Death and the Compass by Jorge Luis Borges
The story revolves around Red Scharlach, a detective who investigates the murder of a priest. The investigation leads him to a labyrinthine plot involving a mysterious figure known as Gold Suárez, and a series of cryptic clues that blur the lines between reality and fantasy. As Scharlach delves deeper into the case, he becomes increasingly obsessed with uncovering the truth, which ultimately leads to his own downfall.
By Jorge Luis Borges · First published 1942 · Genre: Detective Fiction, Mystery, Philosophical Fiction · 5,086 words
First lines
To Mandie Molina Vedia
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Genres
- Detective Fiction — The plot revolves around a series of murders and the investigation led by a detective, Erik Lönnrot, who attempts to solve the mystery.
- Mystery — The narrative is centered on unraveling the enigma of the murders, with clues and red herrings that challenge the protagonist and the reader.
- Philosophical Fiction — The story explores themes of logic, fate, and the nature of reality, questioning the limits of human understanding and the concept of predestination.
- Literary Fiction — The writing style is sophisticated and layered, with intertextual references and a focus on intellectual themes, characteristic of literary fiction.
Tags
Philosophical Fiction · Mystery · Detective Story · Short Story Collection · Literary Fiction · Existentialism · Absurdism · Symbolism · Metaphysics · Paradox · Labyrinthine Plot · Gnosticism
What this Textopian page supports
Death and the Compass is listed on Textopian as a short story by Jorge Luis Borges, dated 1942 CE.
This source record anchors work identity, reading entry points, and catalog context for checking claims about the work.
- Work type: Short story
- Author: Jorge Luis Borges
- Date: 1942 CE
- Language: English
- Genres: Detective Fiction, Mystery, Philosophical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Crime Fiction
- Length: 5,086 words
- Structure: 1 section, 46 paragraphs
- Reading fit: Standard (8th-9th Grade)
Good citation fit
- Work identity for Death and the Compass by Jorge Luis Borges
- Canonical title URL and first readable passage URL
- Genre and topic classification from the Textopian catalog
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