found drama

Marvelous. Even in translation, I true spectacle of language. Time-twisting and reality-bending. At several points while reading I thought to myself: I can see why Danielewski cribbed so heavily from this for House of Leaves. A copy should be on the bookshelf of every aspiring novelist. (Yes, it requires some extra cognition to get through but every piece is worth the effort.)

composite rating: 4.1176★

INDIVIDUAL RATINGS:
Part One: The Garden of Forking Paths

Prologue

• Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius – ★★★★★
• The Approach to Al-Mu’tasim – ★★★★
• Pierre Menard, Author of Don Quixote – ★★★½
• The Circular Ruins – ★★★★★
• The Babylon Lottery – ★★★★
• An Examination of the Work of Herbert Quain – ★★★
• The Library of Babel – ★★★★★
• The Garden of Forking Paths – ★★★★★

Part Two: Artifices

Prologue

• Funes, the Memorious – ★★★½
• The Form of the Sword – ★★★★
• Theme of the Traitor and Hero – ★★★
• Death and the Compass – ★★★★★
• The Secret Miracle – ★★★★
• Three Versions of Judas – ★★★
• The End – ★★★★
• The Sect of the Phoenix – ★★★★
• The South – ★★★★ ★

A version of this review appears on Goodreads.com.

About Rob Friesel