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Jorge Luis Borges Google Logo Honors A 'Magical' Mind (PICTURE)

Jorge Luis Borges

The Huffington Post   First Posted: 08/24/11 08:56 AM ET Updated: 10/24/11 06:12 AM ET

Google on August 24 transformed its home page logo in honor of Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges (1899 - 1986), who would have turned 112 on that day.

A celebrated fiction writer, poet and essayist, Borges made major contributions to science fiction and pioneered the magic realism genre in the first half of the twentieth century.

He is also known for writing fake reviews of works by authors who never existed. Of himself, he famously said, according to the Telegraph, "I am not sure that I exist, actually [...] I am all the writers that I have read, all the people that I have met, all the women that I have loved; all the cities that I have visited, all my ancestors."

Some of his most prominent works include "Ficciones," "The Aleph" and "Labyrinths," all collections of interconnected short stories

In the 1975, he published "The Book of Sand," about an endless tome, whose pages can be looked upon only once. "Borges was blind by this point, but in his blending of worlds and epochs, fantasies and realities, he could be said to be glimpsing a fully digital future of infinite downloading," writes the Washington Post.

Despite his impressive collection of work, Borges was never awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature, a fact that he joked about thus: "Not granting me the Nobel Prize has become a Scandinavian tradition; since I was born they have not been granting it to me."

In Borges's Google Doodle, a figure, presumably the author, can be seen standing at a window, overlooking a fantastic, futuristic cityscape. Visit Google's home page on August 24 to check it out for yourself, or take a look at the screen grab (below).

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Google on August 24 transformed its home page logo in honor of Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges (1899 - 1986), who would have turned 112 on that day. A celebrated fiction writer, poet and essay...
Google on August 24 transformed its home page logo in honor of Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges (1899 - 1986), who would have turned 112 on that day. A celebrated fiction writer, poet and essay...
 
 
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06:13 AM on 08/25/2011
As it turns out, August 24 is the birthday of the late author Jorge Luis Borges. http://bit.ly/rodtx5
01:02 PM on 08/24/2011
Wrote a blog post in 2007 comparing Borges' Babel to Google's massive algorithm and ambitions as well as Lifeblogging/Lifestreaming which concludes w/Pink Floyd's "Darkside of the Moon" lyrics. Enjoy: http://marksilva.wordpress.com/2007/10/24/borges-predicted-google-lifeblogging/
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AntonioSaucedo
03:00 PM on 08/24/2011
Borges and Pink Floyd. What a combo. You are a genius, sir.
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cmr86
Reality. Progressively-based.
12:38 PM on 08/24/2011
Fan-freaking-tastic.

I love Jorge Luís Borges.
10:00 AM on 08/24/2011
What an amazing Google Doodle. Go to http://www.goologos.com for all of the older Google Doodle Logos.
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Ayesha Khan
08:37 AM on 08/24/2011
This is a very good quality by Google that it always show its appreciation for those whose contribution is great, it always pays Tribute in some very subtle manner. It surround you with Positive Life Affirming thoughts and Ideas that lifts ones Spirits. Google is always on a look out to explore the Talents and Skills of others-- This is a Special Sense that every one doesn't poses.The Credibility of Google is Structured upon these Illuminating Traits------