An Examination of the Work of Herbert Quain

"An Examination of the Work of Herbert Quain"
Author Jorge Luis Borges
Original title "Examen de la obra de Herbert Quain"
Translator Anthony Bonner
Country Argentina
Language Spanish
Genre(s) Fantasy, short story
Published in Sur
Media type Print
Publication date April 1941
Published in English 1962

"An Examination of the Work of Herbert Quain" (original Spanish title: "Examen de la obra de Herbert Quain") is a 1941 short story by Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges. It was included in the anthology Ficciones, part one (The Garden of Forking Paths). The title has also been translated as A Survey of the Works of Herbert Quain.

Plot summary

"An Examination of the Work of Herbert Quain" is a fictional essay surveying the following works, written by fictional deceased Irish author Herbert Quain:

Style

The review of fictional books is a favorite device of Borges (see, for instance, his "pseudo-essay" The Approach to Al-Mu'tasim in Ficciones).

The fictional essayist's vanity, affectation, and hypocrisy "gives the story a satirical coloration" and, along with the reactions of the misunderstanding and unappreciative public, serve to, by contrast, emphasize Quain's "uncompromising purity."[1]

Influence

In his 1984 novel The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis (Original Portuguese title O ano da morte de Ricardo Reis), José Saramago's protagonist, Ricardo Reis, spends much time considering the work The God of the Labyrinth by Herbert Quain.[2]

The fictional anthologist who curates Ana Menendez's Adios, Happy Homeland! (2011) is named Herberto Quain. He describes himself as coming from Roscommon in Ireland, and moving to Havana later in life, at which time he added the "o" to the end of his name.

Colin Wilson published a novel titled The God of the Labyrinth (1970) in reference to Borges.

References

  1. Lindstrom, Naomi (1990). Jorge Luis Borges: A Study of the Short Fiction. G.K. Hall & Co. pp. 31–32, 64–65. ISBN 0-8057-8327-X.
  2. Saramago, J, 1992, The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis, translated from Portuguese by G. Ponteiro, Harvill, London (Originally published 1984).
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