The Aleph

Borges writes himself into “The Aleph,” even granting his fictional counterpart a published work called The Sharper’s Cards inspired by the author’s real-life volume of unpublished writings drafted early in his career. As with much of his work, “The Aleph” blends elements of various genres such as mystery, science fiction, and fantasy. Yet Borges often contrasts these elements with deliberate realism, often going so far as to include himself or historical events in the narration so that his writing often seems to be a nonfiction account of a parallel universe. The narrator is not identified as Borges until his final visit to Argentino, meaning he is nameless for most of the story.

Borges’s writing is full of allusions to historical events and literary works that often enrich the meaning of his works. For example, a story from the collection titled, The House of Asterion is written from the perspective of the minotaur in Greek mythology. Argentino credits himself with including in one stanza “three erudite allusions spanning thirty centuries of dense literature: first the Odyssey, second the Works and Days, and third that immortal bagatelle that regales us with the diversions of the Savoyard’s plume” (121).