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Emma Zunz
Cuento "Emma Zunz", de Jorge Luis Borges, originalmente publicado en el libro El Aleph, en 1949.
5 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 1948
4 people are currently reading
196 people want to read
About the author
Jorge Luis Borges
1,588 books14.3k followersJorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator regarded as a key figure in Spanish-language and international literature. His best-known works, Ficciones (transl. Fictions) and El Aleph (transl. The Aleph), published in the 1940s, are collections of short stories exploring motifs such as dreams, labyrinths, chance, infinity, archives, mirrors, fictional writers and mythology. Borges's works have contributed to philosophical literature and the fantasy genre, and have had a major influence on the magic realist movement in 20th century Latin American literature.
Born in Buenos Aires, Borges later moved with his family to Switzerland in 1914, where he studied at the Collège de Genève. The family travelled widely in Europe, including Spain. On his return to Argentina in 1921, Borges began publishing his poems and essays in surrealist literary journals. He also worked as a librarian and public lecturer. In 1955, he was appointed director of the National Public Library and professor of English Literature at the University of Buenos Aires. He became completely blind by the age of 55. Scholars have suggested that his progressive blindness helped him to create innovative literary symbols through imagination. By the 1960s, his work was translated and published widely in the United States and Europe. Borges himself was fluent in several languages.
In 1961, he came to international attention when he received the first Formentor Prize, which he shared with Samuel Beckett. In 1971, he won the Jerusalem Prize. His international reputation was consolidated in the 1960s, aided by the growing number of English translations, the Latin American Boom, and by the success of Gabriel García Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude. He dedicated his final work, The Conspirators, to the city of Geneva, Switzerland. Writer and essayist J.M. Coetzee said of him: "He, more than anyone, renovated the language of fiction and thus opened the way to a remarkable generation of Spanish-American novelists."
Born in Buenos Aires, Borges later moved with his family to Switzerland in 1914, where he studied at the Collège de Genève. The family travelled widely in Europe, including Spain. On his return to Argentina in 1921, Borges began publishing his poems and essays in surrealist literary journals. He also worked as a librarian and public lecturer. In 1955, he was appointed director of the National Public Library and professor of English Literature at the University of Buenos Aires. He became completely blind by the age of 55. Scholars have suggested that his progressive blindness helped him to create innovative literary symbols through imagination. By the 1960s, his work was translated and published widely in the United States and Europe. Borges himself was fluent in several languages.
In 1961, he came to international attention when he received the first Formentor Prize, which he shared with Samuel Beckett. In 1971, he won the Jerusalem Prize. His international reputation was consolidated in the 1960s, aided by the growing number of English translations, the Latin American Boom, and by the success of Gabriel García Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude. He dedicated his final work, The Conspirators, to the city of Geneva, Switzerland. Writer and essayist J.M. Coetzee said of him: "He, more than anyone, renovated the language of fiction and thus opened the way to a remarkable generation of Spanish-American novelists."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 76 reviews
December 23, 2021
Emma Zunz dejó caer el papel. que informó que su padre había muerto.
"Emma Zunz dropped the piece of paper that she was informed that her father had died." This is the English translation of the quote mentioned above. Thus the story begins.
It was said that he had taken a large dose of veronal by mistake. But Emma could not believe it. She knows one secret since 1916. Her father was falsely accused of embezzling money and he had told her before going to jail that his boss Aaron Loewenthal is the real culprit. This unfortunate event of her father's death has taken place in 1922. So She decides to take revenge. And she takes revenge with a revolver. In this story, the mystery was clear from the beginning and the author executes the case quite fast. She works in a textile mill. Though she had a fear of men, still she prostitutes herself and finally takes revenge. The author has played quite wonderfully with the themes of regret and the impulsiveness of the human mind through the action of Emma in the last. Finally, it turned out that the revenge she had taken was not for her father but for herself!
The story of vengeance it is. This is the only thing that I can say.
This is a tale of retributive justice.
But in the end, the question remains unanswered if this can be the right thing.
What if the hunch based on which the act of retribution is performed turns out to be an ersatz emotion !
The pace of the story is something I admired. The psychological narration was also liked by me.
I was recommended this story when I was searching for a short story written in Spanish and translated well in English. Since this was my first story of J. L. Borges. It's my self-induced obligation to enunciate it softly out here, for my Spanish literary almanac this year.
"Emma Zunz dropped the piece of paper that she was informed that her father had died." This is the English translation of the quote mentioned above. Thus the story begins.
It was said that he had taken a large dose of veronal by mistake. But Emma could not believe it. She knows one secret since 1916. Her father was falsely accused of embezzling money and he had told her before going to jail that his boss Aaron Loewenthal is the real culprit. This unfortunate event of her father's death has taken place in 1922. So She decides to take revenge. And she takes revenge with a revolver. In this story, the mystery was clear from the beginning and the author executes the case quite fast. She works in a textile mill. Though she had a fear of men, still she prostitutes herself and finally takes revenge. The author has played quite wonderfully with the themes of regret and the impulsiveness of the human mind through the action of Emma in the last. Finally, it turned out that the revenge she had taken was not for her father but for herself!
The story of vengeance it is. This is the only thing that I can say.
This is a tale of retributive justice.
But in the end, the question remains unanswered if this can be the right thing.
What if the hunch based on which the act of retribution is performed turns out to be an ersatz emotion !
The pace of the story is something I admired. The psychological narration was also liked by me.
I was recommended this story when I was searching for a short story written in Spanish and translated well in English. Since this was my first story of J. L. Borges. It's my self-induced obligation to enunciate it softly out here, for my Spanish literary almanac this year.
Read
July 10, 2025Five pages. Five precise cuts into certainty. I closed the " book ", but I didn't feel like it had ended, rather I felt like I have been measured, weighed against something unclear, and left to consider whether I had ever really understood what truth costs when no one's watching.
This story didn't explain itself, but it taught me more than if it had, because I saw something I rarely do in fiction - the presence of a soul acting not for spectacle, but for its own survival. Now, I think about the character in a strange way, as a possibility of how the need for justice does not always align with the structures built to deliver it.
The story doesn't preach, it doesn't turn into a moral lesson, or an accusation. It reminded me of Kafka's The Trial, in a way, but here is still something different. Actually, I feel like I didn't read the story, but the story read me. There is no hero, only a pattern, and justice wasn't pronounced, but it was felt, like the deafening silence before a storm. I didn't find places, nor streets or rooms, but rooms inside people.
What Borges did in these pages seems more like an equation without numbers. Only emotions, angles, and ...breath.
Now , if someone would ask me what justice is, I would no longer answer. I would ask them to feel what five pages can do.
I would say that the words didn't say everything. But everything was there. In five pages.
Perhaps that is the power of brevity - no, not to simplify, but to distill the complexity so fully , that nothing remains, except the question we try hardest to avoid.
This story didn't explain itself, but it taught me more than if it had, because I saw something I rarely do in fiction - the presence of a soul acting not for spectacle, but for its own survival. Now, I think about the character in a strange way, as a possibility of how the need for justice does not always align with the structures built to deliver it.
The story doesn't preach, it doesn't turn into a moral lesson, or an accusation. It reminded me of Kafka's The Trial, in a way, but here is still something different. Actually, I feel like I didn't read the story, but the story read me. There is no hero, only a pattern, and justice wasn't pronounced, but it was felt, like the deafening silence before a storm. I didn't find places, nor streets or rooms, but rooms inside people.
What Borges did in these pages seems more like an equation without numbers. Only emotions, angles, and ...breath.
Now , if someone would ask me what justice is, I would no longer answer. I would ask them to feel what five pages can do.
I would say that the words didn't say everything. But everything was there. In five pages.
Perhaps that is the power of brevity - no, not to simplify, but to distill the complexity so fully , that nothing remains, except the question we try hardest to avoid.
June 5, 2024
Além do Borges ser esse tanto de antisemita e misógino em apenas cinco páginas, é um conto bem tolinho, o tipo de coisa que eu escrevia quando era adolescente.
Rezemos que o filme do Leopoldo Torre Nilsson seja melhor.
Bom, o filme é bem melhor mesmo - My ★★★★ review of Days of Hate on Letterboxd https://boxd.it/6BWZJt
Rezemos que o filme do Leopoldo Torre Nilsson seja melhor.
Bom, o filme é bem melhor mesmo - My ★★★★ review of Days of Hate on Letterboxd https://boxd.it/6BWZJt
September 30, 2020
¿Podemos dejar de vanagloriar cuentos solo por el nombre del autor? No digo que el cuento sea malo, probablemente haya gente que lo ha podido disfrutar y apreciar de otra manera.
No sé si hay algo que yo no he podido extraer ante la inexperiencia al leer libros del autor, pero, ¿por qué tanto espamento?
Cuenta un asesinato, una venganza, sí. ¿Y? No hay nada muy sorprendente. No hay nada que me haya dejado pensando.
Sí reconozco que el plan de Emma es un poco retorcido, pero es lo único por lo que puedo decir que me ha "sorprendido", luego, he leído mejores novelas sobre asesinatos y venganzas que incluso son de autores menos conocidos.
No sé si hay algo que yo no he podido extraer ante la inexperiencia al leer libros del autor, pero, ¿por qué tanto espamento?
Cuenta un asesinato, una venganza, sí. ¿Y? No hay nada muy sorprendente. No hay nada que me haya dejado pensando.
Sí reconozco que el plan de Emma es un poco retorcido, pero es lo único por lo que puedo decir que me ha "sorprendido", luego, he leído mejores novelas sobre asesinatos y venganzas que incluso son de autores menos conocidos.
May 12, 2025
Una historia donde la justicia se disfraza de mentira para revelar una verdad más profunda.
November 27, 2022
emma heard vigilante shit by taylor swift and really took it on board
March 29, 2021
An interesting story, whole and complete, told with Borges’ characteristic detachment.
April 9, 2021
A lot of people seem to not enjoy this short story as much as Jorge Luis Borges' other stories, but I found it interesting.
Like many of the other stories in The Aleph and Other Stories , the story is intricately carved and created to emulate that of a maze. In many ways, it reminds me of Gillian Flynn's novel, Gone Girl , which is so completely different in terms of both content and language, yet seems to contain the same essence.
Emma Zunz is about a woman (called Emma Zunz, of course) who one day finds out that her father has died. In order to seek revenge, she creates an intricate plan to stage the supposed murderer's death - through the evidence that he raped her and that in self-defence, she had accidentally killed him. Unbelievable as it is, it's completely believable!
As readers, we are forced to follow her as she plots this scheme, like lost individuals wandering the maze that is this story. We are strangely engrossed with the story of this little murderer and have no choice but to follow the path in front of us, which hopefully leads to the centre of the maze i.e. the conclusion of the story.
Overall, I quite liked it.
Like many of the other stories in The Aleph and Other Stories , the story is intricately carved and created to emulate that of a maze. In many ways, it reminds me of Gillian Flynn's novel, Gone Girl , which is so completely different in terms of both content and language, yet seems to contain the same essence.
Emma Zunz is about a woman (called Emma Zunz, of course) who one day finds out that her father has died. In order to seek revenge, she creates an intricate plan to stage the supposed murderer's death - through the evidence that he raped her and that in self-defence, she had accidentally killed him. Unbelievable as it is, it's completely believable!
As readers, we are forced to follow her as she plots this scheme, like lost individuals wandering the maze that is this story. We are strangely engrossed with the story of this little murderer and have no choice but to follow the path in front of us, which hopefully leads to the centre of the maze i.e. the conclusion of the story.
Overall, I quite liked it.
March 24, 2018
De todos los cuentos de Borges, Emma Zunz probablemente sea el que sigue el modelo "Más clásico del cuento". Sólo hay una acción central que se desarrolla en un único lugar y tiempo; dónde no hay un narrador que reflexione lo que esta costando, que a su vez llevan a las preguntas y a la filosofía.
Sin embargo, esto no es una falencia. Emma Zunz es brillante a su propia manera; es un soplo de aire fresco en la narrativa de Borges.
Sin embargo, esto no es una falencia. Emma Zunz es brillante a su propia manera; es un soplo de aire fresco en la narrativa de Borges.
May 29, 2020
La cita final es la clara definición de esta historia.
April 14, 2023
emma zunz mastermind
September 4, 2024
puedo leer este cuento ochenta veces, lo mejor que hizo el hdrmp de borges
January 25, 2025
Lo leyó en alto la profe de Literatura Universal y la resolución de la trama me gustó mucho
July 10, 2021
I have struggled in my attempts to read Borges until now. But this story really clicked for me.
Emma Zunz is the story of a woman who just learns about the death of her father. The sentences that describe her reaction were impactful. I could feel her devastation. And, now Emma wants revenge. She creates a plan whereby her father's murderer will die. .
The story she creates and the story on the page are both totally believable which is probably why I liked this one so much.
Emma Zunz is the story of a woman who just learns about the death of her father. The sentences that describe her reaction were impactful. I could feel her devastation. And, now Emma wants revenge. She creates a plan whereby her father's murderer will die. .
The story she creates and the story on the page are both totally believable which is probably why I liked this one so much.
October 1, 2023
i support womens rights and wrongs
October 17, 2023
Didn't really like the writing style for the most part but the last two lines were amazing
April 9, 2024
borges me tiene las bolas x el piso im so fucking tired
June 15, 2022
Tuve una profesora que adoraba este relato. Nos hizo estudiar sus giros, recovecos y la supuesta profundidad de su mensaje del derecho y del revés. Nos pasó fotocopias subrayadas en diferentes colores para que no se nos pasara nada de su, para ella, excelsa complejidad.
Aquí pondría un emoticón encogiéndose de hombros (el lenguaje no verbal, es lenguaje, al fin).
Es una buena construcción, de acuerdo, como todo lo que pasa por la mano de Borges, hasta donde conozco. Pero... me deja fría.
A veces me pasa con Borges que la nitidez hiriente de su mirada, me aleja de él. Algunas de sus historias diríase que brotaran de un intelecto profundo y plagado de aristas que parece que necesitara en alguna parte, un componente emocional, aunque fuera soterrado, que me ayudara a la identificación o lo hiciera más cercano.
Casi siento el sitio donde debería estar ese calor ausente, como el dolor fantasma de un órgano que no está.
Aquí pondría un emoticón encogiéndose de hombros (el lenguaje no verbal, es lenguaje, al fin).
Es una buena construcción, de acuerdo, como todo lo que pasa por la mano de Borges, hasta donde conozco. Pero... me deja fría.
A veces me pasa con Borges que la nitidez hiriente de su mirada, me aleja de él. Algunas de sus historias diríase que brotaran de un intelecto profundo y plagado de aristas que parece que necesitara en alguna parte, un componente emocional, aunque fuera soterrado, que me ayudara a la identificación o lo hiciera más cercano.
Casi siento el sitio donde debería estar ese calor ausente, como el dolor fantasma de un órgano que no está.
June 30, 2022
Creo que después de leer "Emma Zunz" muchos quedamos con la sensación de haber leído algo diferente a lo que estamos acostumbrados de Borges. Ni siquiera es un cuento malo. Solo es distinto: El argumento es mucho más accesible, más terrenal que las propuestas que siguieron a "Ficciones" (que es lo más peculiar del relato); hay, además, un encuentro sexual insinuado entre Emma y un marinero (otra cosa extraña); y la protagonista es femenina pese a que, salvo en Historia universal de la infamia, Borges venía escribiendo protagonistas masculinos.
Tras investigar un poco es fácil intuir que a Borges tampoco parecía gustarle su cuento. Bioy Casares menciona en su diario que cuando se referían a Emma Zunz, su amigo respondida: "Este cuento no es mío, me lo dio Cecilia. Yo lo escribí porque me pareció extraño y dramático. Está basado en la idea de venganza, que yo no entiendo. Si todas mis obras desaparecieran y solo quedara “Emma Zunz” nada mío habría quedado”.
Tras investigar un poco es fácil intuir que a Borges tampoco parecía gustarle su cuento. Bioy Casares menciona en su diario que cuando se referían a Emma Zunz, su amigo respondida: "Este cuento no es mío, me lo dio Cecilia. Yo lo escribí porque me pareció extraño y dramático. Está basado en la idea de venganza, que yo no entiendo. Si todas mis obras desaparecieran y solo quedara “Emma Zunz” nada mío habría quedado”.
December 1, 2017
Venganza, malas decisiones, asesinato, pero es un cuento bien escrito.
*SPOILER ALERT*
Esta es la historia de una muchacha que se entera de la muerte de su padre, decide vengar su muerte, matando al hombre culpable de un robo del que aparentemente fue acusado su padre.
*SPOILER ALERT*
Esta es la historia de una muchacha que se entera de la muerte de su padre, decide vengar su muerte, matando al hombre culpable de un robo del que aparentemente fue acusado su padre.
December 16, 2023
Sexto cuento de El Aleph
Una historia de venganza. Emma Zunz, sabedora de que su padre no se ha suicidado sino que ha sido inducido al suicidio por la acusación de desfalco de Loewenthal.
Ella planea todo para hacer parecer que el causante de la muerte de su padre quiso abusar de ella y no tuvo más remedio que matarlo.
No sólo se pone en contra de hacer huelga para llamar la atención del jefe, sino que se acuesta con un marinero para que, en una posible prueba médica, el resultado del acto sexual fuese positivo.
El odio mueve a aquellos que sienten que han perdido aquello que aman por culpa de otros, y no descansan hasta ver su venganza cumplida.
Una historia de venganza. Emma Zunz, sabedora de que su padre no se ha suicidado sino que ha sido inducido al suicidio por la acusación de desfalco de Loewenthal.
Ella planea todo para hacer parecer que el causante de la muerte de su padre quiso abusar de ella y no tuvo más remedio que matarlo.
No sólo se pone en contra de hacer huelga para llamar la atención del jefe, sino que se acuesta con un marinero para que, en una posible prueba médica, el resultado del acto sexual fuese positivo.
El odio mueve a aquellos que sienten que han perdido aquello que aman por culpa de otros, y no descansan hasta ver su venganza cumplida.
September 28, 2023
Que no sea característicamente borgeano volvió más atractivo el cuento. Se podría decir que el sello subjetivo borgeano se marca en el último párrafo, de mis favoritos, donde todo lo realizado previo al asesinato sustenta este último:
"La historia era increíble, en efecto, pero se impuso a todos, porque sustancialmente era cierta. Verdadero era el tono de Emma Zunz, verdadero el pudor, verdadero el odio. Verdadero también era el ultraje que había padecido; sólo eran falsas las circunstancias, la hora y uno o dos nombres propios. "
Sustancialmente fue cierto, verdadero y falso a la vez.
"La historia era increíble, en efecto, pero se impuso a todos, porque sustancialmente era cierta. Verdadero era el tono de Emma Zunz, verdadero el pudor, verdadero el odio. Verdadero también era el ultraje que había padecido; sólo eran falsas las circunstancias, la hora y uno o dos nombres propios. "
Sustancialmente fue cierto, verdadero y falso a la vez.
May 30, 2021
Tengo examen de este libro y siento que es tan corto que no es un punto más fácil, al contrario diría yo, la capacidad de sintetizar del autor juega un punto crucial al momento de encontrar respuestas.
Por otro lado, no me pareció nada de otro mundo, lo que más me “gustó” fue como dije anteriormente la capacidad de sintetizar un texto.
Por otro lado, no me pareció nada de otro mundo, lo que más me “gustó” fue como dije anteriormente la capacidad de sintetizar un texto.
January 2, 2023
«La historia era increíble, en efecto, pero se impuso a todos, porque sustancialmente era cierta. Verdadero era el tono de Emma Zunz, verdadero el pudor, verdadero el odio. Verdadero también era el ultraje que había padecido; sólo eran falsas las circunstancias, la hora y uno o dos nombres propios.»
September 29, 2023
ეს მოთხრობა მოზარდობაში წავიკითხე, რაღაც გაზეთში. სანამ საერთოდ გავიგებდი, ვინ იყო ბორხესი :) ასე მგონია, ავტორმა რეალობის აღწერაზე წინ მთავარი პერსონაჟის განცდები და მისი ქმედებების ემოციური საფუძველი დააყენა. იმდენად ძლიერი იყო ეს ემოციური მხარე, რომ დღემდე მახსოვს, მიუხედავად იმისა, რომ წაკითხვის შემდეგ წლები გავიდა და აღარცერთხელ არ წამიკითხავს მეტად.
August 31, 2025
Borges explora la fricción entre justicia y venganza con el caos deliberado que le es propio, en un relato que culmina dejando ecos persistentes, a partir de pequeñas ambigüedades finamente calculadas. Como corolario, surge una revelación de otro orden: la verdad no es inflexible; puede reescribirse, como el propio Borges lo ha hecho incansablemente.
June 24, 2020
Uno de los cuentos más perfectos que uno pueda leer. Cada frase es precisa. No sobra absolutamente nada. La dosificación, el ritmo, la sugerencia, el misterio y la grandeza. Volví a leer el Aleph hace poco y me ha vuelto a maravillar.
April 12, 2023
Quién soy yo para darle menos de cinco estrellas a Borges? Pero debo decir que, a veces, no hay que volver a leer cuentos que nos impactaron en épocas pasadas. Impecable su pluma. Fría y calculadora, como Emma Zunz.
July 4, 2025
Es quizás el relato más simple y directo de Borges. No tiene ideas rebuscadas ni filosofías extrañas: es, simplemente, la historia de una venganza. Me gustó, pero no me voló la cabeza.
El plan de Emma me pareció fascinante. Una mente maestra.
El plan de Emma me pareció fascinante. Una mente maestra.
September 3, 2019
Corto y mucho mejor que varios de los thrillers que he leído este año, vaya, vaya. Además de un primer acercamiento al autor porque sí, la verdad es que no le había leído nunca.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 76 reviews