SOURCE: "Borges," in The New Yorker, Vol. LVII, No. 14, May 25, 1981, p. 137-40.

An English literary figure, Pritchett is considered a modern master of the short story and a preeminent literary critic. He writes in the conversational tone of the familiar essay, approaching literature from the viewpoint of a lettered but not overly scholarly reader. In the following excerpted review, Pritchett comments on the style of Six Problems for Don Isidro Parodi, identifying Jorge Luis Borges as the sole author of some distinctive passages and motifs.

[Jorge Luis] Borges and Adolfo Bioy Casares, the young disciple, decided to collaborate on a series of detective stories, Six Problems for Don Isidro Parodi. This sportive diversion looks like a "cure" for a writer who was feeling his way toward a durable and serious manner.

It is strange now to imagine a writer as distinctive as Borges working with anyone, yet the...