Labyrinths

These are strong examples of the kinds of fiction foreclosed by a narrow application of The Rules (e.g., "show, don't tell"). Fiction can be a vehicle of ideas without either diminishing them or even really dramatizing them.

Borges is undoubtedly a writer's writer. While the ideas remain resonant and haunting, there's not much here in the way of deft characterisation or gripping plot. Frankly, I love it. His essays are great exegeses on science and philosophy's fall from the certainties of absolutism to what he sees as the dark, ominous crevasse of relativism. A fantastic companion piece to read alongside authors like Franz Kafka and Paul Auster - inspiring, thought-provoking stuff.

It's hard to describe what is so good about Borges' stories except just to say that they are astoundingly *clever*. You read them and amazing new ideas rattle about your brain for weeks afterwards, like why three (or even two) points on a map comprises a labyrinth, or whether a man could re-write Don Quixote and would it be the same book even if it was identical.