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{{shortShort description|Short story by Jorge Luis Borges}}
{{About|the short story|the short story collection in which it was published |The Book of Sand (bookshort story collection)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{Infobox short story | <!-- See [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Novels]] or [[Wikipedia:WikiProject Books]] -->
| name = The Book of Sand
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| series =
| genre = [[Fantasy]], [[short story]]
| published_in = [[The Book of Sand (bookshort story collection)|''The Book of Sand'']]
| publisher =
| media_type = Print
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| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
| pages = 6 (Dutton 1977 ed.)
}}
"'''"The Book of Sand"'''" ({{lang-es|El libro de arena|links=no}}) is a [[1975 in literature|1975]] short story by [[Argentina|Argentine]] writer [[Jorge Luis Borges]] about the discovery of a book with [[Infinity|infinite]] 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]]" about an infinite library.▼
 
▲'''"The Book of Sand"''' ({{lang-es|El libro de arena|links=no}}) is a [[1975 in literature|1975]] short story by [[Argentina|Argentine]] writer [[Jorge Luis Borges]]. 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.
 
==Release==
The story was first published in 1975, in Spanish, as the last of 13 stories in a [[The Book of Sand (bookshort story collection)|book of the same name]]. The first English translation—by [[Norman Thomas di Giovanni]]—was published in ''[[The New Yorker]]''. The entire volume ''The Book of Sand'' ({{ISBN|0-525-47540-0}}) first appeared in English in [[1977 in literature|1977]].
 
==Plot summary==
An unnamed narrator is visited by a tall [[Scotland|Scots]] Bible-seller, who presents him with a very old cloth-bound book that he bought in [[India]] from an [[Dalit|Untouchable]]. The book is emblazoned with the title "Holy Writ," below which title is emblazoned "Bombay,"<ref name=":0" /> 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 [[Wycliffe's Bible|"Wiclif Bible"]]<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|title = The Book of Sand|url = http://bookofsand.net/hypertext/|website = bookofsand.net|accessdateaccess-date = 2015-11-30}}</ref> 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 of the Argentine Republic|National Library]] 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]] in [[Austria]]. The soundtrack to the piece was written by [[Germany|German]] musician [[Hans-Joachim Roedelius]]. Roedelius also featured as an actor in the piece.<ref>''Painting with Sound: The Life and Music of Hans-Joachim Roedelius'' ({{ISBN|0-9545995-0-0}}</ref>
 
The story was adapted by the [[Saudi people|Saudi]] filmmaker Bader Al-Homoud in his online film<ref>{{cite av mediaYouTube|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGD9jJ1QeGY|title=فيلم كتاب الرمال Book of sandSand short film - YouTube|date=28 November 2013|publisher=|via=YouTube}}</ref> and was selected as an Officialofficial Honoreehonoree in the 18th Annual [[Webby Award]]s in 2014.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://pv.webbyawards.com/2014/online-film-video/general-film-categories/drama-individual-short-or-episode/honorees |title=Drama. Individual short or episode honorees |access-date=11 April 2014 |archive-date=13 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140413131430/http://pv.webbyawards.com/2014/online-film-video/general-film-categories/drama-individual-short-or-episode/honorees |url-status=dead }}</ref>▼
 
The [[Netherlands|Dutch]] composer [[Michel van der Aa]] created for the 2015 [[Holland Festival]] a digital interactive [[song cycle]] based on this story, with [[Kate Miller-Heidke]] as performer.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hollandfestival.nl/en/program/2015/the-book-of-sand/|title=Holland Festival|author=INTERNATIONAALInternationaal PODIUMKUNSTENFESTIVALPodiumkunstenfestival|publisheraccess-date=4 June 2015|archive-date=14 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151014200552/http://www.hollandfestival.nl/en/program/2015/the-book-of-sand/|url-status=dead}}</ref>▼
▲The story was adapted by the [[Saudi]] filmmaker Bader Al-Homoud in his online film<ref>{{cite av media|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGD9jJ1QeGY|title=فيلم كتاب الرمال Book of sand short film - YouTube|date=28 November 2013|publisher=|via=YouTube}}</ref> and was selected as an Official Honoree in the 18th Annual [[Webby Award]]s in 2014.<ref>http://pv.webbyawards.com/2014/online-film-video/general-film-categories/drama-individual-short-or-episode/honorees</ref>
 
The [[Oakland Theater Project]] staged an adaptation of the story in 2022, written by playwright Lisa Ramirez.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://oaklandtheaterproject.org/book|title=Book of Sand (a fairytale) by Lisa Ramirez|website=Oakland Theater Project|access-date=24 March 2023}}</ref>
▲The [[Netherlands|Dutch]] composer [[Michel van der Aa]] created for the 2015 [[Holland Festival]] a digital interactive [[song cycle]] based on this story, with [[Kate Miller-Heidke]] as performer.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hollandfestival.nl/en/program/2015/the-book-of-sand/|title=Holland Festival|author=INTERNATIONAAL PODIUMKUNSTENFESTIVAL|publisher=}}</ref>
 
==References==
{{reflistReflist}}
 
==External links==
*{{Commons-inline}}
*[http://anagrammatically.com/2010/03/08/the-book-of-sand-el-libro-de-arena-by-borges-translated/ ''The Book of Sand''], {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100419171002/http://anagrammatically.com/2010/03/08/the-book-of-sand-el-libro-de-arena-by-borges-translated/ |date=19 April 2010 }} English translation
*''[http://bookofsand.net/hypertext/ The Book of Sand]'', English [[hypertext]] translation interactive version
{{Jorge Luis Borges}}
 
{{DEFAULTSORT:Book Ofof Sand}}
[[Category:1975 short stories]]
[[Category:Short stories adapted into films]]
[[Category:Short stories by Jorge Luis Borges]]
[[Category:Fictional books]]
[[Category:Works originally published in The New Yorker]]
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