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Reading lists

8 literary mazes to explore

The Garden of Forking Paths

'Summer was drawing to a close, and I realized that the book was monstrous.' 
 
Fantastical tales of mazes, puzzles, lost labyrinths and bookish mysteries, from the unique imagination of a literary magician. 
 
Penguin Modern: fifty new books celebrating the pioneering spirit of the iconic Penguin Modern Classics series, with each one offering a concentrated hit of its contemporary, international flavour. Here are authors ranging from Kathy Acker to James Baldwin, Truman Capote to Stanislaw Lem and George Orwell to Shirley Jackson; essays radical and inspiring; poems moving and disturbing; stories surreal and fabulous; taking us from the deep South to modern Japan, New York's underground scene to the farthest reaches of outer space.

Jorge Luis Borges was born in Buenos Aires in 1899 and educated in Europe. One of the most widely acclaimed writers of our times, he published many collections of poems, essays and short stories, before his death in Geneva in June 1986.

The Perpetual Race of Achilles and the Tortoise

Borges was born in Buenos Aires in 1899. A poet, critic and short story writer, he received numerous awards for his work including the 1961 International Publisher's Prize (shared with Samuel Beckett). He died in 1986. He has a reasonable claim, with Kafka and Joyce, to be the most influential writer of the 20th Century.

In this collection of wise, witty and fascinating essays, Borges discusses the existence (or non-existence) of Hell, the flaws in English literary detectives, the philosophy of contradictions, and the many translators of 1001 Nights. Varied and enthralling, these pieces examine the very nature of our lives, from cinema and books to history and religion. 
 
 
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A Universal History of Iniquity

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'One of the most remarkable artists of our age.' MARIO VARGAS LLOSA

JORGE LUIS BORGES (1899-1986) now has in print with Modern Classics the short story collections THE ALEPH, FICTIONS, BRODIE'S REPORT, A UNIVERSAL HISTORY OF INFAMY and THE BOOK OF IMAGINARY BEINGS. In addition Modern Classics publishes his SELECTEDPOEMS and THE TOTAL LIBRARY, a selection of his non-fiction which in 2000 won the National Book Critic's Circle award.

Borges' first collection of stories (1935). In his writing, Borges always combined high seriousness with a wicked sense of fun. Here he reveals his delight in re-creating (or making up) colorful stories from the Orient, the Islamic world, and the Wild West, as well as his horrified fascination with knife fights, political and personal betrayal, and bloodthirsty revenge. Spark-ling with the sheer exuberant pleasure of story-telling, this collection marked the emergence of an utterly distinctive literary voice.

Brodie's Report

Probably the greatest twentieth-century writer never to win the Nobel prize for literature.

Borges was born in Buenos Aires in 1899. A poet, critic and short story writer, he received numerous awards for his work including the 1961 International Publisher's Prize (shared with Samuel Beckett). He died in 1986. He has a reasonable claim, with Kafka and Joyce, to be the most influential writer of the twentieth century.

The art of writing is mysterious; the opinions we hold are ephemeral. In these eleven short stories the quality of his inspiration is unmistakable. With their deceptively simple, almost laconic style, they achieve a magical impression that is unrivalled in modern writing.

The Book of Sand and Shakespeare's Memory

One of the most remarkable artists of our age.' MARIO VARGAS LLOSA THE BOOK OF SAND was the last of Borges' major collections to be published. The stories are, in his words, 'variations on favourite themes... combining a plain and at times almost colloquial style with a fantastic plot'. It includes such marvellous tales as 'The Congress', 'Undr' and 'The Mirror and the Mask'. Also included are the handful of stories written right at the end of Borges' life - 'August 25, 1983', 'Blue Tigers', 'The Rose of Paracelsus' and 'Shakespeare's Memory.

Non-Fiction 1922-1986

The Total Library

Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986) lived in Buenes Aires.  His COLLECTED FICTIONS was published in Allen Lane in January 1999.

Though best known in the English speaking world for his short fictions and poems, Borges is revered in Latin America equally as an immensely prolific and beguiling writer of non-fiction prose.  In THE TOTAL LIBRARY, more than 150 of Borges' most brilliant pieces are brought together for the first time in one volume - all in superb new translations.  More than a hundred of the pieces have never previously been published in English.  THE TOTAL LIBRARY presents Borges at once as a deceptively self-effacing guide to the universe and as the inventor of a universe that is an indispensible guide to Borges

Jorge Luis Borges

Jorge Luis Borges remains one of the most influential short story writers of the twentieth century, whose spellbinding tales of magic, mystery and murder are shot through with deep philosophical paradoxes. This collection brings together many of his greatest stories, including 'The Garden of Forking Paths', 'The Book of Sand' and 'Shakespeare's Memory'.

The Library of Babel

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8 literary mazes to explore

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