The Book of Sand and Shakespeare's Memory (Penguin Classics) Summary and Reviews

The Book of Sand and Shakespeare's Memory (Penguin Classics)
by Jorge Luis Borges

The Book of Sand and Shakespeare's Memory (Penguin Classics)
List Price: $15.00
Our Price: $8.52
You Save: $6.48 (43%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $8.34 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


or

Book Summary Information

Author: Jorge Luis Borges
Editor: Andrew Hurley
Translator: Andrew Hurley
Introduction: Andrew Hurley
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2007-12-18
ISBN: 0143105299
Number of pages: 176
Publisher: Penguin Classics

Book Reviews of The Book of Sand and Shakespeare's Memory (Penguin Classics)

Book Review: In memory...
Summary: 5 Stars

Trying to full describe the writings of Jorge Luis Borges is like trying to explain exactly why Leonardo da Vinci's art still captivates. The man wrote works of art.

And "The Book of Sand and Shakespeare's Memory" brings together two of Borges' shorter collections, with all sorts of surreal twists in a seemingly ordinary world. These rich, slightly uneasy stories are a shining example of why people enjoy Borges -- magical, rich in language, and poignant in their finality.

Interestingly, two of the stories -- one from each collection -- have strikingly similar stories. "August 25, 1983" has Borges stumbling across an older version of himself, dying as he tells Borges a bit about his future. And "The Other" has Borges at Cambridge, where he accidentally bumps into a younger version of himself, whom he imparts some wisdom to.

But the stories are about far stranger things as well -- a hunt for blue tigers that leads to strangely fascinating stones, an alchemist's rose, a poet telling a king of pure beauty and wonder, receiving the hazy memories of Shakespeare, a book with no ending, the ultimate Word, a creepy religious sect, and even a Lovecraftian homage in which a man comes across grotesque aliens in a remote house.

Good luck finding flaws in this book -- Borges' writing is exquisitely detailed and atmospheric, and densely packed with philosophical pockets. And these stories are magical realism in the purest sense, with a slight, almost mystical twist to the everyday events that we take for granted -- being mistaken for someone else, being sold a book, et cetera.

And Borges wraps these stories in lush, digified prose that takes a little while to wade through, but the richness of the words he uses is worth it ("The sin the two of us now share... the sin of having known Beauty, which is a gift forbidden mankind"). He's even able to craft stories very unlike his usual style -- "The Mirror and the Mask" has the style and flavour of an ancient Irish myth.

Perhaps it's because these were Borges' last stories, but there's a very reflective, introspective feeling to many of them -- Borges seems to be glancing back at his life, and ahead to his death. But he doesn't lose his touch for the haunting, almost otherworldly explorations ("Blue Tigers") and the feeling that the unnameable is just a misstep away.

"The Book of Sand and Shakespeare's Memory" is a brilliant collection of Borges' exquisite stories. Magical and gritty, beautiful and haunting -- and sadly, the last work he did.

Short Stories Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Short Stories Books
The Roald Dahl Treasury ImageThe Roald Dahl Treasury
by Roald Dahl
Jonathan Cape; Published: 1997; Hardcover; Book
The Red Pony (Twentieth-Century Classics) ImageThe Red Pony (Twentieth-Century Classics)
by John Steinbeck
Penguin Classics; Published: 1994-10-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.28
Price in other shops: $12.00
A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain ImageA Good Scent from a Strange Mountain
by Robert Olen Butler
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1993-06-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.15
Price in other shops: $12.95
Guys and Dolls: The Stories of Damon Runyon ImageGuys and Dolls: The Stories of Damon Runyon
by Damon Runyon
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1992-11-01; Mass Market Paperback; Book
Best price: $42.35
How We Are Hungry ImageHow We Are Hungry
by Dave Eggers
PENGUIN; Published: 2006-02-23; Paperback; Book
Dressing Up for the Carnival ImageDressing Up for the Carnival
by Carol Shields
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2001-05-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.79
Price in other shops: $15.00
East, West ImageEast, West
by Salman Rushdie
Vintage Books; Published: 2006-10; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.76
Price in other shops: $10.50
Local Girls ImageLocal Girls
by Alice Hoffman
Vintage/Ebury (a Division of Random; Published: 2000-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.25
Price in other shops: $17.75
Someone to Watch Over Me: Stories ImageSomeone to Watch Over Me: Stories
by Richard Bausch
Harper Perennial; Published: 2000-05-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.60
Price in other shops: $13.00
Faithless: Tales of Transgression ImageFaithless: Tales of Transgression
by Joyce Carol Oates
Ecco; Published: 2001-03-01; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $4.04
Price in other shops: $15.90
Similar books summaries and other product reviews
Borges: Selected Poems ImageBorges: Selected Poems
by Jorge Luis Borges
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 2000-04-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.98
Price in other shops: $21.00
Machine Man (Vintage Contemporaries Original) ImageMachine Man (Vintage Contemporaries Original)
by Max Barry
Vintage; Published: 2011-08-09; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.29
Price in other shops: $14.95
Dreamtigers (Texas Pan American Series) ImageDreamtigers (Texas Pan American Series)
by Jorge Luis Borges
University of Texas Press; Published: 1985; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.49
Price in other shops: $16.95
The Comforters (New Directions Revived Modern Classics) ImageThe Comforters (New Directions Revived Modern Classics)
by Muriel Spark
New Directions; Published: 1994-09-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.50
Price in other shops: $13.95
Borges: Selected Non-Fictions ImageBorges: Selected Non-Fictions
by Jorge Luis Borges
Penguin; Published: 2000-11-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $12.00
Price in other shops: $23.00
The Book of Imaginary Beings (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) ImageThe Book of Imaginary Beings (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition)
by Jorge Luis Borges
Penguin Classics; Published: 2006-09-26; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.65
Price in other shops: $17.00
Ficciones (English Translation) ImageFicciones (English Translation)
by Jorge Luis Borges
Grove Press; Published: 1994-02-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $7.89
Price in other shops: $14.00
Collected Fictions ImageCollected Fictions
by Jorge Luis Borges
Penguin (Non-Classics); Published: 1999-09-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $10.95
Price in other shops: $21.00
Labyrinths (New Directions Paperbook) ImageLabyrinths (New Directions Paperbook)
by Jorge Luis Borges
New Directions; Published: 2007-05-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.62
Price in other shops: $14.95
The Aleph and Other Stories (Penguin Classics) ImageThe Aleph and Other Stories (Penguin Classics)
by Jorge Luis Borges
Penguin Classics; Published: 2004-07-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.52
Price in other shops: $15.00