Dinesh Jayaraman (dineshjayaraman) (906 books)

277 ratings (4.05 avg)
36 reviews
欧宝娱乐 librarian

Dinesh Jayaraman

/dineshjayaraman

Dinesh鈥檚 Bookshelves

to-read‎ (644)
currently-reading‎ (3)
read‎ (275)
to-resume‎ (8)
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favorites‎ (22)
literary-fiction‎ (75)
classics‎ (55)
fiction‎ (54)
fantasy-fiction‎ (51)
indian-author‎ (42)
non-fiction‎ (41)

science-non-fiction‎ (36)
shorts‎ (30)
humor-fiction‎ (29)
children-s-fiction‎ (25)
science-fiction‎ (22)
india‎ (20)
magical-realism‎ (19)
philosophy‎ (19)
biography‎ (15)
plot-driven‎ (15)
wisdom‎ (15)
strong-women‎ (13)

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horror‎ (3)
poetry‎ (3)

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Dinesh is Currently Reading

Dinesh Jayaraman is currently reading

The Body: A Guide for Occupants

by Bill Bryson

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progress:

(page 28 of 450)
— Aug 26, 2023 01:50PM

Aug 26, 2023 01:50PM

Dinesh Jayaraman is currently reading

Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence

by Daniel Goleman (欧宝娱乐 Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading

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Aug 05, 2023 08:59AM

Dinesh Jayaraman is currently reading

Labyrinths: Selected Stories & Other Writings

by Jorge Luis Borges

bookshelves: shorts, literary-fiction, classics, favorites, style, no-nonsense-prose, philosophy, plot-driven, fantasy-fiction, metafiction, postmodern, science-fiction, magical-realism, currently-reading

Reading for the 2nd time

read in September 2013

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Dinesh Jayaraman said: " Jorge Luis Borges is not to be read lightly. One does not simply let the mind bounce pleasantly along the words. Borges writes concise, tight stories, dense with ideas and meaning and you had better keep on your toes so you don't miss out.

It actuall Jorge Luis Borges is not to be read lightly. One does not simply let the mind bounce pleasantly along the words. Borges writes concise, tight stories, dense with ideas and meaning and you had better keep on your toes so you don't miss out.

It actually makes sense to read these stories and essays together; the whole is truly greater than the sum of its parts and that is new to me among the admittedly few short story collections I've read. Borges even makes references to fictional entities from his own other short stories, contributing all the more to our immersion into his vast labyrinthine universe.

A common Borges short fiction template that emerges in these writings is that of the expository essay of an imaginary world. (1) Start with an interesting premise (2) Sketch out some interesting consequences of this premise at breakneck speed over the next few pages, leaving the reader in their wake first chasing to catch up and then slowly feeling their way about this interesting new world you have planted inside their heads, churning over its possibilities for hours afterwards. This would apply to "Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius", "The Lottery in Babylon", "The Library of Babel" and "The Sect of the Phoenix", the first three of which are especially awesome.

Infinity, immortality, circularity and memory are recurring themes.

The extent of Borges' reading is impressive and includes esoteric works from all parts of the world. Borges took more pride in his reading than in his writing, and it shows, in that books and authors, real and fictional, are major plot elements in practically every story. My favorite of these are "The Secret Miracle" "The Garden of Forking Paths", "The Library of Babel".

Other favorite fictions in this collection: "Funes the memorious", "The Waiting", "The Zahir".

Of the essays, "The Wall and the Books", "Kafka and his precursors" and "The Fearful Sphere of Pascal" were my favorites. All of them make for great reading and "The Argentine Writer..." in particular throws some light on Borges himself and what drove his writing.

Borges thinks of authors as the product of their works rather than vice versa (This is reflected in "Tlon.." and "Kafka and his precursors", for instance.) The image of Borges that emerges from this collection is of a man who lived all his life among books, mostly reading and dreaming up ideas. When he did write, he really worked at his texts, whittling away until only the bare necessary remained, producing works chock-full of pithy, sculpted, beautiful sentences and positively dripping with possibilities.

TLDR; Read Borges for the ideas. Read Borges for the plots. Read Borges for the writing. Just plain read Borges. ...more "

progress:

(page 194 of 260)
— Sep 02, 2013 11:35AM

Aug 05, 2023 08:57AM · see review

Dinesh鈥檚 Notes & Highlights

The Promise by Silvina Ocampo

6 highlights

I don鈥檛 have a life of my own; I have only feelings. My experiences were never important鈥攏ot during the course of my life nor even on the threshold of death. Instead, the lives of others have become mine.

Dinesh鈥檚 Quotes

“No one is anyone, one single immortal man is all men. Like Cornelius Agrippa, I am god, I am hero, I am philosopher, I am demon and I am world, which is a tedious way of saying that I do not exist.”
― Jorge Luis Borges

203 likes

“The books are to remind us what asses and fool we are. They're Caeser's praetorian guard, whispering as the parade roars down the avenue, "Remember, Caeser, thou art mortal." Most of us can't rush around, talking to everyone, know all the cities of the world, we haven't time, money or that many friends. The things you're looking for, Montag, are in the world, but the only way the average chap will ever see ninety-nine per cent of them is in a book. Don't ask for guarantees. And don't look to be saved in any one thing, person, machine, or library. Do your own bit of saving, and if you drown, at least die knowing you were headed for shore.”
― Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

tags: books

1079 likes

“The magic is only in what books say, how they stitched the patches of the universe together into one garment for us.”
― Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451

tags: books, magic, universe

1391 likes

“Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?”
― Douglas Adams, The Hitchhiker鈥檚 Guide to the Galaxy

tags: atheism, religion, skeptic

3564 likes