Ficciones
by Jorge Luis Borges · first published 1945
67% recommend26% neutral8% critical
Why HN recommends it
Short stories full of inventive, philosophical ideas, with some humor; Library of Babel and Pierre Menard stand out. Suits programmers, math-minded readers, and speculative fiction fans wanting mind-bending ideas.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
A collection of his short stories in which Borges often uses the labyrinth as a literary device to expound his ideas on all aspects of human life and endeavor.
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Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges is a must read. Especially ``The South'' at the end of the book. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ficciones
on “Ask HN: Reccomend essays to a young, inquiring mind” ↗Ficciones, by Borges Very imaginative short stories bordering on the philosophical, some of them hilarious.
on “Ask HN: Interesting (Non software) books?” ↗…views--translation as art, if you will). I never went to graduate school, but I continued writing what was going to be my thesis. It's nowhere near finished but if I can make one book recommendation I would say read Ficciones. There are different layers to Borges and many, many, many ways to read him, but if I can give you one single reason why this writer is one of the greatest figures of all time, it is because he traces…
on “Is Borges the 20th Century’s most important writer?” ↗That was a long way to go to get to a Ficciones reference. The Pierre Menard's Don Quixote and the Library of Babel are probably my favorite Borges stories, and I do think they're applicable to the author's point. I just can't help but feel that it…
on “Proposals Toward the End of Writing” ↗Ficciones by Borges. A real classic, each story is intriguing and some center on incredibly creative ideas.
on “Ask HN: 2018 Summer Reading List?” ↗…jail in horrible conditions. I can say the same things about Papillon by Henri Charrière. Neuromancer by William Gibson. Fueled my imagination and even gave me a semi-fantastical narrative to live by. Ficciones by Borges. Like others said was mind opening. Poésies by Arthur Rimbaud. A bit to play it off - and get laid - but on a more serious note I liked the rebelliousness and the romantic sense of infinite…
on “Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life?” ↗…http://www.galactanet.com/oneoff/theegg_mod.html If you're looking for more short stories, I highly recommend the following: • Ted Chiang's Exhalation • Ted Chiang's Story of Your Life and Others • Ken Liu's Paper Menagerie • Borges's Ficciones • Smullyan's What is the Name of This Book? • Smullyan's Lady or the Tiger? • Douglas Adams's God's Debris Remember to support local booksellers when possible :) [2] https://bookshop.org
on “They're Made Out of Meat” ↗Have you read El Aleph and Ficciones? Have you read Libro del cielo y del infierno, and El libro de los seres imaginarios, and Cuentos breves y extraordinarios? The poetry is also very, very worth it. And there is a recording of Borges…
on “Borges Labyrinth in Venice reopens to the public” ↗Ficciones, by Jorge Luis Borges.
on “Ask HN: What books changed the way you think about almost everything?” ↗Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges. I live in a non-Spanish speaking country.
on “Ask HN: What's your favorite book that nobody you know has heard of?” ↗…cautionary tale about exactly the kind of solipsism and misanthropy that can take us over in our 30s. Fast paced and beautifully written, it reads like a modern crime thriller. For fun conceptual stuff * Ficciones by Borges — short stories that will twist your mind up, each are more puzzle than narrative, but tremendously engaging nonetheless. Ted Chiang is the modern writer that I would identify as the most similar…
on “Ask HN: Great fiction books that have had a positive impact on your life?” ↗Borges is really one of the most important fiction writers of all time. Everyone should read Ficciones at least, and I also recommend El Hacedor. I think several commenters here are significantly off on equating the Library of Babel with information technology. This is a limiting interpretation. Borges…
on “Is Borges the 20th Century’s most important writer?” ↗…how "meta-programmable" humans are. How much of how we think can be though upon, itself. How we can introspect on our thoughs ... with our thoughts. Basically, made me in awe of conscious beings. 3. Ficciones (Fictions, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ficciones) This is classic from Jorge Luis Borges. It showed me at the time "experimental" literature. How can one can push story-telling to another level, like…
on “Ask HN: Which books you have read till now that were worth investing time in?” ↗Ficciones is amongst the most impressive collection of short stories I have ever read, especially the first part which in isolation might actually be the best because everything in it is genuinely good. Nearly…
on “Autobiographical Notes by Jorge Luis Borges (1970)” ↗If you haven't read Ficciones, it's a must! Besides the Spanish original, I've read the English version and it's just as excellent. The stories in the book are each one a universe in itself and is part of today's core literary cannon:…
on “Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote” ↗