On Mysticism

by Jorge Luis Borges, Suzanne Jill Levine (Editor), Maria Kodama (Editor), Maria Kodama (Introduction)

Overview

An unprecedented collection of the visionary Argentine writer's meditations on the mystical realm

Jorge Luis Borges immersed himself and his readers in metaphysical fantasies--playing reason against faith, belief against logic. His profound knowledge of eastern religions was an endless source of inspiration for his writing. On Mysticism--edited by Borges's widow, Maria Kodama--brings together a stunning group of prose pieces and poems that speak to this signature theme of his writing, from some of his most celebrated works to others that appear here in English for the first time. Together they yield valuable insights into the most ineffable dimension of his writing, illuminating the inimitable rewards of this literary visionary, a wisdom writer whose belief in the magic of words has made him beloved around the world.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780143105695
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	06/29/2010
Series:	Penguin Classics Series
Pages:	128
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.70(h) x 0.40(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Jorge Luis Borges was born in Buenos Aires in 1989 and was educated in Europe. One of the most widely acclaimed writers of our time, he published many collections of poems, essays, and short stories before his death in Geneva in June 1986. In 1961 Borges shared the International Publisher's prize with Samuel Beckett. The Ingram Merrill Foundation granted him its Annual Literary Award in 1966 for his "outstanding contribution to literature." In 1971 Columbia University awarded him the first of many degrees of Doctor of Letters, honoris causa (eventually the list included both Oxford and Cambridge), that he was to receive from the English-speaking world. In 1971 he also received the fifth biennial Jerusalem Prize and in 1973 was given one of Mexico's most prestigious cultural awards, the Alfonso Reyes Prize. In 1980 he shared with Gerardo Diego the Cervantes Prize, the Spanish world's highest literary accolade. Borges was Director of the Argentine National Library from 1955 until 1973.

Maria Kodama (editor, introducer) is an Argentine writer, translator, and literature professor and the widow of Jorge Luis Borges. The president of Fundación Internacional Jorge Luis Borges, she lives in Buenos Aires.

Suzanne Jill Levine (general editor) is a professor of Latin American literature and translation studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the distinguished translator of such innovative Spanish American writers as Jorge Luis Borges, Adolfo Bioy Casares, Manuel Puig, Guillermo Cabrera Infante, and Julio Cortázar. She lives in Santa Barbara, California.

Date of Birth:

August 24, 1899

Date of Death:

June 14, 1986

Place of Birth:

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Place of Death:

Geneva, Switzerland

Education:

B.A., Collège Calvin de Genève, 1914

Table of Contents

On Mysticism

Contents
 
Introduction by Maria Kodama
A Note on the Text

I. Borges the Mystic

• The Circular Ruins
• The Library of Babel
• Funes the Memorious
• The Aleph 
• The Zahir   
• The Writing of the God 
• The Simurgh and the Eagle  
• A New Refutation of Time
• Paradiso XXXI, 108 
• Epilogue to Dreamtigers
• Poem of the Gifts 
• Matthew XXV: 30 
• On Salvation by Deeds  
• Patio
   
II. Through the Looking Glass

• George Santayana
• Thomas Mann on Schopenhauer
• Berkeley’s Crossroads
• "The Tragic Everyday, The Blind Pilot, Words and Blood"
• Do You Believe in God?

Sources

Editorial Reviews

Considering that so much of the work by Argentine author Borges (1899–1986) alludes to the mystical, this is a surprisingly small book. Known throughout the world for his metaphysical fantasies, Borges studied not only Christian mysticism but much Eastern philosophy and religion, including the works of the Sufis, Buddhist doctrines, and Raja, or classical yoga. To bring all these ideas together, his widow, Kodama, and Levine (Spanish & Portuguese, Univ. of California, Santa Barbara) have edited this small but powerful collection of prose, poetry, and essays. Many reveal Borges's obsessions with finding one's true "I," the nature of God, and the illusive nature of words, dreams, and other mystical states. This work also presents, for the first time in English, many of his brief essays that appraise other authors and philosophers. Key features are the well-known stories "The Library of Babel" and "The Aleph," along with the ironical "Poem of the Gifts," about his love of books and his increasing blindness. VERDICT A good introduction to Borges for both students and interested general readers.—Nedra Crowe Evers, Sonoma Cty. Lib., Santa Rosa, CA

Library Journal