Do you guys know where the Library of Babel manuscript is, and if some photographs of it exist?

I recently read Ulysses and 2666, which let me to Ficciones, my first Borges….. I’ve been waiting my entire life to read something like this… I know I’m preaching to the choir here, but holy shit! This book is literature. Reading Borges is like escaping to another planet and I never want to return to earth.

I borrowed the book Borges by Adolfo Bioy Casares from a library and it was a treasure trove of information and insight into Borges and his longtime friend. I am looking to purchase my own copy of the book, but everywhere I find it available it costs hundreds of dollars. Does anyone know of a place to find a reasonably priced copy of this book? I have no hope of buying it in new condition, and would accept just about any used condition at this point. Thank you.

If the all-time greatest authors lived in the same house: Borges would occupy the master bedroom. Dostoevsky the floor below, but above the basement apartment where Camus resides. And that's it. Everyone else is on the outside looking in.. including Kafka, Huxley & Hesse.

In my opinion Gene Wolfe, Italo Calvino, Julio Cortazar, Ted Chiang, Philip K.Dick, Paul Auster, Jose Saramago, Umberto Eco, Thomas Pynchon, Georges Perec, Roberto Bolano, Stanisław Lem, Michal Ajvaz and William Gibson were influenced by Borges. I would appreciate it if you can tell me the authors that I missed in this list.

Started reading Borges recently and am obssessed with him. There are so many layers and themes. I understand I have to know philosophy well but knowing something will help (e.g. Berkeley's idealism)

Can you recommend essential authors that I must read or some good resources/companions? I decided to read Borges after I found Pynchon. So I am kind of ready for mindf$&k...

The House of Asterion

Published in the auspicious year 1947, The House of Asterion re-tells the  Theseus myth from the perspective of the Minotaur (Asterion). The story is very similar to The Outsider by HP Lovecraft, both having a Mansion/Castle that turns out to be a misinterpretation of something more sinister, Grave and Labyrinth, respectively, for the Outsider and the Asterion, or the protagonists in both the stories misinterpreting others reaction to their inappropriate visitation of the world of everyday life.

The Minotaur by George Frederic Watts

Solitude and amnesia are also strong themes in both, with Asterion musing, "Everything is repeated many times, fourteen times, but two things in the world seem to be repeated only once: above, the intricate sun; below Asterion. Perhaps I have created the stars and the sun and this enormous house, but I no longer remember."

Despite these remarkable similarities, I found Asterion to be a much more poignant story and the character of Asterion to be one of the great tragic heroes whose sadness is closer to my spirit than that of the Outsider.

His personality is enhanced by (as is any personality) the contradictions of his character. He is both supremely relatable and supremely enigmatic(he claims that even though he never leaves his house, he always keeps his doors open for anyone to enter). His personality is contradictory because his understanding is beyond our comprehension, as he quotes the Lord's Prayer while killing his victims- "so that I may deliver them from all evil." He eagerly waits for his own "redeemer" and declares

 "I know that my redeemer lives and he will finally rise above the dust," mimicking a line from the Book of Job- "For I know my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon earth."

Overall, Borges arouses the same feelings through his writing as the painting The Minotaur by George Frederic Watts -the original inspiration for the story.

Hi, everyone :) New here.

I was wondering if any of you have access to a Japanese translation of the haikus written by Borges, or if they are available somewhere else.

I'm just trying to create some art for my apartment, and being a fan of both Japanese aesthetics and JLB, I have no idea why I hadn't though about such conjunction before XD

I know this is somewhere in one of his recorded lectures but I cannot find it. Anyone know?

I'm reading Borges for the very first time, and my first story was The Immortals which I thought was brilliant. I've liked a few others that I've read so far, but in all honesty, I can't say I'm fully 'getting' all of them. A few such as The Theologians & Averroes' Search I didn't understand at all (for various reasons). So, what do you think I should do from here? Keep reading whatever I'm into and drop the rest? Or should I come back to Borges after a while? I own The Aleph from Penguin Classics, by the way. Would really appreciate any suggestions, thanks.

Harto evidente. Pero para hacer énfasis en que si hay una discusión entre dos personas, figúrese que no se necesitan palabras mediadas entre estos para hacer que el conflicto avance hacia una resolución. El conflicto se resolvió de entrada mediante el choque de ambas personas, y dentro sus voluntades. Y a partir de ahí las palabras serpentean y encuentran la manera de conectar el inicio con el final dandole una falsa sensación de azar y ejecución en proceso, cuando todo estaba definido desde el inicio y en base a caracteres que exceden lo oral.

Un punto especifico de una calla rioplatense donde una persona en particular puede ver su pasado presente y futuro al mismo tiempo siempre que esas versiones de si mismo se hayan posado sobre ese mismo punto. Muy alephiano pero digno de exploracion.

Hey, I would l like to hear out people's opinion on this: I think one of the biggest misconceptions about Borges is thinking of him as an overly serious or solemn writer. Let me explain myself: I do not mean that he's not serious in the sense of the magnitude of his works or his talent or whatever: I mean that people often overlook that many of his stories are downright funny, which for me is of immense value considering all the philosophical notions and depth he manages to add in each of his stories. I also see this playfulness in many of his interviews, and I love how ironic he can be without falling into nihilism; his work I find to be a constant rejoicing in the act of creation, and a remainder of the absurdity of it all. Some stories that come to mind to exemplify this are: Pierre Menard, Lottery of Babylon, Tlon Uqbar Orbis Tertius and Three Versions of Judas to name a few; I also feel like this playfulness can be found even I some of his most "bleak" works. Let me know what you think.

I am trying to find online. I only have it in my book of his complete collection.

Is the priest's prison supposed to be a hourglass?

He describes the shape of the place as a hemisphere; there is a tiny hole at the top that opens everyday to deliver food and water; otherwise, the place is mostly dark during his waking hours; and most importantly, his dream, which might very well be reality, features drops of sand filling up the place, just like when a hourglass is about to trickle all its sand from the other hemisphere.

I don't think it has any interpretive significance beyond the obvious contrast between the emphatic temporality and the timelessness of the Word. What do you think?