The Argentinian writer Borges has been a favourite of mine forever. I was first introduced to him by a Spanish colleague. Since then, I have never looked back.
What has this to do with writing? It's axiomatic that to write well you have to read good quality material. For the creative non-fiction writer, Borges has to be a priority.
His writing is not easy. Often, he writes fiction as though it were non-fiction, and sometimes he writes fiction while making it obvious that he is making it up as he goes along.
Browsing in a bookshop recently, I came across this title for the first time:
Please note that clicking on the picture above will take you to htis book on Amazon via my affiliate link.)
The title piece, "The perpetual race of Achilles and the tortoise", is a philosphical-stroke-mathematical treatment of the famous Xeno paradox (sometimes known as "the paradox of the tortoise and the hare").
My favourite so far is Coleridge's Dream, which deals with a kind of syncronicity between events occuring several hundred years apart.
I like the way many of the pieces in this little book start in a matter-of-fact, unassuming way. Don't be lulled into a false sense of security though: none of them is ordinary; all of them require some effort.
You won't be disappointed.
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