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Borges Stories - M.R. 2013
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You may be Borgesian if...
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More Borgesian:In a small college library of the city of A___, I went to meet an old friend with whom I had studied at the university. My friend was late and I found lying about the table a book of essays by Z. A. Dignose on the subject of Lewis Caroll, the first of which was entitled "The Looking-Glass," and was apparently a discussion of the lines
"I can't believe that!" said Alice.
"Can't you?" the Queen said in a pitying tone. "Try again: draw a long breath, and shut your eyes."
Alice laughed. "There's no use trying," she said: "one can't believe impossible things."
"I daresay you haven't had much practice," said the Queen. "When I was your age, I always did it for half-an-hour a day. Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."
I looked over at the book and found the following passage underlined with a thin red pencil:
"Contrariness, contradiction, paradox are the essentials of a true depiction of life. If you can't believe that an object is simultaneously black and white, that a certain affirmative statement is both absolutely true and absolutely false at the same time, the you can't comprehend the world. Simply, it is complex."
Mod
Sí, usted es Borgesiano.
I have found that my second reads are more satisfying than first reads of his work. I've also found it useful to read the annotations when they're available as they often make it easier to understand some of his humor.
Related to Calvino, Borges is best read one story at a time with adequate space for reflection. I made the mistake of trying to read straight through The Complete Cosmicomics and had an unsatisfying time because I didn't allow space for contemplation, which I think Borges and Calvino's work demands.
Anyway, I don't know if any of this is useful, but I hope you and Jorge are able to patch up your relationship. You two make a cute couple and you should try to come to terms...
Thanks kindly... and I'm pleased to also find myself intermingled with the work of Lewis Caroll.
Mod
What a ménagerie!
To the Borges and Calvino thing, John Barth's piece may be of interest:"'The Parallels!' Italo Calvino and Jorge Luis Borges" in Dalkey Archive's Context N°1:
http://www.dalkeyarchive.com/book/?fa...
Jim,Oh, c'mon. Do it right. Quelle ménagerie!
Mod
Oh, c'mon. Do it right. Quelle ménagerie! "
I know, right. I didn't know if I should go with Spanish or Italian, and so defaulted to Franglais...
Borges grows slowly on you– I'm realising this as I slowly near the end of Collected Fictions.The stories definitely read better on second read. There's no archness in his detective tales like Death and the Compass,The Man in Pink ,The Dead Man & The Garden of Forking Paths.Stories like The Secret Miracle,Funes,His Memory & The Interloper are full of tenderness.
Mod
The Garden of Forking Paths is one of my favorites! Makes me think of Bertolucci's film The Conformist for some reason...
For you Borges lovers i advise to read Adolfo Bioy Casares works..The Morel's invention is a great novel i think
Mod
Sounds like an important book admired by many South American writers. Thanks for the suggestion!
Borges mentored Casares. There's an edition in English of the "The Invention of Morel" with an introduction by Borges. The book is only about 100 pp.
The Invention of Morel
Mod
The ..."
I'll have to order a copy via A****n this week. I saw a mention that Resnais and Robbe-Grillet used the book as inspiration for Last Year in Marienbad.
I'm not sure that's a recommendation for me. :-) But it's been a very long time since I saw the movie. I think all I remember at this point is the game of matches (there was a game of matches, yes?)
Also the italian edition has the introduction by Borges.. I suppose it's part of the book itself..
Gaetano wrote: "For you Borges lovers i advise to read Adolfo Bioy Casares works..The Morel's invention is a great novel i think"Yes, sounds excellent! Thanks for the recommendation.
And speaking of Borges and Calvino, this recent short story reminded me a little of both:
The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species.
Bill wrote: "...(there was a game of matches, yes?)"Yes, there was a game of matches. There were also some statues, and a bit of atmospheric haze.
Zadignose wrote: "Bill wrote: "...(there was a game of matches, yes?)"Yes, there was a game of matches. There were also some statues, and a bit of atmospheric haze."
And Delphine Seyrig, and really cool hedges, and cinematography as sharp and clean as a new Tom Ford suit jacket. You bookish types are so narrative oriented.
Actually, I quite liked the film, but must confess that my memory hasn't retained much.
Jim wrote: "Mala wrote: "Borges grows slowly on you– I'm realising this as I slowly near the end of Complete Fictions.The stories definitely read better on second read. There's no archness in his detective tal..."My fav so far are The Aleph & Borges and I– perfect tales. Thanks for the movie rec,will check it out.
Whitney,Some of us narrative types saw the movie when it came out in 1961 or 1962 and haven't seen it since so it's not as vividly imprinted in our minds as it might be. :-)
I'm actually a poetic and visual type more than narrative. I hate it when things happen. :-)
Try to image the movie like a Gerhard Richter black and white painting..
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Brain Pain
Books mentioned in this topic
The Invention of Morel (other topics)The Invention of Morel (other topics)
The Complete Cosmicomics (other topics)
Today I peeked into my secret notebook, and found something I wrote a couple of months ago:
"Contrariness, contradiction, paradox are the essentials of a true depiction of life. If you can't believe that an object is simultaneously black and white, that a certain affirmative statement is both absolutely true and absolutely false at the same time, the you can't comprehend the world. Simply, it is complex."
Borgesian?