Thanks, Matthew, for this guest essay. As someone born and bred in Argentina, absorbing Borges first by osmosis and then at university, I find his work even more and more enticing every time I read, reread or discover essays like these. I could add I had the enormous pleasure of meeting him on several occasions, but I would use "learning from" rather than meeting. He was a very humble and modest about his writing and loved teaching and the interaction with students, but I digress. I will only add that for those readers who are at times put off by Borgesian challenges, his creations are vastly diverse as to appeal to just about everyone. Thanks again, for Mark Cohen's essay.
This fascinating essay makes me wonder what Borges would have produced in the age of the internet. His rabbit holes would perhaps have become dense warrens of hyperlinks to other worlds. Or perhaps he would have disdained the digital world altogether. Whatever his response, I'm sure it would have been mind bending.
Terrific essay by Dr Cohen, and also the good doctor’s recs/ endnotes incl recommending Doug Metzger’s pod “ Literature and History”- for past week I’ve been fixed on listening to those episodes; and I gave kinship w Dr Cohen re: Sam Harris, I’ve been subscriber to his WUp since 2018, (Making Sense too).
I’m brand new to Borges, and I know Matthew too is new to him . I’m finishing reading the Penguin Classics “The Aleph and Other Stories”— “Aleph” stories from 1949, and “Maker” stories from 1960 (Andrew Hurley translations). .
Two things I’d like to share: 1/ the audiobook of this translation is on Spotify, and the guttural reading byCastulo Guerra is value added, it is a performance & brings the extra dimension of Borges spook & sense of place to my reading the text.
Plus, on YouTube is an episode of “Firing Line with Wm F Buckley” from 1977, when Buckley traveled to Buenos Aires to interview Borges for the hour-long program . It’s mind bending to listen to Borges’ extreme modesty about his own work, and to expound on his favorite literature & authors, and some put downs too…
Thanks, Matthew, for this guest essay. As someone born and bred in Argentina, absorbing Borges first by osmosis and then at university, I find his work even more and more enticing every time I read, reread or discover essays like these. I could add I had the enormous pleasure of meeting him on several occasions, but I would use "learning from" rather than meeting. He was a very humble and modest about his writing and loved teaching and the interaction with students, but I digress. I will only add that for those readers who are at times put off by Borgesian challenges, his creations are vastly diverse as to appeal to just about everyone. Thanks again, for Mark Cohen's essay.
Simply brilliant.
Thanks, Sally! You are too kind
This fascinating essay makes me wonder what Borges would have produced in the age of the internet. His rabbit holes would perhaps have become dense warrens of hyperlinks to other worlds. Or perhaps he would have disdained the digital world altogether. Whatever his response, I'm sure it would have been mind bending.
Terrific essay by Dr Cohen, and also the good doctor’s recs/ endnotes incl recommending Doug Metzger’s pod “ Literature and History”- for past week I’ve been fixed on listening to those episodes; and I gave kinship w Dr Cohen re: Sam Harris, I’ve been subscriber to his WUp since 2018, (Making Sense too).
I’m brand new to Borges, and I know Matthew too is new to him . I’m finishing reading the Penguin Classics “The Aleph and Other Stories”— “Aleph” stories from 1949, and “Maker” stories from 1960 (Andrew Hurley translations). .
Two things I’d like to share: 1/ the audiobook of this translation is on Spotify, and the guttural reading byCastulo Guerra is value added, it is a performance & brings the extra dimension of Borges spook & sense of place to my reading the text.
Plus, on YouTube is an episode of “Firing Line with Wm F Buckley” from 1977, when Buckley traveled to Buenos Aires to interview Borges for the hour-long program . It’s mind bending to listen to Borges’ extreme modesty about his own work, and to expound on his favorite literature & authors, and some put downs too…