HomeGroupsTalkExploreZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.
Hide this

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.
Loading...

Fictions (1944)

by Jorge Luis Borges

Other authors: See the other authors section.

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
6,7441001,165 (4.38)228
The seventeen pieces in Ficciones demonstrate the gargantuan powers of imagination, intelligence, and style of one of the greatest writers of this or any other century. Borges sends us on a journey into a compelling, bizarre, and profoundly resonant realm; we enter the fearful sphere of Pascal's abyss, the surreal and literal labyrinth of books, and the iconography of eternal return. More playful and approachable than the fictions themselves are Borges's Prologues, brief elucidations that offer the uninitiated a passageway into the whirlwind of Borges's genius and mirror the precision and potency of his intellect and inventiveness, his piercing irony, his skepticism, and his obsession with fantasy. To enter the worlds in Ficciones is to enter the mind of Jorge Luis Borges, wherein lies Heaven, Hell, and everything in between.… (more)
all members
▾Members
Recently added byprivate library, neelofer, ahef1963, jimsob8, sriddell, seshenibi, ejmw
Legacy LibrariesGraham Greene, Danilo Kiš
numbers
show all
▾Tags
▾LibraryThing Recommendations
refresh
▾Member recommendations
  1. 80
    Collected Fictions by Jorge Luis Borges (Carnophile)
    Carnophile: While Ficciones is a subset of Collected Fictions, it is nice to have two translations of the same material. Each translator captures nuances the other misses.
  2. 80
    The Aleph and Other Stories by Jorge Luis Borges (VanishedOne)
  3. 61
    Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino (Carnophile)
    Carnophile: Both books are liesurely contemplations of fantastical situations, not plot- or character-driven, but conceptual.
  4. 20
    The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury (lewbs)
    lewbs: Borges admired The Martian Chronicles. The two books have much in common.
  5. 10
    Primeval and Other Times by Olga Tokarczuk (Oct326)
    Oct326: Due esempi di narrazioni fantastiche di grande ricchezza e suggestione, più cristalline e sfaccettate quelle di Borges, più morbida e avvolgente quella di Tokarczuk.
  6. 10
    The Periodic Table by Primo Levi (Eustrabirbeonne)
  7. 10
    Tales of Hoffmann by E. T. A. Hoffmann (Cecrow)
  8. 00
    House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski (fundevogel)
  9. 01
    Minor Angels by Antoine Volodine (Eustrabirbeonne)
▾Lists
» 52 more
1940s (9)
▾Will you like it?
Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

▾Conversations (About links)

No current Talk conversations about this book.

» See also 228 mentions

▾Member reviews
English (74)  Spanish (12)  Italian (3)  French (3)  Portuguese (2)  Catalan (2)  Portuguese (Portugal) (2)  Swedish (1)  Danish (1)  All languages (100)
date ▼ | votes
Showing 1-5 of 74 (next | show all)
I've never read anything similar to Borges. Several of the works here are written as official reports documenting alternate worlds or realities. Even the ones that are in traditional story format border on uncanny territory, almost but not quite like the world we live in. It's so surreal and confusing to read but also curiosity-inducing. I probably don't understand half of what he is trying to say as I'm reading but the joy is also in analyzing and trying to make sense of it.

My favorites: The Garden of Forking Paths, The Library of Babel, and Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius ( )
  kahell | May 12, 2022 |
Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Pierre menard, autor del Quijote ⭐⭐
Las Ruinas Circulares ⭐⭐⭐⭐
La Lotería en Babilonia ⭐⭐⭐
Examen de la obra de Herbert Quain ⭐⭐⭐⭐
La Biblioteca de Babel ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
El Jardín de los Senderos que se Bifurcan ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Funes el memorioso ⭐⭐⭐
La Forma de la Espada ⭐⭐
Tema del Traidor y del Héroe ⭐⭐
La Muerte y la Brújula⭐⭐⭐
El Milagro Secreto ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Tres Versiones de Judas ⭐⭐⭐
El Fin ⭐⭐⭐
La Secta del Fénix ⭐⭐⭐
El Sur ⭐⭐⭐ ( )
  Nannus | Jan 17, 2022 |
These short stories by Borges are unique literary products. Many of them are reviews of fake books. Other stories are more in the line of magical realism. ( )
  M_Clark | Sep 20, 2021 |
A great collection of unpredictable inverted short stories. Not to be read when tired - each story requires focus and thinking. A lot of the literary references were over my head and I wasn't willing to invest the time in doing research, but I still very much enjoyed the book. ( )
  MysteryTea | Jun 14, 2021 |
Um conjunto de contos e pequenas histórias cheios de paradoxos, fantasia, referências, infinitos e labirintos.

Muito original, um q.b. de complicado de entender mas sem dúvida interessantíssimo.

( )
  XavierPinho | Mar 10, 2021 |
date ▼ | votes
Showing 1-5 of 74 (next | show all)
?
▾Published reviews
▾Other authors

» Add other authors (48 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Jorge Luis Borges—primary authorall editionscalculated
一士, 篠田Translatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Blanchot, MauriceIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Bonner, AnthonyTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Bosco, ElCover artistsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Celda, RafaelEditorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Håkansson, GabriellaForewordsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Hurley, AndrewTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Kerrigan, AnthonyTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Lucentini, FrancoTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Reid, AlastairTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Sturrock, JohnIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Temple, HelenTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Todd, RuthvenTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
▾Series and work relationships

Is contained in

Contains

Has the adaptation

Has as a study

view history
▾Common Knowledge
You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Canonical title
Fictions
Original title
Ficciones
Alternative titles
Original publication date
1944
People/Characters
Pierre Menard
Important places
Important events
Irish Revolution
Related movies
Strategia del ragno (1970 | IMDb)
Spiderweb (1975 | IMDb)
El sur (1992 | IMDb)
Death and the Compass (1992 | IMDb)
El milagro secreto (1998 | IMDb)
Awards and honors
1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (2006 Edition)
New York Public Library's Books of the Century (01 | Landmarks of Modern Literature)
The Globe & Mail 50 Greatest Books (26)
501 Must-Read Books (Modern Fiction)
The Top Ten: Writers Pick Their Favorite Books (198 | 8 points)
Epigraph
Dedication
To
Esther Zemborain de Torres
First words
I owe the discovery of Uqbar to the conjunction of a mirror and an encyclopedia. (Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius)
The work of Jorge Luis Borges is a species of international literary metaphor. (Introduction)
The eight pieces of this book do not require extraneous elucidation. (Prologue, Part One)
Though less torpidly executed, the pieces in this section are similar to those which form the first part of the book. (Prologue, Part Two)
Quotations
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Fuentes, Carlos
Barth, John
Llosa, Mario Vargas
Updike, John
Original language
Spanish
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC
▾References

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (1)

▾Book descriptions
The seventeen pieces in Ficciones demonstrate the gargantuan powers of imagination, intelligence, and style of one of the greatest writers of this or any other century. Borges sends us on a journey into a compelling, bizarre, and profoundly resonant realm; we enter the fearful sphere of Pascal's abyss, the surreal and literal labyrinth of books, and the iconography of eternal return. More playful and approachable than the fictions themselves are Borges's Prologues, brief elucidations that offer the uninitiated a passageway into the whirlwind of Borges's genius and mirror the precision and potency of his intellect and inventiveness, his piercing irony, his skepticism, and his obsession with fantasy. To enter the worlds in Ficciones is to enter the mind of Jorge Luis Borges, wherein lies Heaven, Hell, and everything in between.
▾Library descriptions

No library descriptions found.

?
▾LibraryThing members' description
Book description
Un falso paese scoperto "nelle pagine di un'enciclopedia plagiaria", Uqbar, e un pianeta immaginario, Tlön, "labirinto ordito dagli uomini" ma capace di cambiare la faccia del mondo; il "Don Chisciotte" di Menard, identico a quello di Cervantes eppure infinitamente più ricco; il mago che plasma un figlio nella materia dei sogni e scopre di essere a sua volta solo un sogno; l'infinita biblioteca di Babele, i cui scaffali "registrano tutte le possibili combinazioni dei venticinque simboli ortografici... cioè tutto ciò ch'è dato di esprimere, in tutte le lingue" e che sopravviverà all'estinzione della specie umana; il giardino dei sentieri che si biforcano; l'insonne Funes, che ha più ricordi di quanti ne avranno mai tutti gli uomini insieme.
(piopas)
Haiku summary
Add to Your books
Add to wishlist

Popular covers

Quick Links

Amazon.com (direct)
Abebooks.com
Amazon Kindle (0 editions)
Audible (0 editions)
CD Audiobook (0 editions)
Project Gutenberg (0 editions)
Google Books — Loading...
WorldCat

Genres

Melvil Decimal System (DDC)

863 — Literature › Spanish and Portuguese › Spanish fiction

LC Classification

Rating

Average: (4.38)
0.5 3
1 8
1.5 1
2 31
2.5 13
3 109
3.5 33
4 332
4.5 73
5 709

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

Penguin Australia

An edition of this book was published by Penguin Australia.

» Publisher information page

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 173,558,941 books! | Top bar: Always visible
Copyright LibraryThing and/or members of LibraryThing, authors, publishers, libraries, cover designers, Amazon, Bol, Bruna, etc.