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Just a quick note to let you know that my non-structured reading group partners in crime and I have recently decided to add some Jorge Luis Borges appetizers to the menu for our shared reads in May. If you're interested in reading and discussing some Borges short stories with us this month, please join us on participating blogs on the following dates: Friday, 5/7: "Pierre Menard, autor del Quijote" ["Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote"]; Friday, 5/14: "La biblioteca de Babel" ["The Library of Babel"]; Friday, 5/21: "El Sur" ["The South"]. Although at least two of us will be reading these short short stories (only about 10 pages each) in their original Spanish as available in Borges' Ficciones and elsewhere, most of the group will be reading them in English from Penguin's Collected Fictions Borges compilation. So no worries if your Spanish isn't up to snuff as the discussions will take place in English! P.S. Those curious about our main (longer, non-Borgesian) shared read for the month are also encouraged to think about joining us on Friday, 5/28, when we'll be discussing Sarah's pick, Margo Lanagan's Tender Morsels.
I'm in for Library of Babel, and also Tender Morsels (or Care Bears Gone Wild).
ResponderBorrarI'd like to join. I'll be reading the texts of Pierre Menard & Library of Babel from Labyrinths and The South from A Personal Anthology. I'm not sure if the translators differ in those editions from Ficciones.
ResponderBorrarHi Richard! Remember me?
ResponderBorrarI'm only just finishing off Kristin Lavransdatter, after six months of hibernation, but I would love to read some Borges. Count me in? :)
What, no "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius"?
ResponderBorrarWhat fun. This is The. Good. Stuff.
What wonderful news! I bought the Collected Fictions not long ago myself and was hoping to get to several more of the stories this month. Looking forward to doing these together!
ResponderBorrar*Jill: Awesome! P.S. I have an Australian edition of Tender Morsels checked out from the library, which is great because that Care Bears Gone Wild version you so accurately describe would require a plain brown paper wrapper for me to smuggle it around town without worrying about running into anybody I know! :D
ResponderBorrar*Rise: Great to have you join us! I imagine people will end up using a variety of translations, so no worries on that front. By the way, I really enjoyed the little I saw of your blog before work today, so I'll be back before too long to do a little more exploring. Cheers!
*Tuesday: Hi, how you doing? I saw that you might be coming out of retirement soon, so I'm stoked to see that you'll be reading some Borges with us this month. That's wonderful!
*Amateur Reader: Didn't know/remember that you were a Borges guy. Got time to read with us? As you can imagine, it was a little hard narrowing down the field to just three titles, though.
*Nicole: All my Borges stuff is in Spanish, but that Collected Fictions is such a handsome volume that it just keeps calling my name. Anyway, great to hear that you'll be able to join us for these this month!
I've only mentioned Borges in 11 posts - not even 2% of them!
ResponderBorrarThe only time I've written about an actual work of his was during Golem Week. This one gives a better idea of his importance to me.
What I have not done, although I have been tempted, is write about books that do not exist, but should, as if they existed. I guess Jewish Gauchos of the Pampas came close, but that turned out to be, much to my surprise, a real book.
*Amateur Reader: Cool posts, thanks. Have to say that I was mostly underwhelmed by the Golem silent movie when I saw it a year or two ago, although it's certainly worth seeing for the destruction scenes and the proto-Moe Howard/Prince Valiant haircuts (that picture you used in your post always cracks me up)! Are you familiar with Enrique Vila-Matas' Bartleby & Co. by any chance? It has a Borges-inspired sensibility you might appreciate, and it'd make a great companion piece to Bolaño's Nazi Literature in the Americas for its comedic sensibilities as well. Click on the Vila-Matas link on my sidebar if you want to see my post on it from last year. Cheers!
ResponderBorrarI read Bartleby just recently, and liked it enough that I certainly want to read Montano's Malady. I clearly need to read Wilcock, too. The Temple of Iconoclasts has been Englished.
ResponderBorrarMeh. I've tried and tried and tried to like Borges but, for some reason, he just never clicked with me. Which is weird because I've loved quite a few works by other authors who either influenced him or were influenced by him. It doesn't make any sense at all.
ResponderBorrar*Amateur Reader: I hope to get to Montano before too long as well, but I've been telling myself that for a while now. Sigh. Will be interested in hearing what you think of the Wilcock book which, despite a few dull entries here and there, is a pretty nifty ancestor to Bolaño's Nazi Literature in the Americas all in all. Cheers!
ResponderBorrar*E.L. Fay: As much as I like Borges, I can totally relate to people who are just not into him for whatever reason. Mostly because his fiction sometimes doesn't convey the "human warmth" that you get from his interviews or non-fiction work, I think (if that makes any sense). However, I greatly enjoyed my reread of "Pierre Menard" and am looking forward to seeing how the first-time "Pierre Menard" and/or Borges readers react to the story. Should be interesting!
I hope our library has Borges' collection. I wish I could read it in Spanish. I'm planning on joining you with Tender Morsels as the discussion is so exciting.
ResponderBorrar*Bellezza: Glad to hear that you're planning on joining us for Tender Morsels and maybe a Borges or two. Good luck with the library hunting!
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