The Book Of Sand
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"The Book of Sand" ( es, El libro de arena, links=no) is a
1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...
short story by Argentine writer
Jorge Luis Borges Jorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo (; ; 24 August 1899 – 14 June 1986) was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator, as well as a key figure in Spanish-language and international literature. His best-known b ...
about the discovery of a book with
infinite Infinite may refer to: Mathematics * Infinite set, a set that is not a finite set *Infinity, an abstract concept describing something without any limit Music *Infinite (group), a South Korean boy band *''Infinite'' (EP), debut EP of American m ...
pages. It has parallels to the same author's 1949 story " The Zahir" (revised in 1974), continuing the theme of self-reference and attempting to abandon the terribly infinite, and to his 1941 story "
The Library of Babel "The Library of Babel" ( es, La biblioteca de Babel) is a short story by Argentine author and librarian Jorge Luis Borges (1899–1986), conceiving of a universe in the form of a vast library containing all possible 410-page books of a certain ...
" about an infinite library.


Release

The story was first published in 1975, in Spanish, as the last of 13 stories in a book of the same name. The first English translation—by
Norman Thomas di Giovanni Norman Thomas di Giovanni (3 October 1933 – 16 February 2017) was an American-born editor and translator known for his collaboration with Argentine author Jorge Luis Borges. Biography Di Giovanni was born in Newton, Massachusetts, in 1933, son ...
—was published in ''
The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
''. The entire volume ''The Book of Sand'' () first appeared in English in
1977 Events January * January 8 – Three bombs explode in Moscow within 37 minutes, killing seven. The bombings are attributed to an Armenian separatist group. * January 10 – Mount Nyiragongo erupts in eastern Zaire (now the Democrat ...
.


Plot summary

An unnamed narrator is visited by a tall Scots Bible-seller, who presents him with a very old cloth-bound book that he bought in
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
from an Untouchable. The book is emblazoned with the title "Holy Writ," below which title is emblazoned "Bombay," but is said to be called "The Book of Sand"..."because neither the book nor the sand has any beginning or end." Upon opening it, he is startled to discover that the book, which is written in an unknown language and occasionally punctuated by illustrations, is, in fact, infinite: as one turns the pages, more pages seem to grow out of the front and back covers. He trades a month of his pension and a prized "Wiclif Bible" for the book and hides it on a bookshelf behind his copy of '' One Thousand and One Nights''. Over the summer, the narrator obsesses over the book, poring over it, cataloging its illustrations and refusing to go outside for fear of its theft. In the end, realizing that the book is monstrous, he briefly considers burning it before fearing the possibility of the endless supply of smoke suffocating the world. Instead, he goes to the
National Library A national library is a library established by a government as a country's preeminent repository of information. Unlike public libraries, these rarely allow citizens to borrow books. Often, they include numerous rare, valuable, or significant wo ...
where he once worked (like Borges) to leave the book among the basement bookshelves, reasoning that "the best place to hide a leaf is in a forest."


Adaptations

The story (retitled ''The Sandbook'') was turned into an experimental dance piece by Esther Linley's dance company for the 1994
Donaufestival The Donaufestival is an annual festival of music and performance that takes place each April in the Austrian state of Lower Austria. In the early years of the festival, two towns were used as locations - Krems and Korneuburg Korneuburg () is ...
in
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
. The soundtrack to the piece was written by
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
musician
Hans-Joachim Roedelius Hans-Joachim Roedelius (born 26 October 1934) is a German electronic musician and composer, best known as a co-founder of the influential 'kosmische' groups Cluster and Harmonia. He also performed in the ambient jazz trio Aquarello, and relea ...
. Roedelius also featured as an actor in the piece. The story was adapted by the Saudi filmmaker Bader Al-Homoud in his online film and was selected as an official honoree in the 18th Annual
Webby Award The Webby Awards are awards for excellence on the Internet presented annually by the International Academy of Digital Arts and Sciences, a judging body composed of over two thousand industry experts and technology innovators. Categories includ ...
s in 2014. The
Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...
composer
Michel van der Aa Michel van der Aa (; born 10 March 1970) is a Dutch composer of contemporary classical music. Early years Michel van der Aa was born 10 March 1970 in Oss. He trained as a recording engineer at the Royal Conservatory of The Hague, and studie ...
created for the 2015
Holland Festival The Holland Festival () is the oldest and largest performing arts festival in the Netherlands. It takes place every June in Amsterdam. It comprises theatre, music, opera and modern dance. In recent years, multimedia, visual arts, film and archit ...
a digital interactive
song cycle A song cycle (german: Liederkreis or Liederzyklus) is a group, or cycle (music), cycle, of individually complete Art song, songs designed to be performed in a sequence as a unit.Susan Youens, ''Grove online'' The songs are either for solo voice ...
based on this story, with
Kate Miller-Heidke Kate Melina Miller-Heidke (; born 16 November 1981) is an Australian singer and songwriter. Although classically trained, she has generally followed a career in alternative pop music. She signed to Sony Australia, Epic in the US and RCA in th ...
as performer. The Oakland Theater Project staged an adaptation of the story in 2022, written by playwright Lisa Ramirez.


References


External links


''The Book of Sand''
English translation *
The Book of Sand
', English translation interactive version {{DEFAULTSORT:Book Of Sand 1975 short stories Short stories adapted into films Short stories by Jorge Luis Borges Works originally published in The New Yorker