The Quest for God in the Work of Borges

Book excerpt: This book argues that the quest for God, though largely unheeded by the critical canon, was a major and enduring preoccupation for Borges. This is shown through careful analysis both of his essays, with their emphasis on his philosophical-theological explorations, and of the narrative articulations which are his stories. It is in the poetry of his middle and closing years, however, that Borges' search is most manifest, as it is no longer obscured. Spanning different periods of his life, and different literary genres, Borges' work attests to a maturing and evolving quest. The book reveals Borges' engagement as an active and evolving process and its chronological structure allows the reader to trace his thought over time. Flynn shows that the spiritual component in Borges' writing drives key texts from the 1920s to the 1980s. Offering an interpretation that unlocks a fuller significance of his work, she shows how Borges' reflections on time and identity are symptomatic of a deeper, spiritual searching which can only be answered by a Divine Absolute.