The Garden of Forking Paths Resources

Allen B. Ruch runs this website, an astounding collection of information about and inspired by the work of Jorge Luis Borges.

Read the complete text of "The Garden of Forking Paths."

Want to know more about labyrinths? Visit the Labyrinth Society's webpage. Be sure to click through the labyrinth types.

Find a labyrinth near you.

An interview with Borges in The New York Times in 1971. In it, the author explains that, among other things, being a widely beloved intellectual means you don't have to pay cab fare.

Check out this article and timeline from Nova about the "many worlds" theory of quantum mechanics. Borges' "The Garden of Forking Paths" pops up in the timeline.

A YouTube search for amateur productions of "The Garden of Forking Paths" turned up this one, in which Kent Thalman and a crew of dedicated young actors create their funny and fast-paced interpretation of Borges' short story. We hope it inspires you to make your own.

A 2007 documentary about Jorge Luis Borges by director Philippe Molins.

Borges wasn't just an essayist and fiction writer – he was also, evidently, a lyricist. In the 1960s Borges collaborated with legendary tango composer Astor Piazzolla to create a series of tangos. Their work was rerecorded and released as an album in 1994. Argentine singer Valeria Munarriz covers several of these tangos, as well as others inspired by Borges. You can listen to the whole album here.

PopCanon, a band based in Gainesville, Florida, composed the song "Labyrinths" in tribute to Borges. You can read the quirky lyrics here.

Borges delivers a lecture at Harvard in 1967.

A 1999 clip from All Things Considered remembering Borges on the centennial of his birth.

Borges looking like a scrawny college kid.

Borges was a librarian (actually, he was the director) in the National Library of Argentina.

A text published by MIT that investigates the cultural implications of the digital age. Jorge Luis Borges' "The Garden of Forking Paths" is the first story in the collection.

Maybe you're thinking you'd like to try your hand at some creative fiction based on the metaphysical ideas in "The Garden of Forking Paths." In case you're looking for further inspiration, here's a very short story by Israeli author Etgar Keret that operates along the same idea as Borges'. It's called "Second Chance."