The Book of Imaginary Beings

by Borges, Jorge Luis; Hurley, Andrew; Sis, Peter

ISBN13: 9780670891801

ISBN10: 0670891800

Format: Hardcover

Pub. Date: 2005-11-03

Publisher(s): Viking Adult

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Summary

The Book of Imaginary Beingsis Borges’s whimsical compendium of more than one hundred of the strange creatures conceived down through history by the human imagination.” This unique contribution to fantasy literature ranges widely across the world’s mythologies and literatures to bring together the fantastical inventions drawn from the Kabbalah, Homer, Confucius, Shakespeare, Lewis Carroll, and Kafka, among others. Here readers will find the familiar and expected dragons, centaurs, and unicorns, as well as the less familiar and altogether unexpected Animals That Live in the Mirror, the Humbaba, the Simurgh, and other undeniably curious beasts. Throughout, Borges’s cunning and humorous commentary is sheer delight.Andrew Hurley’s brilliant new translation is perfectly paired with original drawings from award-winning illustrator Peter Sís. The result is a wonderful gift book—an Alice Through the Looking Glassmenagerie, which should appeal not only to Borges aficionados but also to fantasy fans of all stripes and ages.

Author Biography

Jorge Luis Borges (1899-û1986) is one of the most widely acclaimed writers of the twentieth century.
Peter S+¡s has received five New York Times Book Review Best Illustrated Book of the Year awards, a Society of Illustrators Gold Medal, and a Caldecott Honor. He was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2003.
Andrew Hurley has translated the Collected Fictions of Borges as well as works by Reinaldo Arenas and Arturo Perez-Reverte, among others.

Foreword to the First Edition: An Anthology of Fantastic Zoology	p. xi
Foreword to the 1967 Edition	p. xv
The A Bao A Qu	p. 1
Abtu and Anet	p. 4
The Monster Acheron	p. 5
The Amphisbaena	p. 7
Swedenborg's Angels	p. 8
An Animal Dreamed by Kafka	p. 10
An Animal Dreamed by C. S. Lewis	p. 11
The Animal Dreamed by Poe	p. 13
Two Metaphysical Animals	p. 15
Animals That Live in the Mirror	p. 18
Spherical Animals	p. 20
Six-Legged Antelopes	p. 22
The Three-Legged Ass	p. 23
The Bahamut	p. 25
The Baldanders	p. 27
Banshees	p. 29
The Basilisk	p. 30
The Behemoth	p. 33
The Bird That Makes the Rain	p. 36
The Borametz	p. 38
The Brownies	p. 39
Buraq	p. 40
The Cheshire Cat and Kilkenny Cats	p. 42
The Catoblepas	p. 43
The Centaur	p. 45
Cerberus	p. 49
The Chimaera	p. 51
The Celestial Cock	p. 53
The Crocotta and the Leucrocotta	p. 54
A Crossbreed by Kafka	p. 55
The Demons of Judaism	p. 58
Swedenborg's Demons	p. 59
The Devourer of the Dead	p. 60
The Double	p. 62
The Dragon	p. 64
The Chinese Dragon	p. 66
The Western Dragon	p. 68
The Elephant That Prefigured the Birth of Buddha	p. 72
The Eloi and the Morlocks	p. 73
Elves	p. 74
Fairies	p. 75
The Fastitocalon	p. 77
Fauna of China	p. 81
Fauna of the United States	p. 83
The Chinese Fox	p. 85
The Garuda	p. 88
Gnomes	p. 89
The Golem	p. 90
The Gryphon	p. 93
The Hairy Beast of La Ferte-Bernard	p. 97
Haniel, Kafziel, Azriel, and Aniel	p. 98
Haokah, God of Thunder	p. 100
The Hare in the Moon	p. 101
The Harpies	p. 103
The Hippogriff	p. 104
Hochigan	p. 106
Humbaba	p. 107
The Hundred-Heads	p. 109
The Hydra	p. 110
Ichthyocentaurs	p. 111
The Jinn	p. 112
The Kami	p. 114
A King of Fire and His Steed	p. 116
The Kraken	p. 118
Kronos or Herakles	p. 120
The Lamed Wufniks	p. 122
The Lamia	p. 123
The Lemuri	p. 124
The Leveler	p. 125
The Offspring of Leviathan	p. 127
Lilith	p. 128
The Mandrake	p. 129
The Mantichora, or Manticore	p. 131
The Minotaur	p. 132
The Ink Monkey	p. 134
The Mother of Tortoises	p. 135
The Myrmecoleon	p. 136
The Nagas	p. 137
The Nisnas	p. 139
The Norns	p. 140
Nymphs	p. 142
Odradek by Kafka	p. 143
One-Eyed Beings	p. 145
The Ouroboros	p. 147
The Panther	p. 149
The Pelican	p. 151
The Perytion	p. 153
The Phoenix	p. 157
The Chinese Phoenix	p. 160
Pygmies	p. 162
Quyata	p. 164
Remora	p. 165
A Reptile Dreamed by C. S. Lewis	p. 167
The Roc	p. 168
The Salamander	p. 171
Satyrs	p. 176
Scylla	p. 177
The Sea Horse	p. 178
The Eight-Forked-Serpent	p. 180
The Simurgh	p. 183
Sirens	p. 185
The Sow in Chains	p. 187
The Sphinx	p. 188
The Squonk	p. 190
The Celestial Stag	p. 191
Sylphs	p. 192
Talos	p. 193
The T'ao-T'ieh	p. 194
Thermal Beings	p. 195
The Tigers of Annam	p. 197
Trolls	p. 199
The Unicorn	p. 200
The Chinese Unicorn	p. 202
Valkyries	p. 205
Youwarkee	p. 206
The Zaratan	p. 207
Translator's Note	p. 211
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.