COLLECTED FICTIONS

This collection, featuring a master storyteller, a diverse mix of tales, and a skilled narrator, makes for an interesting audio experience for the devoted listener. The reliable George Guidall offers varied voices to suit each story’s cast, and he seems genuinely absorbed by the works, as indicated by his enthusiastic delivery. The recording itself retains a tinny quality, not unlike the audiobooks of yesteryear, and this can make for fatiguing listening. Also, Borges’s subtlety and dreamlike prose can get lost between the page and the ear, making the listener long to slow Guidall down and ask him to repeat certain lines. Fans of Borges will embrace this recording; newcomers may do better to begin with the printed text. L.B.F. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine [Published: NOVEMBER 2010]