Borges is, I find, a true animator of human thought. He
takes a hypothetical- what would you do if you met a later version of
yourself? - and makes a scene of it: younger Borges enters his own room and
finds, lying down on his bed, another, older Borges. They exchange quips, ask
important questions, argue over who is dreaming whom. We read along,
entertained by the revelations, wondering how exactly this is going to end. In
the work of Borges, philosophy has the quality of the detectivesque, of the historias
poliacas he knew so well.
Borges, who lived from 1899 to 1986, is known for having
been an avid reader. He was and continues to be an excellent advocate of
reading. For one thing, his stories lead to further book hunts. One can read
Borges without understanding the allusions (Spinoza’s philosophy, the battle of
Masoller) but there is always delight in doing a bit of extra research and
realizing: ha! the battle of 1904 in Masoller did take place! It was the last
battle of the Uruguayan Civil War. Or in finally checking out Ben Johnson’s
work or beginning to think about the Kabbalah...
Borges is a strong advocate of texts simply because he
understood reading as a legitimate way of spending time, as a way of informing
our human experience. He was also, of course, an amazing craftsman, composing
stories of clever structure and deliciously precise word choice. His
stories and essays are ever present in my own interpretation of memory, in my
relationship to human history and the history of human thought. Borges is
essential to the way I think of stories and imagination.
If you haven’t approached Borges yet, or if it’s been a
while since you entered his labyrinths, I recommend finding your way to a
collection of his short stories.
At La Casa Azul Bookstore we have Ficciones in English and El
Aleph in Spanish, and can always help you find more of his works, stop by
any time!
Happy, powerful reading to all.
Maria
Maria
Borges was a stupendous poet. I have the book, "Jorge Luis Borges Selected Poems" (Penguin 2000) which is bilingual, offering the added pleasure of critiquing the Eng translators'many of whom are also published poets.
ReplyDeleteBack to the poetry - a quatrain from "Milonga de Manuel Flores"
Manuel Flores va a morir.
Eso es moneda corriente;
Morir es una costumbre
Que sabe tender la gente
Alastair Reid translates:
Manuel Flores is doomed to die.
That's as sure as your money.
Dying is a custom
Well-known to many.
Now I ask you, where is the lyricism in the translation?
Here' my take although literal Borges is better than any likely recreation in our Germanic-Latinic English:
Manuel Flores is going to die
As certain as pocket change.
Dying is a custom
Any can arrange.