Essay/Term paper: Ficciones

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Cliff Notes

Jorge Luis Borges possesses writing styles unlike others of his time. Through his series of works, he has acquired the title of "the greatest living writer in the Spanish language." The particular example of work that I read, titled "Ficciones," was a definite portrayal of his culture. The book was not merely a list of facts from his birth country; instead the real cultural knowledge came from his writing style. The book consisted of two parts; each part was broken up into stories. Each one, despite being fiction, is a painting of his experiences, and the cultures of Buenos Aires. Among his themes are myths passed down through the families in his country. I thought that the stories that were contained in this collection were very educational. When finally taking a minute to analyze, and find deeper meaning to the tales, I discovered that they all posses what he has known in his life. He is easily distinguishable in his works. Now that I have thoroughly made it clear of his uniqueness, it will be easier for me to explain my next opinion. I thought that the writing style of Jorge Luis Borges was extremely exciting. He possesses the ability to capture his readers by fully utilizing the writing style known as irony. I found that irony is a large part of his works. He makes sure that the climax of the particular piece is not revealed until the conclusion of the story. A strong example of this was in a piece entitled "The Garden of Forking Paths." Borges put it in such formats, that the beginning of the story was missing so that it wasn't until the conclusion that the story fits together, but is totally not what is expected. The entire fictional tale was about a crime that was committed. The pre-crime, crime, and results of the action were all known. However, the motif of the crime is not revealed until the last paragraph. Jorge was able to portray this irony by initially stating that "The first two pages are missing" in reference to the story that he was about to tell. I especially found this a unique and effective method of creating an initial mystification. This set the stage for an ironic ending.

Another unique trait of Borges' is his unmatched ability to capture his reader's attention by the use of description. His sentences are full of words that build a wall of pictures in the mind of the reader. An example of this ability is in the story entitled "The Form of the Sword." The quote stirred my imagination, which made a great mental image. "After supper we went out to look at the sky. It had cleared, but behind the ridge of the mountains, the south, fissured and shot through with lightning flashes, was brewing up another storm."

I focussed mainly on Borges' writing style when giving my opinion of the book. I chose to closely examine and comment on this aspect because of its uniqueness and its tie with his cultural experiences. Through Jorge's thorough description in his sentences, and his ability to utilize irony, he has accomplished greatness in his writing.