The first time I read The Library of Babel, I immediately read it over again. When my husband got home, I made him sit down and I read it out loud to him! I cried all three times. So moving. So mind- bending.
It's hard to find a lover of Roberto Bolaño, Borges, Cortázar, Sábato, García Márquez, etc etc that doesn't have spanish as his native language. But is harder to find someone from "booktube" that speaks about real literature. You get a new suscriber, keep with those amazing videos. 😉😁
I am lately obsessed with Borges and can't get over how no one around me has heard of him (including myself until recently). We are truly missing out! Thanks for the other recommendations :)
I absolutely agree, this one and TheBookChemist might be the closest to "real" literature analysis (avoiding the ones who talk about fantasy, thing they do very well, but not with an exhaustive perspective). Also, I would love to talk about McCarthy, Pynchon etc with my spanish friends, but that isn't very popular here :(
After watching this I mentioned the book to a friend. He gave me his copy for free. I then started a degree in English and just recently wrote an essay on "The Circular Ruins". Thats my life after Borges. Thanks so much for your review!
In his book "The Lesson of the Master", Norman Thomas Di Giovanni, one of Borges's best translators, wrote: Once when I read him the finished draft of his celebrated story 'The Circular Ruins', Borges wept. 'Caramba,' he said, 'I wish I could still write like that.'
When I first read Borges, I immediatly thought «this is the book I've always dreamed to read», a sort of evident revelation. Somehow, I knew it existed before I discovered it
This is so true.. I had the exact same feeling when I read about Borges in a philosophy book. He has this way of getting to those ideas we all kind of have but find impossible to articulate.
I discovered Borges around 1995....I read the short stories with my mind reeling and my mouth slack jawed and drooling .....Could not believe how super fantastic his work is....Pity he is not very well known in the USA- I think he is the best writer of the mid part of the 20th century. if you have not read Borges, you are living a sad and deprived little life.
Just needed to let you know that your video made me drive to Barnes and Noble after a 10 hour day of work just to grab this book. Thank you for your enthusiasm!
here in Argentina we all read Borges and Cortázar in school since we are kids. Those authors are so granted in our culture that is very refreshing to see non spanish speakers talk about them and stuff. Wonder how much is lost in translation
When life feels so small and repetitive, I read these stories and feel the vastness and magic that existence has to offer. I bought this book on your recommendation Cliff, and that has made all the difference. Thank you 🙏
I started reading Borges around 18 years old. It became an adiction. I've read every short story and some of his poetry and essays. There were years I only read Borges. That mas was a GENIUS in writing, not only by the extend of his imagination, but also his way with words (I'm a Native Spanish speaker, so I can enjoy that, but since he was bilingual, i guess the english translations are great too). I recomend Borges to EVERYONE too.
Borges says more in a 5 page story than a 1000 page tome....with 5 sequels. Yeah, he's that good! Very excellent and may I add, concise review...the master, would have loved it.
“Desvarío laborioso y empobrecedor el de componer vastos libros; el de explayar en quinientas páginas una idea cuya perfecta exposición oral cabe en pocos minutos" "It's a labourious and empoverishing notion to compose extense books; to elaborate in five hundred words an idea which perfect oral exposition fits in a couple minutes" Jorge Luis Borges
This passage has been a favourite of mine for some years: Toward dawn, he dreamt he had hidden himself in one of the naves of the Clementine Library. A librarian wearing dark glasses asked him: What are you looking for? Hladik answered: God. The Librarian told him: God is in one of the letters on one of the pages of one of the 400,000 volumes of the Clementine. My fathers and the fathers of my fathers have sought after that letter. I've gone blind looking for it. - The Secret Miracle, Jorge Luis Borges
@@KajiXD , ¿es la traducción de una editorial inglesa? Porque donde Borges escribe "desvarío" pone "notion" (concepto o propuesta, en el contexto), cuando hubiera sido más exacto algo como "lunacy", "raving" o "delirium". ¡Saludos!
I have Borges's face tattooed on my leg, he is by far my favourite author, everytime I read him I found something new and fascinating on his work, he is the kind of writer that you must read more than one time, the more the better he gets, because sometimes there is a lot of deepness that you don't notice on a first reading, recently while travelling I was reading "The Encounter", and thought it was just another short story like any other, but when I get to the ending a chill went through my spine and remember of course this is Borges, this isn't just a writer like any other
I know it's almost four years later.. But I've just come across this video and I feel like I should comment on it, because: 1. I share your love for Borges' prose. 2. I really like the way you talk about books. 3. I have a Latin American literature exam tomorrow and hopefully leaving a comment will bring me me luck. Fingers crossed. Thank you for talking about this amazing book and its absolutely fascinating author.
Borges taught me how to modify a huge desert by “taking up a handful of sand and let it fall silently a little further”. He is the most philosophically empowering author I have ever read. Yes more than Nietzsche
"It doesn't get better than this." I totally agree with you! It's hard to believe he wasn't "worthy" enough to win the noble prize. Maybe the noble wasn´t worthy of Borges. Regards from Buenos Aires!
Actually, It's said that the reason why he didn't get the Nobel prize was his public opinion about Latinamerican dictatorships, specifically the ones in Argentina and Chile in the '70s.
Dude! As a mathematician who also enjoys some literature, I really enjoy Borges' works. If you draw a Venn diagram of Mathematics and Literature, you will surelly find Borges' stuff in the intersection. I'm pretty confident that he did knew some advanced maths. (basic advanced stuff, but still advanced)
Thanks . We have a book club and this week we are reading Borges. He is more than words can describe. Really fascinating. The universality in his writings is unique.
Same puzzling notion that Jung struggled with, or perhaps danced alongside for his entire life.. "People don't have ideas, ideas have people"..gives me the chillz
@@BetterThanFoodBookReviews just read his autobiography, he himself says which are his big works there (Modern Man In Search of A Soul is a favorite of his)
Man, I just started this. Been watching you for years and I didn't realize this is how it all started, but boy does this get me hyped. So far it is fantastic, and I'm not even though History of Iniquities. Can already tell I'll be recommending this one for years.
I definitely agree with the statement that there's life before Borges and life after Borges. Reading his work expanded my imagination in ways I never knew were possible.
Got my copy of this book today. I ordered it right after watching this video of yours like a month ago. It didn't come cheap but honestly I don't mind. The feel, texture, and pages of this book are awesome. Absolutely stoked to see what nuggets of genius they will contain.
If you like Borges you'll also like Cesar Aira. Aira cites Borges as one of his key influences. He's more evidently influenced by European Surrealism than Borges but there's still that ludic quality. He writes 'novellas' - 80 to 100 page books. The one I'd start with is 'The Literary Conference'. They're all published by New Directions. Btw he's an Argentine too.
I wanted to accentuate something that you didn't mention. That he intends, and often succeeds, to induce the feeling of unreality in the reader. I often put the book down at the end of a story and look around me at a room that seems to be different. Of course it is I who have changed while reading the story, not the room about me. He uses so many tricks, one is that some of his stories loop back on themselves, so you read a sentence that suddenly induces a feeling of déjà vu simply because you had read that sentence an hour ago in the same story. This man was really a genius, and I intend to read everything he wrote over the next months. Beware his inappropriate adjectives!!
Started reading Borges about 8 years ago, and now I honestly can't remember what it was like without Borges in my life. He made me passionate about books (which I already were, but El Maestro certainly stoked the fire), and gave me the will and desire to become a writer myself. It always makes my day to meet someone who likes Borges. I have a lot of favorites among his works - 'The Library of Babel', 'The Book of Sand', 'Tlön Uqbar Orbis Tertius' and the like - but the one that stands out is 'The Immortal'. Love the tone and the ideas he explores in that one.
that was a pleasure to read these comments. It's really great to know that there are so many people who share my obsession about him. I think the best word which can describe his magnetism is ... Zahir
If you like Borges, Kafka, Bolano and Gaddis, I'd highly recommend almost anything by Pynchon. You seem to be a very versatile reader, as in you read through a lot of genres and different kinds of writing ranging from ficiton to poetry to non-fiction to literary criticism to plays. I'm very surprised you haven't fallen into reviewing well known books that are still really good reads (classics, dystopians, popular contemporary fiction etc.) It's a bit frustrating because it makes me feel ignorant of most of what you review, but it also gives me an opportunity to read things out of my comfort zone. Nonetheless, you've reviewed some of my favorite reading experiences ever: Hopscotch, 2666, the Name of the Rose, Blood Meridian. Good job carrying on your channel. I'll be happy to support your channel! as soon as I get a paying job :P All the best Cliff Sgt. !
This book literally changed my life. I felt that my life had no meaning and that I was a willless machine, adhering to the determinism and randomness of the universe. But when I read this book, all of that melts away, it doesn't matter, I am reading Borges and I am happy.
Bro, you are a man after my heart. I read Sun and Steel and the only review I could find was yours. Now to find you have my favorite as your first review has me excited and ready to take any of your recommendations.
Ten years later... Lost on a camp fire in Central America I discover your channel... And shoot..., this is one of the best book reviews I've ever seen, and in deed, Borges and his library are better than food, as well as Bolaño... Thank you very much for these great insights into other realms of the universe.
It's an interesting book that is always shifting. For example, I read The Circular Ruins in September. I recently decided to read some more Ficciones and re-read The Circular Ruins and the story had changed slightly; the words were replaced with other words that had a slightly different meaning, some sentences were relocated and some paragraphs were eliminated. I swear even the font type had changed.
I know its been 4 years but I finally read the short story "The Circular Ruins". I love this channel but I honestly forgot that you had even made a video on Borges and went about my life. Now it's May of 2019, I go into my first day on the job as a Barback at a local pizza restaurant/bar and have the pleasure of being trained by a fellow history nerd. We get into conversations about the ancient Greeks, ancient Mediterranean Literature, Roman Statues, Spanish painters during their civil war- so on and so forth. We eventually get onto the subject of Latin, Latin-American, and Spanish authors and he absolutely implores me to read Circular Ruins along with the rest of Borges' work. It's just funny that now I've come to read it, absolutely loved it, and completely had my jaw drop at the ending. This is just such a perfect short story in so many ways. Now it is all circling back here to this video with me trying to learn other people's thoughts on Jorge's fantastic work 😂 P.S. You're the one who got me into reading Roberto Balono many years ago, and I've never been able to get enough of him!
Oh my goodness, now I HAVE to read these short stories! Your reviews are so great because they give me the same desire I have to read a specific book after watching the movie adaptation (for example, I recently watched again The Time Machine and learned that it's actually the first sci-fi book ever written and I just can't wait to buy it and get into it as soon as possible!). Thanks for your channel, it's a real gift. :)
I just so happened to stumble on your "Heart of Darkness" review as I was searching for a good reason to do the full reading for class. I found it extremely difficult to get into, but your review kept me looking forward for the bigger picture. On a more relevant topic: I cannot believe how much time two of my classes were spend on "Garden of Forking Paths". I kept debating whether to get the "Laberintos" (or another of Borges's collections) or not, but this review just helped me reach a conclusion. I'm looking forward for more spanish/latin authors being addressed in this channel. Keep up the good work Sergeant! You just got a new subscriber.
I absolutely agree with you. It has been my favorite book for years. My only thing to add to your review: try to read it in Spanish. I have not read it in English, but I cannot imagine it is at all possible to translate all the texture, flavor, hidden genius: all the intangibles that make me come back to it. Everything else you said about the content is spot on. Even if there's no other reason in your life to learn Spanish, this one is worth it. Go back and read it in Spanish, you'll know what I mean.
Great book!! My favorite story is the Garden of Forking Paths. Borges basically invented the concept of the hypertext with this story, which inspired to some extent the internet and choose-your-own-adventure stories.
Something you might be interested in: *"A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole*. Since you like Bolano, I read he mentioned this book in some of his interviews as an influence. It is one of the funniest books around. The paradox however is, that its writer committed suicide, because he did not find a publicist willing to publicise the book. The edition I have as a forword in it by Tristan Egolf. Another author struggling to get publicised until a french author helped him. Strangly however Egolf also committed suicide after finishing his third book. It is a funny book. The reality behind it is pure tragedy. :s
I agree with you that there is no reason you HAVE to know about the author to enjoy their work, however, I find a great amount of joy in learning about an author or artist that I enjoy the work of. I feel as though learning about their life helps you connect more deeply with their work and I have found things in an authors work that I would've otherwise missed if I had missed out on knowing how the piece was written or what the author was going through when the author wrote it. I am also a bit of a history nerd so it may just be the historical part of my brain that also enjoys the biographical aspect of learning about authors and artists.
I recently read El Aleph, in spanish, and I have to admit it was the most sublime and intricate reading experience I've had in a while. I don't really know how to talk about Borges, I guess the wonder and the awe tend to speak for themselves.
Can't believe I hadn't seen this video--the first--and learned where the title for the show comes from! Jeff Noon is fantastic too, Vurt is one of the strangest and most engaging SF books I've ever read.
El Maestro Jorge Luis Borges. Lees sus historias 5 veces y las cinco te dan impresiones diferentes, una página es un velo pesado de términos e ideas. Y sus recopilaciones de historias son laberintos en sí.
Throw me off the rails of the Library of Babel, I'll be happy all the way down where I would finally find the book of my life. Reading Borges is for me a sublime experience because you know that unless you're reading more Borges, there is nothing else like it out there... although for me Lydia Davis comes close. I wondered what a Borges novel would be like.
What a delightful breath of fresh air this video was after listening to 2 hours of Terrence McKenna and musing on the Philosophy of Austin osman spare. Looking forward to reading Borges, I have 3 of his books, one of them being "labyrinths", but hes still some ways down on my reading list.
Hello friend. I've recently purchased a copy of this book and have been unable to put it down, and when I do the images and philosophical wonders occupy my mind. I find the stories immensely laborious to digest, though, and can only read one or two a day. I've decided not to read the book from flap to flap, and my favorites so far are "The South," "Death and a Compass," and "The Garden of Forking Paths." I was wondering if you could direct me to your favorites. Thanks.
Your book reviews are quite awesome, especially seeing that you talked about The Consumer by Michael Gira, excellent taste! And you look like Bradley Cooper which is a plus!
You have to read Rayuela (Hopscotch) by Julio Cortazar, the quintessential "I am a changed man after reading it" book. You also must read El Tunel (The Tunnel) by Ernesto Sabato, a journey into loneliness, love and obsession, its the first book that really moved me when I was a teenager. Love the channel, saludos desde Buenos Aires!
'The Aleph', favorite short story ever, from the greatest short story author ever. First found about Borges from an interview with Harlan Ellison back in the '80's who referred to him as a giant so I had to find out about him, bought Ficciones, fell in love with his writing immediately.
The Twilight Zone Magazine, now long defunct, also first came across the name John Crowley and his masterwork, Little, Big, the greatest fantasy novel ever written, in the magazine. Have read every word written by Crowley, a favorite of the esteemed critic Harold Bloom, classic novels like Engine, Summer, The Deep, Beasts, and the 4 novel fantasy masterpiece consisting of 1)Aegypt - aka The Solitudes 2)Love and Sleep 3)Daemonomania 4)Endless Things. A masterful writer.
Cheers for the heads up on this. Been on my shelf for at least 4 years. Picked it up. Flicked to The Circular Ruins and found another short story to add to my list of all time favourites. And a killer reason to pick up his other works that are sitting forlornly gathering dust. A skoal x
This book is elemental o think I had aphasia afterwards., it physically does something those words just poured in me, this is ones of those transcendental novels and why we read at all it'more of an experience than a read ....
En «El hacedor» (The Maker). Fue el primer libro de Borges que leí. Es breve y tiene prosas cortas y poemas, pero podría ser la puerta ideal para entrar en su universo.
Borges is brilliant in so many ways... Here's just two of them: He wrote fictional essays. Yeah, that's right. He has a world famous fictional essay were he explains in great detail why the true author of El Quijote was Pierre Menard and not Cervantes. And it's all lies. He didn't invent the fictional essay, but he sure perfected it. Another brilliant typical Borges: he invented a kind of philosphical short story, where the story revolves around not characters, not plotlines, but philosophical ideas, musings, meditations. The Ciruclar Ruins is a great example of this. He has had massive influence not ontly on authors who write in Spanish, but in the whole world. His work has been translated into every major language and I'v read that many Eastern European authors have named him as a major influence on their own work
Just picked this volume up, along with Marquez's collected novellas and Neruda's collected poems to bring with me to South America in a couple days. Looking forward to reading this down there now. Solid review.
Great review. You should also read/review El Aleph. Well, the complete collection of his works are worth it. You should also read La Invencion de Morel from Adolfo Bioy Casares. Another you should read is Niebla from Miguel de Unamuno. You wont be disappointed. Sorry for my bad english. Keep doing this reviews!
I really enjoyed this, I have the same edition (the uncut pages are great btw) I'd have to say my favourite books overall were Fictions and The Maker, the latter being just 30 pages long but incredibly rich nonetheless. And Fictions was just, you know. Also "The Secret Miracle" is underrated as hell.
My apologies for the necro, but I just found your channel and subscribed. The Chinese philosopher with the butterfly dream is Chuang Tzu. He has some great stories worth reading.
I have labyrinths which is a collection of stories from ficciones and other books. I live in Uruguay and so bought Cuentos completos to help me with my spanish. Tough in both languages but incredible writing.
I have a handful of Borges's short stories that I think are utter brilliance, if anyone want some titles to go straight to read him: Circular Ruins The inmortal The other death Tlon, Uqbar The aleph
A esos cuentos yo añadiría estos otros: La biblioteca de Babel. El espejo y la máscara. El jardín de senderos que se bifurcan. La forma de la espada. Tema del traidor y del héroe. La muerte y la brújula. La casa de Asterión. Los dos reyes y los dos laberintos. Utopía de un hombre que está cansado. Ulrica. Undr. El tintorero enmascarado Hákim de Merv. El Sur. La escritura del dios. Funes el memorioso. Pierre Menard, autor del Quijote. El zohar. El otro. Emma Zunz. El acercamiento a Almotásim. El libro de arena. Los teólogos. La intrusa. El evangelio según Marcos. El otro duelo. Y los siguientes textos cortos de «El hacedor»: Parábola del palacio. El hacedor. Everything and Nothing (en inglés en el original). Inferno, I, 32. Paradiso, XXXI, 108. Del rigor en la ciencia. In memoriam, J. F. K. Sí, es más que un puñado, pero creo que con estos relatos ya puede tenerse una idea bastante buena de la narrativa de Borges.
A running sentence in Latin America over the 70's and 80's was, every time the Nobel prize for literature was announced, "here goes another year in which Borges doesn't get it".
I am so impressed that you love Fictions of JLB. I love his books too, so impressive personality and author. Maybe you can help me to find one of his books where he tells the story of two men who are related but fighting for power and one of them offers the other one a 6 ft. of land? meaning he is giving him a place where to rest. Do you know about it. I cannot remember very well. Hope you know something. Thank you! I recommend you to read Juan Rulfo: El Llano en Llamas y Pedro Paramo.
did you know that "la muerte y la brujula" was written during WWII, and that the policeman is jew, and isbeing chased like a mouse? any resemblance to reality, is not pure coincidence
I think you are on the road, young man, I feel the same - and have my collection that though I haven't read it all or even a quarter of it - I know it is gold and precious, I guess even angel and devil alike love Borges 👁👅👁
The first time I read The Library of Babel, I immediately read it over again. When my husband got home, I made him sit down and I read it out loud to him! I cried all three times. So moving. So mind- bending.
It's hard to find a lover of Roberto Bolaño, Borges, Cortázar, Sábato, García Márquez, etc etc that doesn't have spanish as his native language. But is harder to find someone from "booktube" that speaks about real literature.
You get a new suscriber, keep with those amazing videos. 😉😁
The Bookchemist is great too
I am lately obsessed with Borges and can't get over how no one around me has heard of him (including myself until recently). We are truly missing out!
Thanks for the other recommendations :)
I absolutely agree, this one and TheBookChemist might be the closest to "real" literature analysis (avoiding the ones who talk about fantasy, thing they do very well, but not with an exhaustive perspective). Also, I would love to talk about McCarthy, Pynchon etc with my spanish friends, but that isn't very popular here :(
@@manuelfernandezgarcia978 There are more of us on the way, hang tight!
I agree, I am pretty astonished as well.
After watching this I mentioned the book to a friend. He gave me his copy for free. I then started a degree in English and just recently wrote an essay on "The Circular Ruins". Thats my life after Borges. Thanks so much for your review!
In his book "The Lesson of the Master", Norman Thomas Di Giovanni, one of Borges's best translators, wrote: Once when I read him the finished draft of his celebrated story 'The Circular Ruins', Borges wept. 'Caramba,' he said, 'I wish I could still write like that.'
When I first read Borges, I immediatly thought «this is the book I've always dreamed to read», a sort of evident revelation. Somehow, I knew it existed before I discovered it
This is so true.. I had the exact same feeling when I read about Borges in a philosophy book. He has this way of getting to those ideas we all kind of have but find impossible to articulate.
This man somehow knows our dreams.
thats honestly one of the most beautiful comments ive ever read on youtube. wish you the best.
@@user-iw2hw2qr6r so so so true
I discovered Borges around 1995....I read the short stories with my mind reeling and my mouth slack jawed and drooling .....Could not believe how super fantastic his work is....Pity he is not very well known in the USA- I think he is the best writer of the mid part of the 20th century. if you have not read Borges, you are living a sad and deprived little life.
PS, I hope you also have a review for my 2nd fave author, Stanislaw Lem.
Hahaha, that’s a bit harsh
Borges is a kind of initiation in Latin America, he is a sort of that aleph ,were we can see the rest of the Universe through his blind eyes
Wow, love this
Just needed to let you know that your video made me drive to Barnes and Noble after a 10 hour day of work just to grab this book. Thank you for your enthusiasm!
here in Argentina we all read Borges and Cortázar in school since we are kids. Those authors are so granted in our culture that is very refreshing to see non spanish speakers talk about them and stuff. Wonder how much is lost in translation
When life feels so small and repetitive, I read these stories and feel the vastness and magic that existence has to offer.
I bought this book on your recommendation Cliff, and that has made all the difference.
Thank you 🙏
I read it in 2 days.
My eyes hurt but my soul was drenched in
innumerable contrition and weariness.
I started reading Borges around 18 years old. It became an adiction. I've read every short story and some of his poetry and essays. There were years I only read Borges.
That mas was a GENIUS in writing, not only by the extend of his imagination, but also his way with words (I'm a Native Spanish speaker, so I can enjoy that, but since he was bilingual, i guess the english translations are great too).
I recomend Borges to EVERYONE too.
I just read "The Immortal" and I can't even begin to articulate everything I'm feeling right now. Such a powerful read.
Thats one of My favoritos!!!
Borges says more in a 5 page story than a 1000 page tome....with 5 sequels. Yeah, he's that good! Very excellent and may I add, concise review...the master, would have loved it.
“Desvarío laborioso y empobrecedor el de componer
vastos libros; el de explayar en quinientas páginas una idea cuya
perfecta exposición oral cabe en pocos minutos"
"It's a labourious and empoverishing notion to compose extense books; to elaborate in five hundred words an idea which perfect oral exposition fits in a couple minutes"
Jorge Luis Borges
This passage has been a favourite of mine for some years:
Toward dawn, he dreamt he had hidden himself in one of the naves of the Clementine Library. A librarian wearing dark glasses asked him: What are you looking for? Hladik answered: God. The Librarian told him: God is in one of the letters on one of the pages of one of the 400,000 volumes of the Clementine. My fathers and the fathers of my fathers have sought after that letter. I've gone blind looking for it.
- The Secret Miracle, Jorge Luis Borges
@@KajiXD , ¿es la traducción de una editorial inglesa? Porque donde Borges escribe "desvarío" pone "notion" (concepto o propuesta, en el contexto), cuando hubiera sido más exacto algo como "lunacy", "raving" o "delirium". ¡Saludos!
I have Borges's face tattooed on my leg, he is by far my favourite author, everytime I read him I found something new and fascinating on his work, he is the kind of writer that you must read more than one time, the more the better he gets, because sometimes there is a lot of deepness that you don't notice on a first reading, recently while travelling I was reading "The Encounter", and thought it was just another short story like any other, but when I get to the ending a chill went through my spine and remember of course this is Borges, this isn't just a writer like any other
Very borgeano to have his face tattooed in your body. Are you one of his characters? In which story do you live?
❤️
Awesome. I never shelve his book; it’s always open and on my desk.
I know it's almost four years later.. But I've just come across this video and I feel like I should comment on it, because:
1. I share your love for Borges' prose.
2. I really like the way you talk about books.
3. I have a Latin American literature exam tomorrow and hopefully leaving a comment will bring me me luck. Fingers crossed.
Thank you for talking about this amazing book and its absolutely fascinating author.
Borges taught me how to modify a huge desert by “taking up a handful of sand and let it fall silently a little further”. He is the most philosophically empowering author I have ever read. Yes more than Nietzsche
"It doesn't get better than this." I totally agree with you! It's hard to believe he wasn't "worthy" enough to win the noble prize. Maybe the noble wasn´t worthy of Borges. Regards from Buenos Aires!
They were going to give him the Nobel... he rejected it because he said he didn't deserve it
Actually, It's said that the reason why he didn't get the Nobel prize was his public opinion about Latinamerican dictatorships, specifically the ones in Argentina and Chile in the '70s.
On the contrary, the Nobel wasn't worthy enough to be given to him.
"Funes, el memorioso" is probably my favorite, together with The Aleph..... too many stories, too little time.
Dude!
As a mathematician who also enjoys some literature, I really enjoy Borges' works.
If you draw a Venn diagram of Mathematics and Literature, you will surelly find Borges' stuff in the intersection.
I'm pretty confident that he did knew some advanced maths. (basic advanced stuff, but still advanced)
Yep. Cantos sets to name an example
You could read Borges y la matemática by Guillermo Martínez
great insight! Im into engineering field who loves literature too. Hopefully I could buy his book
SEZ DUDE BUT THEN SEZ MATHS
Yes! The Circular Ruins is so mesmerizing I read it over and over! Also love The Garden of Forking Paths so much
Thanks . We have a book club and this week we are reading Borges. He is more than words can describe. Really fascinating. The universality in his writings is unique.
Same puzzling notion that Jung struggled with, or perhaps danced alongside for his entire life.. "People don't have ideas, ideas have people"..gives me the chillz
That is chilling - what do you recommend to start with Jung?
As far as I know, that's not a quote from Jung but from Ortega y Gasset. Actually is one of his main ideas.
@@BetterThanFoodBookReviews just read his autobiography, he himself says which are his big works there (Modern Man In Search of A Soul is a favorite of his)
Man, I just started this. Been watching you for years and I didn't realize this is how it all started, but boy does this get me hyped. So far it is fantastic, and I'm not even though History of Iniquities. Can already tell I'll be recommending this one for years.
I definitely agree with the statement that there's life before Borges and life after Borges. Reading his work expanded my imagination in ways I never knew were possible.
Got my copy of this book today. I ordered it right after watching this video of yours like a month ago. It didn't come cheap but honestly I don't mind. The feel, texture, and pages of this book are awesome. Absolutely stoked to see what nuggets of genius they will contain.
If you like Borges you'll also like Cesar Aira. Aira cites Borges as one of his key influences. He's more evidently influenced by European Surrealism than Borges but there's still that ludic quality. He writes 'novellas' - 80 to 100 page books. The one I'd start with is 'The Literary Conference'. They're all published by New Directions. Btw he's an Argentine too.
No better way to start a channel. You are the man!
I wanted to accentuate something that you didn't mention. That he intends, and often succeeds, to induce the feeling of unreality in the reader. I often put the book down at the end of a story and look around me at a room that seems to be different. Of course it is I who have changed while reading the story, not the room about me. He uses so many tricks, one is that some of his stories loop back on themselves, so you read a sentence that suddenly induces a feeling of déjà vu simply because you had read that sentence an hour ago in the same story. This man was really a genius, and I intend to read everything he wrote over the next months. Beware his inappropriate adjectives!!
Started reading Borges about 8 years ago, and now I honestly can't remember what it was like without Borges in my life. He made me passionate about books (which I already were, but El Maestro certainly stoked the fire), and gave me the will and desire to become a writer myself. It always makes my day to meet someone who likes Borges. I have a lot of favorites among his works - 'The Library of Babel', 'The Book of Sand', 'Tlön Uqbar Orbis Tertius' and the like - but the one that stands out is 'The Immortal'. Love the tone and the ideas he explores in that one.
I agree.
Agreed. The Inmortal is one of My favorites. But Thlon might be the Best.
that was a pleasure to read these comments. It's really great to know that there are so many people who share my obsession about him. I think the best word which can describe his magnetism is ... Zahir
If you like Borges, Kafka, Bolano and Gaddis, I'd highly recommend almost anything by Pynchon. You seem to be a very versatile reader, as in you read through a lot of genres and different kinds of writing ranging from ficiton to poetry to non-fiction to literary criticism to plays. I'm very surprised you haven't fallen into reviewing well known books that are still really good reads (classics, dystopians, popular contemporary fiction etc.) It's a bit frustrating because it makes me feel ignorant of most of what you review, but it also gives me an opportunity to read things out of my comfort zone. Nonetheless, you've reviewed some of my favorite reading experiences ever: Hopscotch, 2666, the Name of the Rose, Blood Meridian. Good job carrying on your channel. I'll be happy to support your channel! as soon as I get a paying job :P
All the best Cliff Sgt. !
This book literally changed my life. I felt that my life had no meaning and that I was a willless machine, adhering to the determinism and randomness of the universe. But when I read this book, all of that melts away, it doesn't matter, I am reading Borges and I am happy.
Wow, really? I can't wait to dive in
Terrified of mirrors. What a unique fear. One of the few writers who opens up doorways directly to my mind
Bro, you are a man after my heart. I read Sun and Steel and the only review I could find was yours. Now to find you have my favorite as your first review has me excited and ready to take any of your recommendations.
Ten years later... Lost on a camp fire in Central America I discover your channel... And shoot..., this is one of the best book reviews I've ever seen, and in deed, Borges and his library are better than food, as well as Bolaño... Thank you very much for these great insights into other realms of the universe.
Seven Nights is one of my favorite collection of lectures. Kabbalah and Buddhism might’ve changed my life.
He's possibly my favorite fiction writer, he's so good that he's TOO GOOD!
It's an interesting book that is always shifting. For example, I read The Circular Ruins in September. I recently decided to read some more Ficciones and re-read The Circular Ruins and the story had changed slightly; the words were replaced with other words that had a slightly different meaning, some sentences were relocated and some paragraphs were eliminated. I swear even the font type had changed.
Changed how? And by whom?
Probably changed by the experiences I've had between the two readings.
I know its been 4 years but I finally read the short story "The Circular Ruins". I love this channel but I honestly forgot that you had even made a video on Borges and went about my life. Now it's May of 2019, I go into my first day on the job as a Barback at a local pizza restaurant/bar and have the pleasure of being trained by a fellow history nerd. We get into conversations about the ancient Greeks, ancient Mediterranean Literature, Roman Statues, Spanish painters during their civil war- so on and so forth. We eventually get onto the subject of Latin, Latin-American, and Spanish authors and he absolutely implores me to read Circular Ruins along with the rest of Borges' work. It's just funny that now I've come to read it, absolutely loved it, and completely had my jaw drop at the ending. This is just such a perfect short story in so many ways.
Now it is all circling back here to this video with me trying to learn other people's thoughts on Jorge's fantastic work 😂
P.S. You're the one who got me into reading Roberto Balono many years ago, and I've never been able to get enough of him!
Awesome, glad you enjoyed it, thank you so much for continuing to watch! Much more to come.
Oh my goodness, now I HAVE to read these short stories! Your reviews are so great because they give me the same desire I have to read a specific book after watching the movie adaptation (for example, I recently watched again The Time Machine and learned that it's actually the first sci-fi book ever written and I just can't wait to buy it and get into it as soon as possible!). Thanks for your channel, it's a real gift. :)
This review has made me pick up Fictions immediately. I've had it for years and not even looked at it twice. I'm loving it!
I just so happened to stumble on your "Heart of Darkness" review as I was searching for a good reason to do the full reading for class. I found it extremely difficult to get into, but your review kept me looking forward for the bigger picture.
On a more relevant topic:
I cannot believe how much time two of my classes were spend on "Garden of Forking Paths". I kept debating whether to get the "Laberintos" (or another of Borges's collections) or not, but this review just helped me reach a conclusion.
I'm looking forward for more spanish/latin authors being addressed in this channel.
Keep up the good work Sergeant! You just got a new subscriber.
+Frankie R. Fuck yeah. More to come. Thanks for watching.
So I should read Borges? You should be more clear about that.
Great, great, great video. No-frills, zero triviality, and tons of inspiration.
I absolutely agree with you. It has been my favorite book for years. My only thing to add to your review: try to read it in Spanish. I have not read it in English, but I cannot imagine it is at all possible to translate all the texture, flavor, hidden genius: all the intangibles that make me come back to it. Everything else you said about the content is spot on.
Even if there's no other reason in your life to learn Spanish, this one is worth it. Go back and read it in Spanish, you'll know what I mean.
Great book!! My favorite story is the Garden of Forking Paths. Borges basically invented the concept of the hypertext with this story, which inspired to some extent the internet and choose-your-own-adventure stories.
Absolute. You have a copy of my favourite translation. Borges is beyond other people's minds, I know you know you know you know how.
Something you might be interested in: *"A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole*. Since you like Bolano, I read he mentioned this book in some of his interviews as an influence.
It is one of the funniest books around. The paradox however is, that its writer committed suicide, because he did not find a publicist willing to publicise the book. The edition I have as a forword in it by Tristan Egolf. Another author struggling to get publicised until a french author helped him. Strangly however Egolf also committed suicide after finishing his third book.
It is a funny book. The reality behind it is pure tragedy. :s
Dude! you need to read "The library of Babel" by Borges too!
I agree with you that there is no reason you HAVE to know about the author to enjoy their work, however, I find a great amount of joy in learning about an author or artist that I enjoy the work of. I feel as though learning about their life helps you connect more deeply with their work and I have found things in an authors work that I would've otherwise missed if I had missed out on knowing how the piece was written or what the author was going through when the author wrote it. I am also a bit of a history nerd so it may just be the historical part of my brain that also enjoys the biographical aspect of learning about authors and artists.
I recently read El Aleph, in spanish, and I have to admit it was the most sublime and intricate reading experience I've had in a while. I don't really know how to talk about Borges, I guess the wonder and the awe tend to speak for themselves.
Deberías otros cuentos, tiene varios muy superiores. Probablemente el mejor sea "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius", y por ende el más difícil de digerir.
Can't believe I hadn't seen this video--the first--and learned where the title for the show comes from! Jeff Noon is fantastic too, Vurt is one of the strangest and most engaging SF books I've ever read.
Pretty crazy that this is where it all started.
El Maestro Jorge Luis Borges. Lees sus historias 5 veces y las cinco te dan impresiones diferentes, una página es un velo pesado de términos e ideas. Y sus recopilaciones de historias son laberintos en sí.
Throw me off the rails of the Library of Babel, I'll be happy all the way down where I would finally find the book of my life. Reading Borges is for me a sublime experience because you know that unless you're reading more Borges, there is nothing else like it out there... although for me Lydia Davis comes close. I wondered what a Borges novel would be like.
What a delightful breath of fresh air this video was after listening to 2 hours of Terrence McKenna and musing on the Philosophy of Austin osman spare. Looking forward to reading Borges, I have 3 of his books, one of them being "labyrinths", but hes still some ways down on my reading list.
Hello friend. I've recently purchased a copy of this book and have been unable to put it down, and when I do the images and philosophical wonders occupy my mind.
I find the stories immensely laborious to digest, though, and can only read one or two a day. I've decided not to read the book from flap to flap, and my favorites so far are "The South," "Death and a Compass," and "The Garden of Forking Paths." I was wondering if you could direct me to your favorites. Thanks.
Never heard of Borges before but just impulse bought this mother off ebay because of this video
Your book reviews are quite awesome, especially seeing that you talked about The Consumer by Michael Gira, excellent taste! And you look like Bradley Cooper which is a plus!
I dig the Erik Satie :)
Borges is great. Bolaño is magnific writer, reality and density literature.
Very informative. Can't wait to watch more of these. Sad it's taken me so long to find them!!!!!!
Borges makes you think and, at the same time, you feel happy.
You have to read Rayuela (Hopscotch) by Julio Cortazar, the quintessential "I am a changed man after reading it" book. You also must read El Tunel (The Tunnel) by Ernesto Sabato, a journey into loneliness, love and obsession, its the first book that really moved me when I was a teenager. Love the channel, saludos desde Buenos Aires!
+metalgod88 Saludos! Rayuela is definitely coming, I'll check out 'The Tunnel', thanks
+Better Than Food: Book Reviews Is "Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote" in Jorge Luis Borges' "Collected Fictions"?
totally agree you must read "el tunel"
I read EL TUNEL when I was in high school too, it was my favorite. I definitely have to read Rayuela !
'The Aleph', favorite short story ever, from the greatest short story author ever. First found about Borges from an interview with Harlan Ellison back in the '80's who referred to him as a giant so I had to find out about him, bought Ficciones, fell in love with his writing immediately.
timkjazz is that from the comics journal interview?
The Twilight Zone Magazine, now long defunct, also first came across the name John Crowley and his masterwork, Little, Big, the greatest fantasy novel ever written, in the magazine. Have read every word written by Crowley, a favorite of the esteemed critic Harold Bloom, classic novels like Engine, Summer, The Deep, Beasts, and the 4 novel fantasy masterpiece consisting of 1)Aegypt - aka The Solitudes 2)Love and Sleep 3)Daemonomania 4)Endless Things. A masterful writer.
Really? I find that story extremly overrated compared to others.
Cheers for the heads up on this. Been on my shelf for at least 4 years. Picked it up. Flicked to The Circular Ruins and found another short story to add to my list of all time favourites. And a killer reason to pick up his other works that are sitting forlornly gathering dust. A skoal x
This book is elemental o think I had aphasia afterwards., it physically does something those words just poured in me, this is ones of those transcendental novels and why we read at all it'more of an experience than a read ....
I personally think that to say Borges’ work is better than food is to underrate him.
Purchased the e -book immediately after watching this video , tnxs!!
I'm in the middle of reading this right now. "Dialog About A Dialog" is possibly the greatest thing of all time.
En «El hacedor» (The Maker). Fue el primer libro de Borges que leí. Es breve y tiene prosas cortas y poemas, pero podría ser la puerta ideal para entrar en su universo.
Borges is brilliant in so many ways... Here's just two of them: He wrote fictional essays. Yeah, that's right. He has a world famous fictional essay were he explains in great detail why the true author of El Quijote was Pierre Menard and not Cervantes. And it's all lies. He didn't invent the fictional essay, but he sure perfected it. Another brilliant typical Borges: he invented a kind of philosphical short story, where the story revolves around not characters, not plotlines, but philosophical ideas, musings, meditations. The Ciruclar Ruins is a great example of this. He has had massive influence not ontly on authors who write in Spanish, but in the whole world. His work has been translated into every major language and I'v read that many Eastern European authors have named him as a major influence on their own work
Just picked this volume up, along with Marquez's collected novellas and Neruda's collected poems to bring with me to South America in a couple days. Looking forward to reading this down there now. Solid review.
Eu amo ler Borges. I love read Borges.
I feel the same way about William Burroughs. But then again, I bet Burroughs was influenced by Borges.
Great review. You should also read/review El Aleph. Well, the complete collection of his works are worth it. You should also read La Invencion de Morel from Adolfo Bioy Casares. Another you should read is Niebla from Miguel de Unamuno. You wont be disappointed.
Sorry for my bad english. Keep doing this reviews!
I can't believe I studied about Borges during high school but never actually read anything from him. I definitely gotta get this book !
I really enjoyed this, I have the same edition (the uncut pages are great btw)
I'd have to say my favourite books overall were Fictions and The Maker, the
latter being just 30 pages long but incredibly rich nonetheless.
And Fictions was just, you know.
Also "The Secret Miracle" is underrated as hell.
So true! I love Borges so much. If you can read his works in Spanish too they're beautiful. I can't wait to see you do Cortázar
I can't pick my favourite from this amazing collection!
Woah, stumbled on this video because I thought, hmmm maybe cliff read this book... Andddd hellyeah. Love all your stuff. Keep it going
My apologies for the necro, but I just found your channel and subscribed. The Chinese philosopher with the butterfly dream is Chuang Tzu. He has some great stories worth reading.
A whole universe created in few words and pages. How incredible is that?
La obra de Borges es, en sí misma, una especie de metáfora del aleph de uno de sus cuentos. ;)
Love your reviews, please keep doing them! Greetings from Colombia.
I have labyrinths which is a collection of stories from ficciones and other books. I live in Uruguay and so bought Cuentos completos to help me with my spanish. Tough in both languages but incredible writing.
I have a handful of Borges's short stories that I think are utter brilliance, if anyone want some titles to go straight to read him:
Circular Ruins
The inmortal
The other death
Tlon, Uqbar
The aleph
A esos cuentos yo añadiría estos otros:
La biblioteca de Babel.
El espejo y la máscara.
El jardín de senderos que se bifurcan.
La forma de la espada.
Tema del traidor y del héroe.
La muerte y la brújula.
La casa de Asterión.
Los dos reyes y los dos laberintos.
Utopía de un hombre que está cansado.
Ulrica.
Undr.
El tintorero enmascarado Hákim de Merv.
El Sur.
La escritura del dios.
Funes el memorioso.
Pierre Menard, autor del Quijote.
El zohar.
El otro.
Emma Zunz.
El acercamiento a Almotásim.
El libro de arena.
Los teólogos.
La intrusa.
El evangelio según Marcos.
El otro duelo.
Y los siguientes textos cortos de «El hacedor»:
Parábola del palacio.
El hacedor.
Everything and Nothing (en inglés en el original).
Inferno, I, 32.
Paradiso, XXXI, 108.
Del rigor en la ciencia.
In memoriam, J. F. K.
Sí, es más que un puñado, pero creo que con estos relatos ya puede tenerse una idea bastante buena de la narrativa de Borges.
A running sentence in Latin America over the 70's and 80's was, every time the Nobel prize for literature was announced, "here goes another year in which Borges doesn't get it".
Agreed: Death and the Compass, The Garden of Forking Paths, The Waiting...and so on.
I just ordered this book. This review sure gets me hyped lol
ruclips.net/video/EHtvTGaPzF4/видео.html ruclips.net/video/HvsoVgc5rGs/видео.html
You should totally read Macedonio Fernández as well. He was a close friend of Borges, and great a writer, poet... A great thinker.
Classic recommendation, classic video. Love your work, man. Thank you 👍
You don't find this book, this book finds you!
What an line to finish on.
First episode... Borges... Perfect pic from the beginning... so much to think about...
I am so impressed that you love Fictions of JLB. I love his books too, so impressive personality and author. Maybe you can help me to find one of his books where he tells the story of two men who are related but fighting for power and one of them offers the other one a 6 ft. of land? meaning he is giving him a place where to rest. Do you know about it. I cannot remember very well. Hope you know something. Thank you! I recommend you to read Juan Rulfo: El Llano en Llamas y Pedro Paramo.
Brilliant writer unparalleled talent
The detective murder mystery story was *bananas* !
did you know that "la muerte y la brujula" was written during WWII, and that the policeman is jew, and isbeing chased like a mouse? any resemblance to reality, is not pure coincidence
the circular ruins is my favorite too!!!
I am currently reading Ficciones, and The Circular Ruins is the next short story after the one i am on.
You just have a little glance of the aleph, this mysthical point where all point collides
I think you are on the road, young man, I feel the same - and have my collection that though I haven't read it all or even a quarter of it - I know it is gold and precious, I guess even angel and devil alike love Borges 👁👅👁