His name is Jorge Luis Borges.

Now that I'm an adult, I've become acutely aware of how much time there isn't in a day to do the things I want to do. When I was a kid, despite school and homework, the obligation to practice musical instruments, as well as church and religious duties, I often found lots of time to hang out with friends, play video games, and read books.

Reading was one of those past-times that, as I began to work, became sidelined. Instead, I began to listen to podcasts and audiobooks, both of which are great for informative listening. But, I haven't been able to get into fictional works. I think this is mostly because fiction generally requires a bit more focus and attention, due to their imaginative as well as figurative content.

Then, about a week ago, I was watching this brilliant documentary on Christopher Nolan's Dark Knight Trilogy, and they mentioned Borges as a massive influence on the director. Given that Nolan is one of my favorite directors of all time, I had to take a look. And I can't be more satisfied that I did.

Who Is Jorge Luis Borges?

[Image taken from here](https://theimaginativeconservative.org/2015/12/the-conservatism-of-jorge-luis-borges.html)

Jorge Luis Borges was an Argentine writer known mainly for his short stories. He lived from 1899 to 1986, and is celebrated for being one of the greatest and most influential writers of the 20th century. For his works, he won numerous awards, including the first Formentor Prize and the Jerusalem Prize for the Freedom of the Individual in Society. Most of his fiction works focus on themes of philosophy, dreams, mirrors, fictional criticism, mythology, religion, and fantasy.

As a child, I would love writing both short stories and big epic stories (though I never really finished the latter). Yet, I never really got into reading short stories very much for some reason. But now, as an adult with less and less time on my hands, I've realized that short stories are the best way to consume fiction in my current predicament. And having only read one or two works of Borges in the past (and never having known who he really was), I was a bit excited to get into his works after I heard about how it influenced one of my favorite directors of all time.

While on a recent trip to Barnes and Nobles, my wife and I split up to look for our various books. I originally only wanted to get a copy of Thomas Sowell's Basic Economics (which I'm doing a chapter-by-chapter overview on right now), but ended up getting a translation of Borges' book, Collected Fictions, which is a collection of a large portion of his fictional short stories, including previous collections like A Universal History of Iniquity and The Aleph.

And when I started reading, wow, was I impressed with his stuff.

Why Is Borges So Good?

I can't say much, since I've only begun to read his short stories. But I think Borges appeals to me in a few ways.

First, Borges' writing style makes many of his stories feel real. This is partly due to the fact that he often takes real life stories or events or people, and mixes in fictitious elements. Stories about people like Billy the Kid or the legendary 47 Ronin are all based in popular imagination today, and are based on somewhat real events. What Borges does is take these people and events and adds his own twists and themes, but in a way that makes everything seem tangible and real.

[No, not these 47 Ronin. I just couldn't resist putting this here.](https://fanart.tv/movie/64686/47-ronin/)

But another way that Borges' writing feels real is the through the voicing of each short story piece. There are pieces that are not just written as fictional literary criticism, but sound and read like things real literary critics would write. There are scholarly articles that read and sound like real scholarly work. And the fantastical style he uses when writing a short fantasy immerses the reader into the world, to the point where I didn't know what was supposed to be real in the story or not.

And that quality lends itself really well to the fantastical and weird dreamscape themes Borges writes. It's easy to see how Nolan's movies, such as Inception and The Prestige, got their influences while reading through Borges.

Rather than just simply explaining it all, though, here is a list of the stories I've really enjoyed and would recommend (keep in mind, I've only just started!):

Borges Stories I Recommend (So Far)

The Cruel Redeemer Lazarus Morell

This story is the very first of the first stories in Collected Fictions, which basically goes in chronological publishing order for each of Borges' collections. It's a visceral story about a man who would trick slaves into running for their freedom, and then selling themselves back into slavery for money.

It's a near perfect story to give readers a taste of Borges — his very real and straightforward writing style, as well as basically punching the reader in the face with pretty uncomfortable, but deeply meaningful topics.

The Widow Ching — Pirate

This story is based on a real, historical female pirate in the south China seas, who terrorized much of the Chinese dynasty of the time, and had a small cameo in the third Pirates of the Caribbean movie! The story moves as fast as the swashbuckling it talks about, and gives readers a very real taste for the strange abruptness of life and death.

Et Cetera — A Theologian in Death

I love themes of irony mixed with theology, and this story makes a striking case for one of the best I've read. It fictionalizes the afterlife of a historical Protestant Reformer named Philip Melanchthon, in which he doesn't realize that he has died. One of the shorter stories written, it has fun with the idea of afterlife, and yet the afterlife's affect crossing into the real world.

Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius

This may be one of Borges' most famous short stories. From what I know, it inspired a lot of other authors to write works based on the ideas presented in this story. It is also one of the longer short stories from Borges, including a first and second part, as well as a postscript.

In it, the author mentions finding a mysterious encyclopedia that has passages that are missing in the other “main” collections of those same set of encyclopedias. These additional passages talk about a location previously unknown and unheard of. Through some detective work, the author then finds an entire set of encyclopedias that are based on an entire other planet.

Again, Borges shows how well he can write and make us readers wonder what is real and what is fiction. In the end, I think the blend is so great, that discerning between real and fake is lost to the entertainment of wondering just how a society as he describes would function.

Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote

This one may be my absolute favorite so far. I won't ruin it for any that haven't read it yet, but the thematic irony of the entire piece is so brilliantly constructed, I basically walked around in awe of what Borges was able to accomplish for several minutes after reading.

As a warning to those who haven't read it, though, it IS a tough read, as the voice that Borges uses in this one is of a sophisticated literary critic who uses extraordinarily flowery language. But that use of language is so well done that I just can't help but recommend it to anyone that can read through it.

And that's it!

I'll probably have more things about Borges to write in the future, but those will probably be more along the lines of thoughtful rumination rather than just reviewing his works.

Have a great day!