Jorge Luis Borges is an Argentinian writer who wrote famous works of literature, spanning poetry, essays, and short stories. One of the most famous of his works is the collection of short stories titled “Labyrinths”. Published in 1962, Labyrinths is a collection of diverse works from Borges, united in their themes of metaphysical exploration and the concept of labyrinths.
In Borges’s 1961 introduction to the collection, he states that “[he] invite[s] the reader to enter a region, the kingdom of relations, of analogies, of forms, of variations, of mirrors, of labyrinths.” This introduction succinctly summarizes the works that follow and suggests an experience for readers. Indeed, the title, Labyrinths, applies as much to the reader's journey as it does to the subject matter of the stories, as is typified through it's first story, “The Garden of Forking Paths”.
“The Garden of Forking Paths” is the longest story in the collection and serves as a metaromance presenting the structure and intricacy of the reader’s experience. The story revolves around a Chinese scholar, Dr. Yu Tsun, who has come to England to warn the government of an impending attack. During his travels, he encounters a garden of forking paths, mirroring the reader’s journey through the collection.
As Dr. Yu Tsun travels through the forking paths, he discovers the notion of eternity in death. He learns to accept and embrace his imminent death, as he believes that death is a reincorporation of the soul into eternity. This theme, of death and afterlife, appears in several of the other stories of Labyrinths. In the second story, “Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius”, the reader follows a group of people as they attempt to prove the existence of a fictional world called Tlön, a world that suggests the notion of an afterlife.
These wonders of eternity continue to appear in the other stories of the collection. “The Library of Babel” presents a metaphysical concept, while “The Waiting” offers an exploration of life’s uneasiness. However, it is in “The Circular Ruins” where the collection’s exploration of eternity is fully realized. In the story, a man dwells in a circular ruin and dreams of creating a physical being. He discovers a way to transcend his own mortality by placing his soul into the body of the man he has created.
Within Labyrinths, Borges presents philosophical ideas, metaphysical concepts, and mysteries of life. His reflections on death, eternity, and the afterlife offer a lasting impact for readers. As with all of his other works, Borges’s Labyrinths is filled with imaginative stories, complex and unpredictable stories that must be pondered in order to be truly appreciated. Reading the stories does not only bring about new perspectives and insights, but also about a sense of awe for the intricate world that Borges has created. Labyrinths weaves a unique tale of the metaphysical, eternal, and circular nature of life in a complex web of Latin American literature. The collection is an interesting and thought-provoking one that should not go unnoticed.
