jorge luis borges Archives - Andrew Blackman

Reading

The Other Death: Borges Marathon, Part 34

Can God change the past? If so, how would it affect our memories? This is the central question that Jorge Luis Borges explores in his story “The Other Death”. The story concerns Pedro Damián, whose recent death the narrator hears…

Reading

The House of Asterion: Borges Marathon, Part 33

“The House of Asterion” is one of the shortest stories by Jorge Luis Borges, composed almost entirely of the interior monologue of a lonely character who lives in a labyrinth. It shares several features of other Borges fictions. Like “The…

Reading

Emma Zunz: Borges Marathon, Part 32

My thoughts on this short story by Jorge Luis Borges, which is an outlier in terms of the plot and main character, but still one of his most successful stories.

Reading

A Biography of Tadeo Isidoro Cruz: Borges Marathon, Part 31

Are our lives really defined by a single moment? And what happens when that moment involves seeing yourself in someone else? Borges answers these questions while telling the story of an outlaw turned lawman.

Reading

The Immortal: Borges Marathon, Part 27

What would immortality feel like? Jorge Luis Borges takes us beyond the quest for eternal life to see what happens to someone who achieves it.

Reading

The South: Borges Marathon, Part 26

Borges said "The South" may be his best story and hinted at other ways of reading it. I take a look at what those other ways might be.

Phoenix by Emblemata Nicolai Reusneri 1583

Reading

Borges Marathon, Part 25: The Cult of the Phoenix

What is the mysterious ritual at the centre of this Jorge Luis Borges story? Let's go through the hints and solve the riddle.

Reading

Borges Marathon, Part 24: The End

On the difficulty of reading and interpreting a story when you don't get the central references.

Reading

Borges Marathon, Part 23: Three Versions of Judas

Did Judas really betray Jesus for thirty pieces of silver? In a piece of fiction masquerading as a scholarly article, Jorge Luis Borges explores more virtuous motivations.