The Book of Sand

Thanks to Britannica 

Title: The Book of Sand

Author: Not known 

Publisher: Not known 

Source book: The Book of Sand by Jorge Luis Borges

The Book of Sand by Argentinian author Jorge Luis Borges is a collection of short stories. In one of the stories, also called The Book of Sand, the unnamed narrator is visited by a tall Scottish seller of bibles [are the Scots specially known for selling bibles in Argentina? it seems a bit unlikely], who convinces him to buy a book known as The Book of Sand. 

The Book of Sand seems to be infinitely long, sporadically illustrated, and written in an unknown language. The narrator becomes obsessed with the book. He won’t leave the house for fear his amazing book should be stolen, and spends his whole summer cataloging the illustrations. Eventually he realises that the book is monstrous. He thinks about burning it but then decides to hide it in the basement of the National Library. Where better to hide a book than in a building full of books?

You can tell I haven’t read The Book of Sand can’t you? It is extensively written up in articles about fictional books. Although many of the websites are simply lists of fictional books, others go into a surprising amount of detail which is useful for me if I haven’t yet read (or have no desire) to read the source book.

Thanks to Earth Sky