Welcome to the Labyrinths International Book Ray

This ray started on 25 March 2005.

Please PM me if you would like to join.


Jorge Luis Borges

Jorges Luis Borges (1899-1986) was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina and educated in Europe. He published many collections of poems, essays and short stories. To my mind, Borges was one of the very best writers of the 20th century. His prose combines storytelling, metaphysics, history, science, philosophy and fantasy. Borges' writing style is terse and minimalist but carries both humour and power within it. Everytime I read his works, I find myself in awe of their creator.

This is my favourite of all Borges' books, containing such celebrated stories as Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius, The Library of Babel and The Circular Ruins.

Member/Location

Members are as follows - member in red currently has possession of the book: (If you wish to join, please PM me and I will add you)

swanofkennet, Reading
caro1, Nottingham
kangaroo, Barnet
nice-cup-of-tea, Zurich, Switzerland
zzz, Belgrade, Serbia-Montenegro
CoolboxUK, Chertsey

...then who knows where....

How it works

- If you wish to be added to the list, please PM me with your details.
- Note that you must be prepared to mail internationally.
- We will kick off once we have 5 members.
- You will be sending the book to the person who appears after you in the list, so you need to PM them to get their address.
- It's not a race, but please read and send the book on as speedily as you can, other people are dying to read it too.
- Please journal the book once you have received it (so we all know where it currently is) and again when you have read it (so we know what you thought of it!)
- If you're the last person on the list, then please release it for others to find.

Posted to swanofkennet on Saturday.

Arrived in this morning's post. Thank you, US!

It's very hard to comment on this book. Suffice it to say that there's nothing else quite like it. The stories, essays and snippets in it welcome you in, make you feel at home and then kick you very hard somewhere tender, taking you on a bizarre journey through a landscape of dreams and nightmares and possibly leaving you doubting your own sanity.

It's not really a book to pick up and read from end to end. It's one for dipping into, sampling, re-reading. This is why I'm shamefully hung on to it for so long, for which I apologise.

This collection is so unique and so compellingly fascinating that it would be impossible to give it anything other than a ten.

Dispatched this morning to caro1 from Civic Centre PO, Reading.

Arrived safely this morning. I have one and a half rings to read ahead of it, but with a couple of long journeys in the next couple of weeks, it won't be a problem. Thanks for posting SwanOfKennet and for the lovely postcard enclosed.

First, a confession. I am definitely not a lover of short stories. So why sign up for this bookray you might well ask. Well I had higher hopes of enjoying short stories written by a master of the art, and I have to say I was not disappointed. This is a stunning collection of stories, parables and essays, the only trouble, as SwanofKennet has pointed out, it is not a book to read from end to end. I need my own copy on the shelf, so I can 'dip and sample and re-read' to my heart's content. Favourites after my first readong include, 'Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius', 'Garden of Forking Paths' and 'The Library of Babel'. Thanks for leading me into temptation yet again UrbanSpaceman!

RELEASE NOTES: Posted to kangaroo.

Arrived this morning, accompanied by a bar of my favourite chocolate - thank you very much!

It joins my little queue of ring books I'm afraid, but will get to it ASAP!

Hrmmmmm, "I'll get to it ASAP" - famous last words. Truth be told, I've spent a long time reading this off and on, and there are stories which I loved, but I'm finding it quite hard going and I still haven't quite managed to finish it off. 'The Circular Ruins' is one of my favourites so far I think.

I'm so sorry I've had this for so long! Life turned hectic on me with no warning.

I thought this book had become a familar part of life, but I didn't realise until now exactly how long I had been hanging onto it for! I am so sorry!
Awaiting address (which I'm sure I already have, but it seems to have got itself lost) and then it will get out of this rut it's in.

Received in the post today from Katie, many thanks!

I really wanted to understand and enjoy this book (given everyone else's rave reviews!) but it's just not working for me at the moment :-( I'm going to pass it onto ZZZ but hopefully come back to it one day!

Will pm ZZZ for address now.

Sent to zzz B post 27th March

Borges is already one of my favorite writers so I'm sure I'll enjoy reading this collection of stories. However, since I'm in the army I'm not sure when that will be done :(
Under so many obligations I barely have time for myself.

Chris thank you for sharing,
Caro thank you for lovely "Borgesian" bookmark
nice-cup-of-tea thank you for lovely chocolate, that's so sweet and so Swiss :)
Cheers!