Abstract

DAVILA, Jesús M.  and  LINARES, Gabriel E.. The Book of Sand (1975) by Jorge Luis Borges: Notes for a rereading. Cienc. ergo-sum [online]. 2022, vol.29, n.2, e165.  Epub Oct 20, 2023. ISSN 2395-8782.  https://doi.org/10.30878/ces.v29n2a7.

This paper proposes some ways to reformulate the critical readings that consider The Book of Sand (1975) a repetitive and dispensable piece of Borges’s oeuvre. It briefly analyses three short stories included in that book; “The Other”, “The Book of Sand” and “The Congress”. Similarities and differences are established in the use of characteristic topics in Borges: the double and the total library; these are traced in several previous texts: “Three Versions of Judas”, “The Theologians”, “Streetcorner Man”, “The Library of Babel” among others. Likewise, some autobiographical elements are identified to delve into the author’s critical distancing from himself and from his previous work.

Keywords : Borges; The Book of Sand; rereading; “The Other”; “The Congress”.