Doctor Brodie's Report

by Jorge Luis Borges

Book Overview

At the age of seventy, after a gap of twenty years, Jorge Luis Borges returned to writing short stories. In Brodie's Report , he returned also to the style of his earlier years with its brutal... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0525475419
• ISBN13: 9780525475415
• Release Date: February 1979
• Publisher: Plume Books
• Length: 128 Pages
• Weight: 0.40 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Brodie

A diferencia del otro reseñador, creo que éste es uno de los libros esenciales de Borges, justamente porque en estos relatos se toma un respiro del Borges de los laberintos, los tigres y las aventuras en tierras lejanas. En general, éstas son más bien aventuras en tiempos lejanos, contadas con un estilo "realista" y directo que tiende a esconder ciertas complejidades (en lugar de hacerlas evidentes y palpables, como en los relatos de Ficciones y El Aleph). En ningún otro lado encontramos un cuento tan llanamente melancólico como "La Señora Mayor", o la delicada pesadilla de "Juan Muraña", o el velado homenaje a Roberto Arlt en "El Indigno", o el espanto y la crueldad de "El Evangelio..." o "El Otro Duelo". Y, desde ya, la pieza que da el nombre al libro es una diminuta y elegante obra maestra. La intrusa El indigno Historia de Rosendo Juárez El encuentro Juan Muraña La señora mayor El duelo El otro duelo Guayaquil El Evangelio según Marcos El informe de Brodie

Borges at 70 Remains Uniquely Borgesian

The Borges I first encountered was the intellectual lecturer and essayist of Seven Nights. Later I marveled at his mystical, fantastical short stories found in Labyrinths, Ficciones, and The Aleph. The scholarly researcher was most clearly revealed by The Book of Imaginary Beings, and the poet by Dreamtigers. Now with this short collection, Doctor Brodie's Report, I have discovered yet another dimension of the remarkable Borges. These short stories are more pragmatic, more straight-forwardly constructed, and more journalistic in their structure than his earlier imaginative stories on which his reputation is largely founded. In many cases these later tales involve some violence. Rivalries and duels, historical military accounts, and seamy slums are found in these works by the more realistic Borges. However, two stories - The Gospel According to Mark and the title story, Doctor Brodie's Report - are more imaginative, and thus classically Borgesian in their outlook. Doctor Brodie's Report (1970) consists of only eleven stories: The Intruder (1966) - a rivalry between brothers, The Meeting (1969) - a duel manipulated by the weapons themselves, Rosendo's Tale (1969) - a duel avoided, Doctor Brodie's Report (1970) - classic Borgesian imagination, The Duel (1970) - aristocratic, artistic rivalry, The Elder Lady (1970) - a disturbing biographical account, The End of the Duel (1970) - an actual event unbelievable as fiction, The Gospel According to Mark (1970) - a shocking story of forgiveness, Guayaquil (1970) - old rivalries surface in unexpected setting, Juan Murana (1970) - cherished love leads to fatal violence, and The Unworthy Friend (1970) - an account of betrayal, perhaps biographical. Borges - in collaboration with Norman Thomas di Giovanni - translated these stories into English more or less simultaneously as they were written. I was familiar with The Intruder and Rosendo's Tale from The Aleph and Other Stories, 1933-1969. The others were entirely new to me. All stories are quite exceptional. It is difficult to give less than five stars to Borges, but fairness requires an occasional four stars, if only to separate the truly superb Borges from simply exceptional Borges. My copy is a 1978 softcover reprint edition by E. P. Dutton publishers (ISBN 0-525-47541-9). It contains a short Forward and the Preface to the First Edition (1970).

diamonds in a healthy lawn

Hooray! Here is Borges as accessible as I have read him. While I certainly enjoyed Labyrinths and others of his essays, I preferred Doctor Brodie's Report. The writing is tauter and the insights are less buried--each piece here has a fairly straight-forward point, even if the reader arrives there only after several Borgesian twists and transmogrifications. The first story in the collection is especially poignant, as it satirizes the quest for a Christ-like life. Revealing us to ourselves is one of the themes he expresses best here. Other political themes recur as well, and despite being a little depressing (he hardly wrote during the best of times), it is impossible not to laugh. In fact, maybe this book is Borges for the masses. So be it! It's fun, it's a great introduction, and it will whet appetites for more of his puzzles. Super-readers can move on to other weirdoes, like Donald Barthelme.

Not excellent, but it is good.

I am a big fan of Borges. His tales "El Aleph" and "La Biblioteca de Babel" are simply unbelievable. But "El informe de Brodie", I don't know why, is not so imaginative. I mean, the idea of those humans who got in an wrong direction of evolution and finish becoming beasts... Is very good wrote and all that, but is not the best of Borges. If it had came from another writer, I would say it was excellent. But it came from Borges... The other tales of the book are amazing, so a 4.