What to read about Borges
Criticism and Analysis
Ana María Barrenechea
Borges the labrynth maker
This is, by far, the best book to read as a first approach Borges. It both highly rigorous and easy to understand. Its author, Ana María Barrenechea, was one of the most important philologists of the 20th century. Trained at the University of Buenos Aires, she earned her Ph.D. at Bryn Mawr and later taught at Harvard University. The combination of scholarly precision and lucid exposition makes this book an excellent introduction to the Borgesian universe.
Borges the labrynth maker
This is, by far, the best book to read as a first approach Borges. It both highly rigorous and easy to understand. Its author, Ana María Barrenechea, was one of the most important philologists of the 20th century. Trained at the University of Buenos Aires, she earned her Ph.D. at Bryn Mawr and later taught at Harvard University. The combination of scholarly precision and lucid exposition makes this book an excellent introduction to the Borgesian universe.
Ronald J. Christ
The Narrow Act: Borges' Art of Allusion
This book is is a critical study that explores Jorge Luis Borges' extensive use of literary allusion. It analyzes how Borges weaves echoes themes and fragments from world literature into his works to create contradictory assertions, layered meanings and intellectual puzzles. Borges himself praised this book as "the best, the most intelligent, and most carefully done" among the books written about his works. Despite its having been written in 1969, this study remains a key resource for understanding Borges’ approach to literature and the intricate style of his writing.
The Narrow Act: Borges' Art of Allusion
This book is is a critical study that explores Jorge Luis Borges' extensive use of literary allusion. It analyzes how Borges weaves echoes themes and fragments from world literature into his works to create contradictory assertions, layered meanings and intellectual puzzles. Borges himself praised this book as "the best, the most intelligent, and most carefully done" among the books written about his works. Despite its having been written in 1969, this study remains a key resource for understanding Borges’ approach to literature and the intricate style of his writing.
Beatriz Sarlo
Borges: A Writer at the Edge
This book combines literary, social, and political approahces to explain how Borges’s work engages with both European and Argentine literary and intellectual traditions from a position that Sarlo describes as peripheral. Sarlo examines Borges´ relationship with Argentina’s cultural history, showing how his writing is in constant dialogue with the intellectual debates, political transformations of his time, as well as persisting questions about Argentine national identity inherited from the previous century. The book is considerably denser than the others mentioned in this bibliography. Still, it offers brilliant insights and is therefore highly recommended.
Borges: A Writer at the Edge
This book combines literary, social, and political approahces to explain how Borges’s work engages with both European and Argentine literary and intellectual traditions from a position that Sarlo describes as peripheral. Sarlo examines Borges´ relationship with Argentina’s cultural history, showing how his writing is in constant dialogue with the intellectual debates, political transformations of his time, as well as persisting questions about Argentine national identity inherited from the previous century. The book is considerably denser than the others mentioned in this bibliography. Still, it offers brilliant insights and is therefore highly recommended.
Jaime Alazraki
Jorge Luis Borges
Despite its conciseness (only 48 pages long) this essay offers an in-depth introduction to Borges’s literary universe. Alazraki explores Borges’s major themes, such as the interplay between reality and fiction, the labyrinthine nature of time, and the self-referential qualities of Borges’s stories. This book is commendable for its clarity and its ability to synthesize Borges’s complex oeuvre for both new readers and specialists.
Jorge Luis Borges
Despite its conciseness (only 48 pages long) this essay offers an in-depth introduction to Borges’s literary universe. Alazraki explores Borges’s major themes, such as the interplay between reality and fiction, the labyrinthine nature of time, and the self-referential qualities of Borges’s stories. This book is commendable for its clarity and its ability to synthesize Borges’s complex oeuvre for both new readers and specialists.
Biographies
Edwin Williamson
Borges: A Life
This is the gold standard for Borges biographies. With a rigorous, intelligent and intelligent Williamson offers a detailed study of Borges’s life and work. He combines meticulous analysis of documents and personal testimonies with a deep understanding of Argentine history, society, and culture, as well as Borges’s own writing. Williamson reconstructs the environment that shaped Borges, paying special attention to his family ties—his father, mother, and grandmother—as well as his friends and acquaintances: Norah Lange, Oliverio Girondo, Rafael Cansinos Assens, Adolfo Bioy Casares, and María Kodama. The strength of the book lies in its method: a constant interplay of historical, personal, and literary sources, enriched by sharp and insightful observations on Borges’s social, political, and cultural context.
Borges: A Life
This is the gold standard for Borges biographies. With a rigorous, intelligent and intelligent Williamson offers a detailed study of Borges’s life and work. He combines meticulous analysis of documents and personal testimonies with a deep understanding of Argentine history, society, and culture, as well as Borges’s own writing. Williamson reconstructs the environment that shaped Borges, paying special attention to his family ties—his father, mother, and grandmother—as well as his friends and acquaintances: Norah Lange, Oliverio Girondo, Rafael Cansinos Assens, Adolfo Bioy Casares, and María Kodama. The strength of the book lies in its method: a constant interplay of historical, personal, and literary sources, enriched by sharp and insightful observations on Borges’s social, political, and cultural context.
Emir Rodríguez Monegal
Jorge Luis Borges: A Literary Biography
This was the first major biography of Borges available in English. Monegal was an Uruguayan critic and personal acquaintance of Borges. This book thus features both insider knowledge and a scholarly approach. Monegal excels at tracing the influence of personal experiences in Borges´writing. This biography has been faulted, however, for both factual inaccuracies and a constant proclivity for amateur psychoanalysis. For this reason it is better read together with other biographical sources; in spite of this it features a lot of original material that can´t be found elsewhere.
Jorge Luis Borges: A Literary Biography
This was the first major biography of Borges available in English. Monegal was an Uruguayan critic and personal acquaintance of Borges. This book thus features both insider knowledge and a scholarly approach. Monegal excels at tracing the influence of personal experiences in Borges´writing. This biography has been faulted, however, for both factual inaccuracies and a constant proclivity for amateur psychoanalysis. For this reason it is better read together with other biographical sources; in spite of this it features a lot of original material that can´t be found elsewhere.