Perfecto el libro y perfecto el cuento.

Éste cuento se puede leer como una anti-Divina Comedia, o digamos una Prágmática Tragedia.



El protagonista es acompañado por un poeta (ahora un mal poeta) a descender al inframundo (la escalera y la bodega de una simple casa) donde presenciará la revelación de su amada (el ideal de Beatriz, que se llama igual en Dante, ahora es desidealizado: la muestra no virtuosa, se le insinúa pecadora y "Borges" ve el cáncer en su pecho y luego su cadáver), además la revelación de todo lo que existe (ve todo pero no está el Creador, no lo hay).

En la original, el protagonista ya ascendido va a contemplar a Dios. Dante -ante la tamaña dificultad de describirlo- recurre a una solución que no diré (muy atrevida para la época). Borges, recurre a otra, que tampoco diré: cuando el individuo tiene la visión de la totalidad de experincias del universo (lo que para Borges es casi "Dios" -uno Spinoziano-) algo paradojal le será revelado.

Borges juega con la concatenación de sus cuentos. El Aleph no es uno solo (como objeto) aunque sólo exista uno a la vez (como el mutante Zahír, otro cuento de Borges). Lo anterior, a su vez, participa de la idea del eterno retorno con la que Borges ensayó en otros escritos. Es increíble como este escritor de inicio a fin, en sus más de 50 años escribiendo, siempre tuvo claro el norte de su obra como totalidad: los motivos que se repiten o desarrollan, las preguntas y respuestas (con décadas de diferencia entre una y otra).

En sus inicios Borges crea un cuento donde el minotauro del laberinto espera sin beligerancia al héroe (parte por el fin). Luego, casi cercano a su muerte, crea un poema donde se versa la hazaña heroíca de Teseo (el inicio conocido por todos), cerrando el gran círculo de su obra y del tiempo.

Borges's book had the gift of revealing an idea to me, which, after all, I already had, somewhere in the corners of my mind.
Literature repeats endlessly the same few themes, the only thing that changes is the time of writing and reading. The main themes used by Homer are found in contemporary works too. Though, the perspective is different. Borges is fascinated by this idea of the text that is written endlessly, that only by getting lost in this re-reading of the text - will we come to understand the supreme text.
These 17 fantastic stories contained in " Aleph" - folow this obsession of finding the symbol that most accurately depicts the divinity. His prose has a fantastic air, and this fantastic is the means by which Borges invites us to know the divinity. Of course, this knowledge cannot be rational, because the human mind is limited, it is rather one of trust, of acceptance of the existence of the state of miracle.
And Borges's miracle is manifested in purely holistic images. What has his prose in addition to the mystical texts is precisely the astonishment that encompasses the one who saw the unseen. The author finds a very strong connection between dream and revelation. The symbol of the labyrinth is perhaps the most present in the book, along with that of the double. Borges's God has as many faces as there are religions, he is the Text that brings together the texts of the whole world, from all times, he is a God who changes from reading to reading, always keeping the same features, but with a different face.
Although difficult to decipher, Borges's prose is fascinanting, the only problem with this writer is that once you read it, you are left with the desire to re-read it, endlessly.

I remember reading Ficciones earlier this year. The feelings it inspired in me were marvelous, and I felt the little grooves and folds and wrinkles of my brain expanding leaf by leaf. I went into this volume (containing The Aleph and The Maker) expecting a similar feeling, and I… kind of got it? If you think about it, in a way, it’s very Borgesian. I glanced at infinite wisdom and reality for a moment and continue to chase that high forever – knowing that I may never see it again as long as I live, but still having no choice but to turn to the next page, the next chapter, the next book.

This book lives in the shadow of its predecessor, but it is still capable of producing truly golden moments. I would wholeheartedly recommend picking up the book just to read “The Immortal”, “The Writing of the God”, and of course, “The Aleph”.