Fragments of Eternity
The Genius of Borges and the Short Story
Exploring Life and Literature
Dear Friends,
January was a busy month. I felt pulled in many different directions. The holiday season always gets me out of whack for some reason. We were down a vehicle due to the car accident in November and it took a couple of months to work through the insurance issues so we could get a replacement. Fortunately, everything worked out within the last couple of weeks. The older vehicle my son was using for college was passed down to my daughter to drive to high school. I traded in my truck to get something nice and reliable for our son to have at college. Then finally this past weekend we replaced the totaled vehicle so that my wife and I have a vehicle to share.
A bit of personal vulnerability here and I hope you don’t mind. There was a huge influx of subscribers between November, December, and January. Growth is a great thing and I am happy to share my passion with others, it was simply unexpected. For a deeply introverted individual like myself, crowds can get overwhelming, even online crowds. I felt like an imposter as if some accident had caused this growth and then all these people would soon discover I had nothing to offer. I hope that isn’t the case but I feel it is important to acknowledge that feeling and recognize that even when things are going in a positive direction I can have interior struggles.
I am a simple guy so here is the down and dirty. I love reading and talking about books. I love jazz, strong coffee, long walks with my dog, board games with my family, hiking, photography, and the myriad mundane moments that make up life. I love to find connections between those passions, especially digging deep into books to see where they inform and influence our lives. Books helped save me during some dark moments in my life. That is why I am here, to write about all those things.
I am glad you are here as well. I value every reader. Some of you have become friends. When you comment on an essay or send me a message it makes my day. I mean that. Because as much as this publication is about life and literature, it is mostly about people. For a few weeks I got caught up in the numbers and a bit overwhelmed but then a couple of days ago I had a moment of clarity. My focus is people. People are not numbers. They are humans. They matter more than numbers. I am focused on building relationships, learning from my reading, learning from other readers, and sharing all of that in one place.
If you like books, nerding out about books, discussing how books impact our lives, and sharing what you are reading with others, then you are in the right place. Regardless of whether I have 10 readers or 10,000 readers, I will continue to make a valiant effort to share myself with you through this continuing exploration beyond the bookshelf.
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that." - Martin Luther King Jr
Now back to our regularly scheduled programing…
Have you ever felt the power of a story that unfolds in mere pages yet lingers in your mind for days? That’s the magic of the short story—a literary form that captivates with its brevity and intensity. Unlike novels, which often build vast, layered worlds, short stories capture fleeting moments, single events, or profound emotional insights with sharp focus. This condensed form demands precision in language and structure, delivering an immediacy that resonates deeply with readers.
Short stories are essential to our literary experience. They offer a concentrated study of character, setting, and theme, showcasing an author’s ability to evoke meaning within tight constraints. For readers pressed for time, short stories are a perfect way to engage with complex ideas in a brief sitting. They often act as time capsules, reflecting their eras' social and political landscapes. More importantly, short stories have given underrepresented voices a platform, allowing us to access diverse perspectives and experiences.
Incorporating short stories into our reading habits enriches us as readers. Their brevity often conceals layers of meaning, encouraging us to pay closer attention to language, symbolism, and structure. This sharpens our analytical skills and broadens our literary horizons. Short stories provide an accessible way to explore new genres, voices, and narrative techniques, challenging us to step outside our comfort zones. Their distilled intensity presents vivid human experiences, fostering empathy and a deeper understanding of relationships and emotions.
Short stories are an excellent starting point for those new to literary reading or tackling more challenging works. They build the focus and discipline needed for longer texts while leaving room for interpretation, inviting readers to reflect on broader implications beyond the page.
Prominent short story writers include:
Anton Chekhov: A master of subtle explorations of human nature.
Alice Munro: Renowned for her modern short fiction, often called the “Chekhov of Canada.”
Flannery O’Connor: Celebrated for her dark, Southern Gothic tales.
Jorge Luis Borges: Famous for his philosophical and fantastical explorations.
Raymond Carver: Known for his minimalist style and focus on everyday lives.
Gabriel García Márquez: A pioneer of magical realism in short fiction.
Edgar Allan Poe: A foundational figure in psychological horror and mystery.
Jhumpa Lahiri: Poignant stories about the immigrant experience.
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: Exploring identity, migration, and feminism.
About Jorge Luis Borges
Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986) transformed modern literature, particularly the short story. Born in Buenos Aires to a well-educated family, Borges was immersed in literature from an early age. His father, a professor and translator, introduced him to English literature, an influence evident in Borges’ later works. His time in Europe during World War I exposed him to avant-garde literary movements, which shaped his early poetry and essays.
Borges transitioned to short stories in the 1930s, using the form to explore philosophical themes like infinity, identity, and reality. By his 50s, near-total blindness deepened his introspective approach, and he relied heavily on dictation to create his later works. Borges infused his stories with references to philosophy, theology, and mathematics, blending fiction with essays and criticism to craft multilayered narratives. His innovative approach inspired writers like Gabriel García Márquez, Italo Calvino, and Umberto Eco.
About The Aleph
One of Borges’ most celebrated stories, The Aleph (1945), exemplifies his fascination with infinity, recursion, and human perception. The narrator, a fictionalized Borges, recounts his lingering attachment to Beatriz Viterbo, a woman he loved and lost. His visits to her family home lead him to her eccentric cousin, Carlos Argentino Daneri, an uninspired poet working on a grandiose, overly detailed poem.
Daneri attributes his inspiration to a mystical object called the Aleph—a single point in space that contains all other points, enabling one to see everything in the universe simultaneously. Skeptical but curious, Borges agrees to see the Aleph. His experience is overwhelming: he perceives infinite interconnectedness, witnessing all places and moments at once. This transcendent vision leaves him disoriented, reflecting on the limits of language and human comprehension.
Borges masterfully blends metaphysics and wry humor in this story. While the Aleph symbolizes infinite knowledge, the narrative is also deeply personal, exploring grief, obsession, and the ineffable nature of human experience. Borges references Dante’s Divine Comedy and other literary works, situating his story within a rich tradition.
Through vivid imagery and intellectual depth, Borges compresses vast philosophical ideas into a few pages, challenging readers to confront the paradoxes of space, time, and perception. As Borges himself believed, the short story is a “form of eternity in miniature,” and The Aleph epitomizes this philosophy.
Here are some questions we can consider as we explore the short story form, Borges’s influence, and his story, The Aleph.
In what ways does the structure of a short story encourage readers to engage with its layers of meaning more actively?
How do Borges’ innovations in narrative structure, such as non-linear storytelling or nested narratives, continue to influence modern literature?
This February, let’s immerse ourselves in the magic of short stories. Begin with The Aleph and discover how infinity can unfold within a single moment.
Beyond the Bookshelf is a reader-supported publication. If you are looking for ways to support Beyond the Bookshelf, please visit my support page and see how you can help continue the mission of exploring the connection between life and literature.
Until next time,
Matthew, thank you for sharing your thoughts and vulnerability on the growth of your publication. It is so easy to get caught up in the numbers (whether it's from a place of abundance or scarcity) and I also have the constant need to pull myself back to why I started this journey and what I truly want from it. (Hint: it is never to say I have "x" number of subscribers!)
On the short form in fiction: I had a creative writing tutor once put it really well: a short story is a snapshot or scene from a movie, whilst a novel is the whole movie. That has stuck with me.
Matthew, this post has all the elements, beginning with your openness, your genuineness and humanity (which I fear is only going to garner you more subscribers :). This is followed by a description of your life, which sounds an awful lot like the good life to me -- and including jazz and Borges. Bravo!