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Jorge Luis Borges, known for his science fiction writing, is celebrated with a Google Doodle today. The illustration resembles Borges' own work, a peek into the future from the perspective of a man alive before digital computers. ...
Jorge Luis Borges, known for his science fiction writing, is celebrated with a Google Doodle today. The illustration resembles Borges' own work, a peek into the future from the perspective of a man alive before digital computers.
Jorge Luis Borges, an Argentine writer, poet, and philosopher, earned a special Google Doodle Wednesday. The search engine giant celebrated what would have been the author's 112th birthday.
Entertainment Arts, Entertainment, and Media Science Fiction Media Books and Literature Borges was born in Buenos Aires and moved to Switzerland with his family in 1914. He was taught at home by his parents until the age of 11. With a large home library within his reach, Borges learned to speak many languages. Later Borges would say, "if I were asked to name the chief event in my life, I should say my father's library."
The Google Doodle shows a complex scene of an aging man overlooking great architecture from behind glass. Study the illustration and you will find a library on the right and images from “The Garden of Forking Paths,” a short story of his in which Borges describes the future in multiple ways. But, of course, he had never enjoyed the wonders of a digital computer, so even his scenes of a far-flung future have a distinctly retro feel.
Borges contributed much to science fiction. Best known for writing about the "magic of realism," such as dreams, labyrinths, libraries, animals, fictional writers, religion, and God. His most famous stories were "The Secret Miracle," "The Aleph," "The Two Kings and the Two Labyrinths," "The House of Asterion," and "The Garden of Forking Paths."
Unable to support himself as a writer, he became a lecturer and a professor of literature, teaching at the University of Buenos Aires. In 1954, one of his short stories, "Emma Zunz," was made into a film under the name "Days of Hate." In the late 1950’s, Borgess had lost his sight completely, but continued to write. Having never learned to read Braille, he received the help of his mother, to whom he was very close.
Borgess never received a Nobel Prize for his work and he once joked that, "Not granting me the Nobel Prize has become a Scandinavian tradition; since I was born they have not been granting it to me."
Google has celebrated other well-known writers in previous doodles. Some of our favorites are the Hans Christian Andersen flipbook logo, Roger Hargreaves' 16 different colorful cartoons, and the interactive submarine in honor of fellow science fiction writer Jules Verne.
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