The Book of Imaginary Beings by Jorge Luis Borges with Margarita Guerrero
Translated by Andrew Hurley, illustrated by Peter Sís
222 pages
Published 1967 (translation published 2005)
Read February 6
Rating: ★★★½ out of 5
In their foreword, Borges and Guerrero suggest Imaginary Beings
is best enjoyed piecemeal, that "the curious dip into it from time to
time." I ignored their injunction, mainly because I don't have the
luxury of keeping my copy around; it's due back at the library on the
11th. But perhaps I'll respect their intentions and give a sampling of
impressions in place of a review:
I want to write a story called
"Mother of Ants." I don't know what it would be about, yet, but I'm
imagining something creepy and entomological, possibly inhabiting the
early Enlightenment intersection of art, alchemy, and proto-science
described in that biography of Maria Sibylla Merian.
Likewise,
"The Ink Monkey" and "Mother of Tortoises" are amazing titles. I need to
take a break from all this reading and start pumping out some short
stories soon. "The Ink Monkey" in particular creates all sorts of
half-formed images and possibilities in my imagination -- the words
themselves, if not the original story.
The thought of banshees belonging to "the race of elves" almost
makes me want to include (screaming, nocturnal) elves in a new high
fantasy story. Almost. I'm sick of elves, though, and I'm sure the
interminable literature on "dark elves" has already drained this
inspiration dry.
I would like this book better if certain entries
were more expansive. The tale of the A Bao A Qu is satisfyingly
detailed, for example -- it tells the story of how one might encounter
such a being and what it would mean -- whereas most other beings are
given only the scantest of definitions.
Wait, Wang Ch'ung (or
Wang Chong) was a real person? Far out! A materialist and rational
atheist, "Wang spent much of his life in non-self-inflicted poverty. He
was said to have studied by standing at bookstalls, and had a superb
memory, which allowed him to become very well-versed in the Chinese
classics. He eventually reached the rank of District Secretary, a post
he soon lost as a result of his combative and anti-authoritarian
nature." (So says Wikipedia.) That sounds like an intriguing character right there.
Interesting
that the pygmies of Pliny battled Russian cranes, when the "Little
People" of Cherokee folklore fought cranes as well.
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