In a commentary on this story, Jorge Borges explained: “What eternity is to time, the Aleph is to space”. In the story, a fictionalized version of Borges maintains contact with the family of a deceased woman he once loved. He learns that her cousin, an “untalented” poet, is using an Aleph, a point in space that contains all other points, to write an epic poem versifying every place on Earth. Major Themes: the fleeting nature of memory, the limitations of language in describing infinity. Other themes: unrequited love, death, grief, the subjective nature of art. More…

This story by Jorge Borges begins with an aging teacher sitting on a riverside bench watching the world go by. A younger man sits beside him. As they talk, the teacher realizes that the younger man is himself at an earlier age. An ‘impossible’ date on an American banknote convinces the skeptical young man that this is true. The teacher later comes up with an explanation for what happened. He concludes that while the meeting was real and he definitely took part in it, the younger man wasn’t really there. Where was he? Read the story to find out! More…

Some time ago we featured Jorge Borges’s Library of Babel. This contains an infinite number of books that nobody can understand. In The Book of Sand, a book lover also obtains a book that can’t be understood. It is in a strange language and has an endless number of randomly changing pages. Is there a connection between the two stories? Could this be the “perfect compendium” that will unlock the Library’s secrets? Or is it one of the magical books from the Library’s Crimson Hexagon? Either way, the book lover is so frightened that he hides the book away forever. More…

The themes of this story from Jorge Borges are order vs. disorder, time, and sacrifice. An ancient Chinese scholar gave up everything to write a book and create a labyrinth. No one could understand the book or find the labyrinth until a modern day sinologist solved the mystery. The book is the labyrinth; it argues that time is not linear, but a starting point for an infinite number of paths. A descendant of the scholar murders the sinologist. This has nothing to do with the book, but rather a cause he doesn’t believe in. More…

Jorge Borges is known for his unusual and sometimes complex stories which connect things that don’t seem real or possible with the themes of metaphysics and religion. The Library of Babel also includes several other themes commonly found in Borges’s work: infinity, language and order vs. randomness. The Library, which is composed of a seemingly endless number of galleries, is an allegory for the universe. The books within the galleries are incomprehensible. The librarians, who represent mankind, search for the gallery of a mythical “Man of Books” (God?), thought to contain a compendium volume which may unlock the Library’s secrets. More…