djela. Posebno preporučam priču "Book of Sand".

P. S. Mislim da bi se Borgesu sviđalo igranje TTRPG-a

P. P. S. Službeno ću ukrasti Book of Sand za neki naš DnD

elfs29's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

5.0

This is such a fascinating little collection of stories, very evocative of The Thousand and One Nights that it keeps referencing. The Garden of Forking Paths and The Circular Ruins were my favourites, and all of them possessed the same mysterious, philosophical feeling, as if laden heavily with myth and the secrets of the universe that the characters seek. These labyrinthine tales of creation and knowledge seep with a brilliant understanding of something I can just make out the outline of.

The Garden of Forking Paths is an incomplete, but not false, image of the universe as he conceived it. He did not believe in a uniform, absolute time. He believed in an infinite series of times, in a growing, dizzying net of divergent, convergent and parallel times. This network of times which approached one another, forked, broke off, or were unaware of each other for centuries, embraces all possibilities of time. We do not exist in the majority of these times; in some you exist and not I; in others I, and not you; in others, both of us. In the present one, which a favourable fate has granted me, you have arrived at my house; in another, while crossing the garden, you found me dead; in still another, I utter these same words, but I am a mistake, a ghost.

nearfutures's review against another edition

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challenging funny mysterious reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot

5.0

cyberneticmeadow's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

tosza's review against another edition

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challenging mysterious medium-paced

5.0

joyceontheroad's review against another edition

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medium-paced

4.0

It’s a puzzle worth a reread.

meandmymoos's review against another edition

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3.0

Overall: 3,5

The Garden of Forking Paths: 3
The Book of Sand: 4
Circular Ruins: 4
On Exactitude of Science: 3,5
Death and the Compass: 3
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