Il libro di sabbia (original 1975; edition 1977)

Eight stories. Perfect palate-cleanser for whatever you've just read. ( )

סיפורים קצרצרים, למעשה חידות, של בורחס. אני לא כל ​כך מתרשם. הם עוברים על ידי ולא משאירים כל משקע.​ ( )

Uma coleção interessante de estórias, não tão inspiradas como Ficciones, mas mesmo assim uma leitura agradável. Os contos neste livro não tem um viés filosófico tão nítido (quanto por exemplo os contos de Ficciones). Aqui o foco parece ser mais em pequenos dramas, estórias curtas com um certo impacto ao assombro no final. Vale a pena de qualquer forma. ( )

Not Borges greatest collection of stories but redeemed entirely by a selection of excellent poems printed in both English and the original Spanish - which sounds glorious. The stories are of patchy quality I feel, a one-sided disc and a book of infinite leaves are warmed left-overs of better done originals. I enjoyed the HP Lovecraft tribute story 'There Are More Things' and the opening doppelganger story of youth and old age. But overall somewhat disappointing. ( )

I liked this book, but it's quite short, this edition also contains a collection of poems titled "The Gold Of Tigers", each in both Spanish and English. Most of them do not really rhyme in the Spanish, and none do in the English. It always strikes me as being lazy, when people write "poems" that don't rhyme, or can't translate them and keep the rhyme, seeing as several people have managed to translate massive works such as the Odyssey from ancient Greek into good rhyming English verse. Despite this, the selection is still worth reading for the few good ones that are among it, such as the one about the white deer. As for the stories, which are what I should be commenting on, they tend to be a bit more obscure in meaning than those in Labyrinths, they are just as surreal, but probably on the whole not quite as good. Fans of Borges will want to read this collection, but first time Borges readers may be put off by his obliqueness. There are flashes of his genius here, with some of the stories containing everything one would expect to see in a piece of Borges, mystery, suspense, profound thoughts, paradox, and beauty. Some of the stories here only contain one or less of these, but the best ones will be worth reading multiple times, with greater understanding of them being realised each time. Borges understood the world, but the world does not understand Borges, he probably wanted it this way, else he wouldn't have been so cryptic. This is how it works though, the mysteries are only revealed to the initiate, this is how it has to be. ( )