Jorge Luis Borges, one of the indisputably great writers of the twentieth century, was born in Buenos Aires in 1899. Never having been awarded the Nobel Prize, which his readers worldwide believed he deserved, this story writer, poet, essayist, and man of letters died at age eighty-six.
This anthology of interviews with him features more than a dozen conversations that cover all phases of his life and work.
Conducted between 1964 and 1984, the interviews reveal Borges to be a remarkably candid, humorous man, by turns skeptical and enthusiastic, and always a singularly incisive and adventurous thinker.
He discusses his blindness, his family and childhood, early travels, literary friends, and struggles to find his literary identity. In depth he examines the meanings and intentions of his own famous stories and poems, and he speaks of the writers whose works he has loved-Dante, Cervantes, Emerson, Dickinson, H. G. Wells, Kafka, Stevenson, Kipling, Whitman, Frost, and Faulkner-and of those whom he disliked, such as Hemingway and Lorca. Borges expresses his contempt for Péron and assesses the tumultuous politics of Argentina. He speaks also of the imagination as a type of dreaming, about issues of collaboration and translation, about philosophy, and about time.
Many of the interviews were conducted by notable figures, including Alastair Reid, Willis Barnstone, and Ronald Christ.
As Borges speaks in these conversations, readers who have fallen under the spell of his magical prose and poetry will find additional sustenance.
| Introduction | ||
| Chronology | ||
| Borges on Borges | 1 | |
| The Living Labyrinth of Literature; Some Major Work; Nazis; Detective Stories; Ethics, Violence, and the Problem of Time ... | 14 | |
| Jorge Luis Borges | 42 | |
| Jorge Luis Borges: An Interview | 76 | |
| Jorge Luis Borges | 84 | |
| Jorge Luis Borges | 92 | |
| Borges at N.Y.U. | 118 | |
| With Borges in Buenos Aires | 138 | |
| A Colloquy with Jorge Luis Borges | 149 | |
| Now I Am More or Less Who I Am | 164 | |
| Thirteen Questions: A Dialogue with Jorge Luis Borges | 176 | |
| Borges: Philosopher? Poet? Revolutionary? | 192 | |
| An Interview with Jorge Luis Borges | 199 | |
| Jorge Luis Borges | 213 | |
| Jorge Luis Borges: An Interview | 221 | |
| Borges on Life and Death | 240 | |
| Index | 249 |
Anonymous
Posted October 15, 2011
This is a great book for those that are very informed of literature. This man goes above and beyond your average thinker when it comes to literature and demands a great deal of respect and attentiveness to understand what he speaks of. Through the interviews, one peers through the window of a great literary mind, however, ones appreciation for this book grows if the reader is familiar with the works of Emerson, Chaucer, de Quincey, and Kipling, as these were major influences that he loved to discuss, analyze and above all else enjoyed. I am a major fan of Mr. Borges so I feel that this review is somewhat biased.
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Posted August 10, 2004
These interviews are interesting and insightful give a real feeling of dialogue . The interviewer shows great understanding and sympathy of Borges. And Borges is Borges here with all that means in wisdom, love of literature, great poetic irony and a truthfulness all his own.
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Overview
Jorge Luis Borges, one of the indisputably great writers of the twentieth century, was born in Buenos Aires in 1899. Never having been awarded the Nobel Prize, which his readers worldwide believed he deserved, this story writer, poet, essayist, and man of letters died at age eighty-six.
This anthology of interviews with him features more than a dozen conversations that cover all phases of his life and work.
Conducted between 1964 and 1984, the ...