Borges changed world literature like probably nobody else in the twentieth century. It’s all split into before and after Borges. Which is why I recognize his importance and absolute greatness.
But I don’t read him. I personally find his stories insufferable.
It’s like root canals. They are extremely important. They help people save their natural teeth. I’ve had several. But while I’m very grateful to modern dentistry for the root canals, I didn’t enjoy them.
Of course, root canals are enjoyed by nobody while Borges is read by many people who love his books. As all analogies, mine stinks. But that’s how I feel about Borges. Deeply respect, recognize his greatness, and would consider reading him again if the only alternative was a root canal.
Here’s a very short post from the past that gives a glimpse into why Borges is so important.
Clarissa's Blog 
Annoying trend with French “wokistes”; listing both gendered forms of nouns and adjectives in a way that makes it difficult to read. Example: “Les voix y trouvant un écho sont rares et menacées par les idées conservatrices, n’en déplaise aux prophètes·ses du « grand remplacement » et aux croyant·es obsédé·es par le « lobby LGBTQIA+ » (so kind of them be gender inclusive of the evil racists on the right.) All this in between using the foul made up pronoun “iel.” The use of “they” as a singular gender neutral pronoun in English is at least long established and natural (I use it regularly myself.) The French language does not lend itself to gender neutrality, but that won’t stop the French left from trying to force it anyway. It’s still not clear to me how one would say “croyant·es” in spoken speech.
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Its the same in Spanish. I can’t read academic emails and announcements in Spanish anymore because they are all “Queridxs profesorx de estudixs hispanxs, etc”. It’s terrible. And these are supposed to be literature professors. I delete these messages without reading them. One organization wrote to ask why I don’t renew my membership. I answered that their messages were not written in any language I could understand. They told me they were trying to be inclusivxs. I deleted the message.
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I’ve been struggling through to try to better understand a French political controversy. I’m just mentally substituting for the masculine form every time.
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As an ignoramus, the linked post sheds no light for me lol
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“the linked post sheds no light for me lol”
Borges was instrumental in mainstreaming that kind of circular meta-storyteling, it’s a story about itself that refers to itself as a story about itself.
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Exactly.
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Borges ‘s stories are all like the sentence I wrote. The card will tell you about the surprise which is the card itself. That was Borges ‘s whole thing.
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