borges Archives - Andrew Blackman

Reading

Borges Marathon, Part 7: Hakim, the Masked Dyer of Merv

One of the fun parts of working my way through the Fictions of Jorge Luis Borges is trying to understand where the boundary lies between fact and fiction. In Hakim, the Masked Dyer of Merv, as far as I can…

Reading

Borges Marathon, Part 6: The Uncivil Teacher of Court Etiquette, Kôtsukéno Suké

The theme of honour runs through many of the fictions of Jorge Luis Borges. But why bother retelling such a well-known story if all you’re going to do is reinforce the standard narrative?

Reading

Borges Marathon, Part 5: The Disinterested Killer Bill Harrigan

As with many Borges stories, the line between fact and fiction in this story is unclear. So why does Borges make these alterations?

Reading

Borges Marathon, Part 4: Monk Eastman, Purveyor of Iniquities

Why does this short story by Jorge Luis Borges create such power? Maybe it's the human frailty underlying the tale of a tough New York gangster.

Reading

Borges Marathon, Part 3: The Widow Ching—Pirate

Before I read Borges, I used to think there was a sharp dividing line between fiction and nonfiction. In my own writing, there’s a huge gap between the serious, diligently factual articles I write for The Wall Street Journal and…

Reading

Borges Marathon, Part 2: The Improbable Impostor Tom Castro

I love the writing of Jorge Luis Borges. Back in the early days of this blog, I was so deeply affected by reading his collection of ‘fictions’ that I broke my optimistic vow of reviewing every book I read. It…

The writing process

Is It a Good Idea to Frustrate Your Readers’ Expectations?

I was interviewed recently for a podcast by book blogger Charlie Place, and her perceptive questions got me thinking about my writing. In particular, why do I deliberately frustrate readers’ expectations in my novels? You can listen to the podcast…

Reading

Borges marathon, part 1: The Cruel Redeemer Lazarus Morell

So I had this great idea to write a separate review for every short story every written by the master of short stories (or short fictions as they’re often called, for reasons that will become apparent), Jorge Luis Borges. I’m…

Reading

“Collected Fictions” by Jorge Luis Borges

With this book, I have to admit defeat, or at least a change of plan. I wanted to review every book I read on this site, but I can’t review this. How to reduce the life work of one of…