Reading Borges

We will devote two days to discussing some selected stories by Jorge Luis Borges. Borges is challenging reading, and you should expect to read each story several times before you are ready to discuss it. Consequently, I recommend that you make time to start this reading early. I’d recommend disregarding the endnotes by the editor the first time you read each story; pick up those details on a second reading. You should of course read with particular attention to such topics as the infinite and the continuous, but do not neglect the literary and emotional impact of the stories. Also keep in mind that your second essay will be on Borges!

First group of stories (discussed on Tuesday, October 11^th):

• Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius
• Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote
• The Circular Ruins
• Funes, His Memory
• The Writing of the God

Second group of stories (discussed on Friday, October 14^th):

• The Lottery in Babylon
• A Survey of the Works of Herbert Quain
• Library of Babel
• The Garden of Forking Paths
• The Book of Sand