The incomparable Borges delivered these seven lectures in Buenos Aires in 1977; attendees were treated to Borges erudition on the following topics:...
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Apr 19, 2009
Brian
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This was good. It's seven lectures that Borges gave in seven nights in Buenos Aires in 1977 (that's a lot of sevens). But it felt more like it was me an Borges sitting in a small room across from each other. He started talking to me about The Divine Comedy Inferno; Purgatorio; Paradiso and urged me to shed my fears and read the book. He said I would greatly be enriched. So I told him ok, I will. I was a still a bit intimidated by his presence and at that point would have stuck my hand in boilin
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Dec 17, 2009
R.
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Finished this on my birthday. Read one chapter a day for a week--not the author's recommended method, but the obvious one. Like taking a night class. His voice, ideas echoed in my head and had an effect on some of my browsing choices for the next few weeks.
Actually, it's the translator's voice, isn't it? The lecture-transcriptionist's voice.
Borgesian, that.
Actually, it's the translator's voice, isn't it? The lecture-transcriptionist's voice.
Borgesian, that.
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Jul 21, 2011
Rafael
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Sentimos la poesía como sentimos la presencia de una mujer, escribe Borges. Y más adelante: ¿a qué diluirla en otras palabras, que sin duda serán más débiles que nuestros sentimientos?
Tropecé con esta frase, releyendo la conferencia sobre La Poesía en el libro de Siete Noches. Me llama la atención porque el mismo Borges escribe en el prólogo de la colección “Jorge Luís Borges. Biblioteca Personal”: "Un Libro es una cosa entre las cosas, un volumen perdido entre los volúmenes que puebl More...
Tropecé con esta frase, releyendo la conferencia sobre La Poesía en el libro de Siete Noches. Me llama la atención porque el mismo Borges escribe en el prólogo de la colección “Jorge Luís Borges. Biblioteca Personal”: "Un Libro es una cosa entre las cosas, un volumen perdido entre los volúmenes que puebl More...
Sep 22, 2011
Ethan
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Borges' Seven Nights is a beautiful collection of seven essays which were originally seven lectures given over a period of seven nights in the 1970s. Given the fact that Borges passed away more than 20 years ago, this is the closest most of us will ever come to hearing him lecture live. Thankfully, the presentation of the book is perfect for this. As you read, it feels as if Borges himself is sitting in the room telling you and a few close friends his thoughts on Poetry, Buddhism, The Divine Com
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Sep 21, 2011
J.
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Borges believes in intersecting continua; the dreamer who writes the story that is the dream of the writer who envisions the reality that is after all, only a dream. He believes that when writing or when dreaming we are simply functioning on different planes, and that 'real life' may be only the most useful, or most convincing of these at a given moment. He believes that somebody may have dreamed us.
He believes a lot of things that cheerfully contradict each other, and has no pro More...
He believes a lot of things that cheerfully contradict each other, and has no pro More...
Nov 23, 2010
Lisa
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Feel like Borges' voice is gently shaking me awake and into a different dream, a colorful, magical, walkable (but ever-shifting) landscape of ideas. This is some of the loveliest reading I have done in years.
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I finished this book this morning on a plane. Immediately I started again on page one. This book is gentle and humble, filled with reverence. My high school English teacher told us we should memorize poetry so that at stop-lights, or in line to buy avocados, we co More...
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I finished this book this morning on a plane. Immediately I started again on page one. This book is gentle and humble, filled with reverence. My high school English teacher told us we should memorize poetry so that at stop-lights, or in line to buy avocados, we co More...
Feb 09, 2012
Esther
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STUNNING. So so so stunning! I was completely engaged, completely pulled in. (The only exception was his lecture on poetry, but even that had gems, and that's also because I don't particularly care for reading poetry analysis.) Borges brings a personal touch and personal experience into his explorations of literature and storytelling; I think he's also single-handedly convinced me to read Dante because of his deep love of The Divine Comedy. A truly fascinating look at a writer I've always meant
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Jul 21, 2010
ArEzO....
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قسمتی از مقدمه ی کتاب هفت شب با بورخس:
(( هفت سخنرانی ی گرد آوردی شده در این مجلد را بورخس در تیاتروکولیسبوی بوئنوس آیرس، در فواصل بین ژوئن تا اوت 1977 ایراد کرده است... این سخنرانی ها به طور همه جانبه ای ضبط شدند و مدتی بعد به صورت نوارهای غیر مجاز به بازار آمدند، و به شکل مثله شده ای در ضمیمه ادبی یکی از روزنامه های بوئنوس آیرس به چاپ رسیدند. بعدها، بورخس طی دوره ای دو ساله، با همکاری بارتولومیو، نسخه ای از آن سخنرانی ها را برای چاپ مورد تصحیح همه جانبه قرار داد.))
سخنرانی ها در هفت More...
(( هفت سخنرانی ی گرد آوردی شده در این مجلد را بورخس در تیاتروکولیسبوی بوئنوس آیرس، در فواصل بین ژوئن تا اوت 1977 ایراد کرده است... این سخنرانی ها به طور همه جانبه ای ضبط شدند و مدتی بعد به صورت نوارهای غیر مجاز به بازار آمدند، و به شکل مثله شده ای در ضمیمه ادبی یکی از روزنامه های بوئنوس آیرس به چاپ رسیدند. بعدها، بورخس طی دوره ای دو ساله، با همکاری بارتولومیو، نسخه ای از آن سخنرانی ها را برای چاپ مورد تصحیح همه جانبه قرار داد.))
سخنرانی ها در هفت More...
Jul 08, 2011
Amber
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So far, these seven lectures are superbly done. Borges' style really gives the feel that he is talking to you and you alone. The language is simple, and whether you've read the books he lectures about or not, it is very entertaining and provides great insight into the written word. He seems to have a real passion for his subjects.
His topics include nightmares, Dante, and Buddhism. In his lecture on Buddhism, he shows great respect for the subject, without strictly believing in it or claiming to More...
His topics include nightmares, Dante, and Buddhism. In his lecture on Buddhism, he shows great respect for the subject, without strictly believing in it or claiming to More...
Oct 18, 2010
Ryan
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A transcription of Borges lectures originally delivered in Buenos Aires. Lit-crit without the academic pom-poms. Playful takes on seven subjects: Dante's Commedia, dreams and nightmares, the endless pleasures of The Thousand and One Nights, Buddhism, poetry, the Kabbalah, and blindness. I imagine myself attending these lectures (in English) and turning the ideas over in my mind before going to sleep. Perhaps I will sleep peacefully knowing that the next night's lecture will be another food for t
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Feb 25, 2010
Harold
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Five stars is not enough for this. Reading lectures by Borges is sheer pleasure and this book of seven lectures is fascinating from the first word to the last. We get Borges talking on subjects such as blindness, The Arabian Nights, The Divine Comedy etc and there is never a dull moment.This would be a good starting point for people who have yet to read Borges. I started with his Fictions and then went to his Non Fictions but I could have started here with as much fascination.
Jul 30, 2011
Fraser
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"And even for the same reader the same book changes, for we change; we are the river of Heraclitus, who said that the man of yesterday is not the man of today, who will not be the man of tomorrow. We change incessantly, and each reading of a book, each rereading, each memory of that rereading, reinvents the text. The text too is the changing river of Heraclitus."
May 12, 2010
Jennifer
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i read this book only because one of my really good friends told me he read it and it changed his life when he as 19. so of course i was going to give it a chance.
i wouldn't say it changed my life at all. i did enjoy reading it though don't get me wrong he writes, or speaks? beautifully. it was a series of lectures that he has given at colleges about a number of different things. i would say that my favorite lecture in the book is the one he gives about dreams. i think that he take More...
i wouldn't say it changed my life at all. i did enjoy reading it though don't get me wrong he writes, or speaks? beautifully. it was a series of lectures that he has given at colleges about a number of different things. i would say that my favorite lecture in the book is the one he gives about dreams. i think that he take More...
Aug 07, 2010
Jenny
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I could read Borges every day and be happy. These lectures would be a great introduction to his non-fiction writings (so if you've never read any non-fiction Borges, start here). They're accessible, interesting, and give a good feel for his thinking.
May 24, 2009
Bob
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Other readers have commented that reading these lectures is like having Borges with you, speaking personally to you. I had that feeling as well. He made me want to read the books he discussed. And to re-read the lectures themselves.
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Sep 01, 2010
DB
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"Borges is our Virgil; only he knows the way." (from the introduction by Alastair Reid)
At first you might mistake the frequency and variety of Borges' references for pretentiousness, but soon you will understand it as a symptom...of genius! Borges seems to be an expert in all things even marginally literary, and it shows very clearly in this clever, erudite, and surprisingly easy-to-read collection of essays. Since they were adapted from a series of lectures he gave, they r More...
At first you might mistake the frequency and variety of Borges' references for pretentiousness, but soon you will understand it as a symptom...of genius! Borges seems to be an expert in all things even marginally literary, and it shows very clearly in this clever, erudite, and surprisingly easy-to-read collection of essays. Since they were adapted from a series of lectures he gave, they r More...
Feb 09, 2010
Ricardo Perez
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Es impresionante el desplante cultural que Borges presume humildemente. Una recopilación de siete conferencias que ofreció en el teatro Coliseo de BUenos Aires. Que manera de impactarnos!
May 25, 2010
Ryan
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As usual, Borges is a breath of fresh air- stunning, subtle, intelligent and possessing great depth of emotion. One can learn a great deal about literature and poetry just from his off-the-cuff remarks and musings.
Jan 17, 2011
Micah
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I carry this on the subway, on the plane, while soaking in the bath. It has become scriptural. I could read a cake recipe written by this guy.
Sep 10, 2010
Charles
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Like all Borges that I've read; intensely personal & interior yet expansive, worldly. I admire Borges through his writing, which shines here as always. But I must say, I prefer his fiction to his essays; what is truly deep in his work is imagination, and the Image is dimmed somewhat by the concrete, the literal. But even in the essays there are those turns of phrases that cut through my mind and make me spontaneously laugh or sink or rise in my chair.
Sep 19, 2009
Beverly
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I love this book, short talks/essays on Buddhism, Dante, Arabian Nights, etc. What a mind.
Nov 02, 2011
Abbi
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as always, i learn so many things from borges -- things i cannot imagine living without.
Nov 07, 2010
s
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En español, para chuparse los dedos y chuparselos a todas las pesadillas del mundo.
Dec 13, 2010
Mark
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I enjoyed this slim volume of essays based on seven lectures Borges gave in Buenos Aires between June and August 1977.
There is a short introduction by Alistair Reid which provides some context and historical information on the lectures. Then the seven essays, in this order: The Divine Comedy, Nightmares, The Thousand and One Nights, Buddhism, Poetry, The Kabbalah, and Blindness. Some of them are, of course, better than others but all of them are worth reading.
This is the 6t More...
There is a short introduction by Alistair Reid which provides some context and historical information on the lectures. Then the seven essays, in this order: The Divine Comedy, Nightmares, The Thousand and One Nights, Buddhism, Poetry, The Kabbalah, and Blindness. Some of them are, of course, better than others but all of them are worth reading.
This is the 6t More...
Nov 16, 2011
Bastet
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Siete noches es uno de mis libros de cabecera, de vez en cuando releo alguno de los textos, sobre todo "Las mil y una noches" y "La Divina Comedia", mis favoritos.
Borges dictó numerosas conferencias a lo largo de su vida. Las siete reunidas en este libro, magistrales, condensan la esencia de su pensamiento y son una prueba palpable de la lucidez de este escritor extraordinario. Cuánto me hubiera gustado ser una de sus oyentes y lectoras.
Imprescindible para los a More...
Borges dictó numerosas conferencias a lo largo de su vida. Las siete reunidas en este libro, magistrales, condensan la esencia de su pensamiento y son una prueba palpable de la lucidez de este escritor extraordinario. Cuánto me hubiera gustado ser una de sus oyentes y lectoras.
Imprescindible para los a More...
Sep 12, 2008
Frolic in the whimsy of a genius. Does that make sense? i.e., Borges is thinking in print here. We're not so much talked to, as though in a lecture--if we left, he'd speak on--but rather we're just along for the ride. Light, but contemplative an interesting.
Apr 27, 2008
Garland
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This is worth the price, whatever they are charging. These lectures were part of Borges later years, where he would riff on a given subject, drawing from his vast knowledge and obscene erudition, jumping from subject to subject. Wonderful.
