Let's read: Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges

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Spoonary
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Re: Let's read: Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges

Postby Spoonary » Sun Apr 08, 2018 3:27 pm

Thank you for your honesty, kanewai. I can't lie, I am struggling too, but I am a stubborn creature, so I will struggle through to the end :P There will definitely be more read-alongs to come. If you have any book ideas, I would love to hear them.

Take your time, Systematiker, this thread isn't going anywhere. Please feel free to share any thoughts you may have, even after I have finished the book.

...........

And I'm back, with another 25% read. I have to say that, so far, I am finding the second collection, Artificios, easier to digest than El jardín. It just seems more narrative-focussed which is good.

I'm sorry to disappoint, but I'm not going to write about each story separately, because they have all kind of smooshed into one in my brain. However, I will say that La forma de la espada and La muerte y la brújula are definitely my favourite stories so far. I actually remember reading the latter at uni and attempting to analyse it in an essay. What a disaster that was :lol: But still, who doesn't like a good detective story?

I am actually tempted to just plow on and finish the book today, but I don't know whether I have the energy. We'll see :roll:
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Spoonary
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Re: Let's read: Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges

Postby Spoonary » Mon Apr 16, 2018 9:13 pm

The more eagle-eyed of you (basically, those who are my friends on Goodreads), may have realised that I finished reading Ficciones yesterday. To be honest, I'm delighted to have finally reached the end. :lol:

Of the last few short stories, El milagro secreto and La secta del fénix were my favourites, but as usual, I don't really have much to say about them, to be honest. :roll:

Overall, Ficciones really wasn't my cup of tea. It was extremely literary and tried a bit too hard in places, I think. Now, there were some interesting concepts and turns of phrase throughout, and I did enjoy some of the stories, but 90% of the references and satire was lost on me. My mind wandered frequently while reading, so it was a bit of a slog to get through, but I'm glad I reached the end and can say that I read Borges, although I truly understood very little. :lol:

So who is still reading?
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Re: Let's read: Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges

Postby coldrainwater » Tue May 01, 2018 7:59 am

Spoonary wrote:There will definitely be more read-alongs to come. If you have any book ideas, I would love to hear them.

It might make sense for the group as a whole to sync our entire libraries (Kindle or otherwise) with Goodreads to get a better feel for what we have read thus far and what is yet to come. I think they make Kindle syncing very simple these days. Meanwhile, three books that come to mind as possible group reads include:
La Regenta (Leopoldo Alas)
Pedro Páramo (Juan Rulfo)
Fortunata y Jacinta (Benito Pérez Galdós)

Galdós wrote:I believe that if I should die, and you were to walk near my grave, from the very depths of the earth I would hear your footsteps.
-- Benito Perez Galdos (1843-1920)

Galdós has a ton to choose from which is why I suggested him. Pedro Páramo has come up on nearly every broad Spanish reading list I have seen on forums. With respect to Borges, I may well be in the minority, but I read it and very much enjoyed it. I'll definitely read more of his and also would like to listen to some good audio narrations of Ficciones as well. If I weren't concerned that it would be [another] love/hate situation, I would immediately suggest Cortázar and his Rayuela for the next group read. Also, I just finished 2666 in audiobook form and plan to wait awhile before tackling Bolaño's Los detectives salvajes.

I'd like to say I have between 100-300 books on my kindle to-read list and I could see the list growing. A few like the Count of Monte Cristo, I debate what language to read them in first.
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Re: Let's read: Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges

Postby Stelle » Tue May 01, 2018 11:33 am

After waiting for weeks and weeks, I finally got a call from the library saying Ficciones was in and waiting for me. I went to the library after work yesterday, eager to pick it up and see if I could catch up with the rest of you.

...and it was the English translation. Bah.

I guess I’m out of this read-along.
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Spoonary
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Re: Let's read: Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges

Postby Spoonary » Wed May 02, 2018 5:56 pm

Thank you for the suggestions, coldrainwater. Curiously enough, of all the titles you have suggested, Rayuela seems to be the most interesting to me. Then again, I do often bite off more than I can chew :roll:

Oh Stelle, nevermind. I think this readalong is pretty much over anyway. When you get hold of a copy in Spanish, please do let us know what you think. :)

Ok, I'm itching for a new read along now. Maybe we should take this discussion back to the Spanish group? :P
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Re: Let's read: Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges

Postby coldrainwater » Thu May 03, 2018 12:27 am

Spoonary wrote:Thank you for the suggestions, coldrainwater. Curiously enough, of all the titles you have suggested, Rayuela seems to be the most interesting to me. Then again, I do often bite off more than I can chew :roll:

Oh Stelle, nevermind. I think this readalong is pretty much over anyway. When you get hold of a copy in Spanish, please do let us know what you think. :)

Ok, I'm itching for a new read along now. Maybe we should take this discussion back to the Spanish group? :P


Yep, we will see what the Spanish group says. Indeed, Rayuela is incredibly tempting. It may be that not many here have read it and also want to give it a go.
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Re: Let's read: Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges

Postby Dragon27 » Thu May 03, 2018 3:49 pm

coldrainwater wrote:Also, I just finished 2666 in audiobook form

Great, and reineke just posted his 2666-th post.
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