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A Universal History of Iniquity
In his writing, Borges always combined high seriousness with a wicked sense of fun. Here he reveals his delight in re-creating (or making up) colorful stories from the Orient, the Islamic world, and the Wild West, as well as his horrified fascination with knife fights, political and personal betrayal, and bloodthirsty revenge. Sparkling with the sheer exuberant pleasure of story-telling, this wonderful collection marked the emergence of an utterly distinctive literary voice.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
120 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1935
About the author
Jorge Luis Borges
1,836 books13.2k followersJorge Francisco Isidoro Luis Borges Acevedo was an Argentine short-story writer, essayist, poet and translator regarded as a key figure in Spanish-language and international literature. His best-known works, Ficciones (transl. Fictions) and El Aleph (transl. The Aleph), published in the 1940s, are collections of short stories exploring motifs such as dreams, labyrinths, chance, infinity, archives, mirrors, fictional writers and mythology. Borges's works have contributed to philosophical literature and the fantasy genre, and have had a major influence on the magic realist movement in 20th century Latin American literature.
Born in Buenos Aires, Borges later moved with his family to Switzerland in 1914, where he studied at the Collège de Genève. The family travelled widely in Europe, including Spain. On his return to Argentina in 1921, Borges began publishing his poems and essays in surrealist literary journals. He also worked as a librarian and public lecturer. In 1955, he was appointed director of the National Public Library and professor of English Literature at the University of Buenos Aires. He became completely blind by the age of 55. Scholars have suggested that his progressive blindness helped him to create innovative literary symbols through imagination. By the 1960s, his work was translated and published widely in the United States and Europe. Borges himself was fluent in several languages.
In 1961, he came to international attention when he received the first Formentor Prize, which he shared with Samuel Beckett. In 1971, he won the Jerusalem Prize. His international reputation was consolidated in the 1960s, aided by the growing number of English translations, the Latin American Boom, and by the success of Gabriel García Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude. He dedicated his final work, The Conspirators, to the city of Geneva, Switzerland. Writer and essayist J.M. Coetzee said of him: "He, more than anyone, renovated the language of fiction and thus opened the way to a remarkable generation of Spanish-American novelists."
Born in Buenos Aires, Borges later moved with his family to Switzerland in 1914, where he studied at the Collège de Genève. The family travelled widely in Europe, including Spain. On his return to Argentina in 1921, Borges began publishing his poems and essays in surrealist literary journals. He also worked as a librarian and public lecturer. In 1955, he was appointed director of the National Public Library and professor of English Literature at the University of Buenos Aires. He became completely blind by the age of 55. Scholars have suggested that his progressive blindness helped him to create innovative literary symbols through imagination. By the 1960s, his work was translated and published widely in the United States and Europe. Borges himself was fluent in several languages.
In 1961, he came to international attention when he received the first Formentor Prize, which he shared with Samuel Beckett. In 1971, he won the Jerusalem Prize. His international reputation was consolidated in the 1960s, aided by the growing number of English translations, the Latin American Boom, and by the success of Gabriel García Márquez's One Hundred Years of Solitude. He dedicated his final work, The Conspirators, to the city of Geneva, Switzerland. Writer and essayist J.M. Coetzee said of him: "He, more than anyone, renovated the language of fiction and thus opened the way to a remarkable generation of Spanish-American novelists."
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June 24, 2023
It is literally impossible to overvalue Jorge Luis Borges’ influence on the modern intellectual literature – however much we think he did, he did even more.
Similar to sounds, skilfully combined by a composer into a harmonious sequence, turning them into melody, simple words, cunningly used by an artful author, become an intellectual sonata.
Telling the tales of villainy Jorge Luis Borges turns reality into a baroque ornament of wickedness, grotesquely adding to evil supernatural features so that it becomes even more sinister.
An ingenious addition even a wee bit of magic to reality unfailingly turns it into a magnetizing object of art.
Similar to sounds, skilfully combined by a composer into a harmonious sequence, turning them into melody, simple words, cunningly used by an artful author, become an intellectual sonata.
The runaway expected his freedom. Lazarus Morell’s shadowy mulattoes would give out an order among themselves that was sometimes barely more than a nod of the head, and the slave would be freed from sight, hearing, touch, day, infamy, time, his benefactors, pity, the air, the hound packs, the world, hope, sweat, and himself. A bullet, a knife, or a blow, and the Mississippi turtles and catfish would receive the last evidence.
Telling the tales of villainy Jorge Luis Borges turns reality into a baroque ornament of wickedness, grotesquely adding to evil supernatural features so that it becomes even more sinister.
An ingenious addition even a wee bit of magic to reality unfailingly turns it into a magnetizing object of art.
January 3, 2022
From his early years the Argentinian writer Jorge Luis Borges lived among books and languages, classical literature from many civilizations and cultures: Chinese, Persian, Nordic, Spanish, to name several. His greatest childhood memory was his father's books; he was reading Shakespeare in English at age eleven; by the time he was an adult, Borges turned his mind into one vast, comprehensive library.
Therefore, it is a bit ironic this bookish man chose to write an entire collection of tales about men of sheer action and where the action is immorality, wickedness, injustice and evil. And A Universal History of Iniquity is a jewel. Unlike Borges's earlier baroque writings, these nine short tales are straightforward and make for easy reading. For the purposes of this review and to convey the flavor of the book, here are quotes with brief comments on two of the tales.
THE DISINTERESTED KILLER BILL HARRIGAN
At the very beginning, Borges writes, "The almost-child who died at the age of twenty-one owing a debt to human justice for the deaths of twenty-one men - "not counting Mexicans." Yes, this is a tale of Billy the Kid. Iniquity, indeed; Borges gives us several vivid, memorable images of what it is like to kill for the hell of it. For instance, one notorious Mexican gunslinger and outlaw walks into a bar, a shot rings out, (no need for a second shot) and Billy picked up the conversation where he left off. And then in the words of Borges, "That night Billy lays his blanket out next to the dead man and sleeps - ostentatiously - until morning."
MONK EASTMAN, PURVEYOR OF INIQUITIES
Here is a description of noted personalities from this urban tale, "The chaotic story takes place in the cellars of old breweries turned into Negro tenements, in a seedy, three-story New York City filed with gangs of thugs like the Swamp Angels, who would swarm out of the labyrinthine sewers on marauding expeditions; gangs of cutthroats like the Daybreak boys, who recruited precocious murderers of ten and eleven years old; brazen, solitary giants like the Plug Uglies, whose stiff bowler hats stuffed with wood and whose vast shirttails blowing in the wind of the slums might provoke a passerby's improbable smile, but who carried huge bludgeons in their right hands and long, narrow pistols; and gangs of street toughs like the Dead Rabbit gang, who entered into battle under the banner of their mascot impaled upon a pike. Its characters were men like Dandy Johnny Dolan, famed for his brilliantined forelock, the monkey-headed walking sticks he carried, and the delicate copper pick he wore on his thumb to gouge out his enemies' eyes: men like Kit Burns, who was known to bite the head off live rats; and men like blind Danny Lyons, a towheaded kid with huge dead eyes who pimped for three whores that proudly walked the streets for him."
I have included the long quote above for a specific reason: Borges was fascinated by the image and concept of labyrinths his entire life. However, such a labyrinth of unending perversion and violence was one Borges would never himself experience directly; rather, as a bookish, literary man, Borges entered this twisted human sewer through his imagination. And please keep in mind Borges was strongly influenced by the nineteenth century German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer. The nastiness and brutality of life outlined by Schopenhauer made an indelible impression on the sensitive author.
My guess is anyone reading this review is light-years away from entering a world where teenagers kill for the hell of it or cutthroat gangs hack and slice one another to pieces under the banner of an impaled dog or rabbit. But such worlds existed aplenty in the 19th and early 20th century and they still exist today. How to experience these violent worlds for yourself? One easy answer: let Jorge Luis Borges give you a guided tour.
Young Jorge Luis Borges - Can you imagine young Borges as part of the New York City kids gang in the photo at the top?
October 25, 2024
Cred că nimeni nu poate uita (dacă a citit-o) povestirea despre profetul cu fața acoperită, Hakim din Merv. Adepții săi spun că poartă un văl brodat cu pietre prețioase, pentru ca nimeni să nu fie orbit de privirea lui necruțătoare. Ochii lui fanatici ard. În realitate, profetul este un impostor. Și nu e singurul impostor din acest volum. Își ascunde fața, pentru că este bolnav de lepră:
„Cu capetele plecate, smeriți..., doi căpitani îi smulseră Vălul... În prima clipă, totul n-a fost decît cutremurare. Făgăduitul chip al Apostolului, chipul care fusese în ceruri, era într-adevăr alb, dar de acel alb specific leprei descărnate...”.
Borges și-a publicat textele în suplimentul literar al ziarului Critica (1933-1934), apoi le-a adunat, în 1935, într-un volum tipărit în 2000 de exemplare, „al cărui titlu - ca să-l citez pe autor - e mai frumos decît cuprinsul”, și nu a pus niciodată prea mare preț pe ele: „Sînt niște exerciții narative banale, îmi căutam drumul”. Dar lectura cărții dovedește că Borges îl găsise deja. Inclusiv ideea că literatura rescrie în felurite chipuri un număr finit și nu foarte mare de metafore.
Cel mai mult mi-a plăcut povestirea „Vrăjitorul amînat / El brujo postergado”: un om trăiește o viață într-o clipită. Vă invit s-o citiți. Să mai spun (precum iluștrii cronicari de pe Goodreads) că se citește „repede și ușor”? Are doar două pagini...
„Cu capetele plecate, smeriți..., doi căpitani îi smulseră Vălul... În prima clipă, totul n-a fost decît cutremurare. Făgăduitul chip al Apostolului, chipul care fusese în ceruri, era într-adevăr alb, dar de acel alb specific leprei descărnate...”.
Borges și-a publicat textele în suplimentul literar al ziarului Critica (1933-1934), apoi le-a adunat, în 1935, într-un volum tipărit în 2000 de exemplare, „al cărui titlu - ca să-l citez pe autor - e mai frumos decît cuprinsul”, și nu a pus niciodată prea mare preț pe ele: „Sînt niște exerciții narative banale, îmi căutam drumul”. Dar lectura cărții dovedește că Borges îl găsise deja. Inclusiv ideea că literatura rescrie în felurite chipuri un număr finit și nu foarte mare de metafore.
Cel mai mult mi-a plăcut povestirea „Vrăjitorul amînat / El brujo postergado”: un om trăiește o viață într-o clipită. Vă invit s-o citiți. Să mai spun (precum iluștrii cronicari de pe Goodreads) că se citește „repede și ușor”? Are doar două pagini...
January 9, 2023
A series of narrative prose exercises: Borges's definition of this book, which he recognizes as inspired by other authors. Borges recreates the characters and transforms their story "into an irresponsible game of a timid one who did not have the courage to write tales and who was amused by falsifying or altering (sometimes without aesthetic excuse) the stories of the other."
If the author's entertainment is prominent, Borges sprinkles other illusions by inserting pure, personal inventions, playing on literary variations in his book's baroque aesthetic and giving it a complexity halfway between the essay and tale. Beyond the game of illusion and deception, the author poses the problem of the representative elements of the ego and its ideal, strongly constitutive of the poetic subject specific to Borges that he will sublimate in the eternal games of the mirror.
If the author's entertainment is prominent, Borges sprinkles other illusions by inserting pure, personal inventions, playing on literary variations in his book's baroque aesthetic and giving it a complexity halfway between the essay and tale. Beyond the game of illusion and deception, the author poses the problem of the representative elements of the ego and its ideal, strongly constitutive of the poetic subject specific to Borges that he will sublimate in the eternal games of the mirror.
May 27, 2024
"Reading... is an activity subsequent to writing - more resigned, more civil, more intellectual" (the closing words to the preface of the first edition).
I have the Complete Fictions (with copious translator's notes), but am splitting my review of that into its components, listed in publication order: Collected Fictions - all reviews. This is the first, published in 1935.
I had read several profound and passionate reviews by friends, and felt the building lure of Borges, aided by a growing awareness of how influential he was to many other writers. I came to Borges with high expectations.
I'm glad I had first dipped into several pieces from later volumes (thanks for the suggestions, Steve) before reading these. Although I give this only 3*, I'm assured of greater (much greater) things to come.
This is a collection of semi-fictionalised, but mostly straightforward accounts of exotic and infamous criminals around the world, plus one story that is not based on fact. Borges describes them as Baroque exercises, bordering on self-parody, and partially inspired by G K Chesterton. He defines Baroque as "the final stage in all art, when art flaunts and squanders its resources". They're well-written, and quite original in many ways, but crime fiction and biography are not favourite genres of mine, hence only 3* for my enjoyment.
The Cruel Redeemer of Lazarus Morell
Morell is a poor white man, with a scam to help slaves escape plantations to freedom.
I know that labyrinths recur throughout Borges' work, and the first mention is on the second page, in relation to the Mississippi delta.
The Improbable Imposter Tom Castro 5*
This story reminded me of Patricia Highsmith's Talented Mr Ripley. Tom is an opportunist, who with the encouragement of a friend, presents himself as the long-lost son of a titled lady. Part of the plan is that he looks SO unlike the other man, he couldn't possibly be an impostor. "In a few days she had recaptured the recollections her son had invoked."
The Widow Ching - Pirate
Early Chinese girl power and a pirate code (based on a real one) that prohibits rape. Plausible pseudo-history - then dragons (which turn out to be kites).
Monk Eastman, Purveyor of Iniquities
A New York gangster, with eventual connections to the Kelly Gang, via "labyrinthine sewers".
The Disinterested Killer Bill Harrigan
Billy the Kid frequents labyrinths and by 14, kills for mindless thrills (and sometimes other rewards). "He never fully measured up to the legend of himself."
The Uncivil Teacher of Court Etiquette Kotsuké no Suké
For Samuri, honour can mean being "granted the privilege of suicide".
Hakim, The Masked Dyer of Merv
"The earth we inhabit is an error, an incompetent parody. Mirrors and paternity are abominable because they multiply and affirm it." (This is paraphrased in the truly wonderful Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius, which is the first story of the next volume.)
Man on Pink Corner
This is a first-person story of knife fighters, not based on on a real person, and the translator's notes point out that the "pink" of the title refers to a rough area of Buenos Aires, and the lack of definite pronoun conjures a painting (perhaps Edward Hopper). In the final sentence, the unnamed narrator makes it clear he's telling the story to Borges - an early nod to the way Borges later blends levels of reality.
There is another version of this in Brodie’s Report. Both include the line “Rosendo, I think you’re needing this” as a woman hands him his own knife, from up his sleeve.
Et Cetera
This section contains even shorter pieces, some of which probably presage later works:
A Theologian In Death
A theologian in a mysterious and unfamilar house of many rooms is in denial of his own death. Maybe.
The Chamber of Statues
A fairytale-like allegory of death, via series of locked rooms, from 1000 nights.
The Story of the Two Dreamers
From The Arabian Nights. A very short fable of a fall from wealth, coincidence, reflection (in more than one sense), and following dreams (nocturnal ones), but still having to put in a little hard graft.
The Wizard that was Made to Wait 5*
Fairytale repetition: a wizard teaches magic to a priest on the promise of reward for his son, perpetually postponed. It's a retelling of Juan Manuel's tale from 1335, El brujo Postergado.
The Mirror of Ink
Visions in a different sort of mirror. Rorschach might approve.
Mahomed's Double
Lots of them! In the light of Rushdie and Charlie Hebdo, I'm not sure this would go unchallenged if published for the first time now.
Index of Sources
Another layer of fiction, or at least blurring the boundaries.
Quotes
• “Onto an alluvium of beastlike hopelessness and African fear there had sifted the words of the Scripture.”
• "The female soil, worn and haggard from bearing that impatient culture's get, was left barren."
• Facial "features of an infinite vagueness".
• Writing "free of any scruples as to the way words ought to be spelled".
• Kosher "calves whose throats had been slit with righteousness".
• "History (which, like a certain motion picture director, tells its story in discontinuous images)"
• Leaving a bar "in the drunken dizziness of the tango, like they were drowning in that tango".
I have the Complete Fictions (with copious translator's notes), but am splitting my review of that into its components, listed in publication order: Collected Fictions - all reviews. This is the first, published in 1935.
I had read several profound and passionate reviews by friends, and felt the building lure of Borges, aided by a growing awareness of how influential he was to many other writers. I came to Borges with high expectations.
I'm glad I had first dipped into several pieces from later volumes (thanks for the suggestions, Steve) before reading these. Although I give this only 3*, I'm assured of greater (much greater) things to come.
This is a collection of semi-fictionalised, but mostly straightforward accounts of exotic and infamous criminals around the world, plus one story that is not based on fact. Borges describes them as Baroque exercises, bordering on self-parody, and partially inspired by G K Chesterton. He defines Baroque as "the final stage in all art, when art flaunts and squanders its resources". They're well-written, and quite original in many ways, but crime fiction and biography are not favourite genres of mine, hence only 3* for my enjoyment.
The Cruel Redeemer of Lazarus Morell
Morell is a poor white man, with a scam to help slaves escape plantations to freedom.
I know that labyrinths recur throughout Borges' work, and the first mention is on the second page, in relation to the Mississippi delta.
The Improbable Imposter Tom Castro 5*
This story reminded me of Patricia Highsmith's Talented Mr Ripley. Tom is an opportunist, who with the encouragement of a friend, presents himself as the long-lost son of a titled lady. Part of the plan is that he looks SO unlike the other man, he couldn't possibly be an impostor. "In a few days she had recaptured the recollections her son had invoked."
The Widow Ching - Pirate
Early Chinese girl power and a pirate code (based on a real one) that prohibits rape. Plausible pseudo-history - then dragons (which turn out to be kites).
Monk Eastman, Purveyor of Iniquities
A New York gangster, with eventual connections to the Kelly Gang, via "labyrinthine sewers".
The Disinterested Killer Bill Harrigan
Billy the Kid frequents labyrinths and by 14, kills for mindless thrills (and sometimes other rewards). "He never fully measured up to the legend of himself."
The Uncivil Teacher of Court Etiquette Kotsuké no Suké
For Samuri, honour can mean being "granted the privilege of suicide".
Hakim, The Masked Dyer of Merv
"The earth we inhabit is an error, an incompetent parody. Mirrors and paternity are abominable because they multiply and affirm it." (This is paraphrased in the truly wonderful Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius, which is the first story of the next volume.)
Man on Pink Corner
This is a first-person story of knife fighters, not based on on a real person, and the translator's notes point out that the "pink" of the title refers to a rough area of Buenos Aires, and the lack of definite pronoun conjures a painting (perhaps Edward Hopper). In the final sentence, the unnamed narrator makes it clear he's telling the story to Borges - an early nod to the way Borges later blends levels of reality.
There is another version of this in Brodie’s Report. Both include the line “Rosendo, I think you’re needing this” as a woman hands him his own knife, from up his sleeve.
Et Cetera
This section contains even shorter pieces, some of which probably presage later works:
A Theologian In Death
A theologian in a mysterious and unfamilar house of many rooms is in denial of his own death. Maybe.
The Chamber of Statues
A fairytale-like allegory of death, via series of locked rooms, from 1000 nights.
The Story of the Two Dreamers
From The Arabian Nights. A very short fable of a fall from wealth, coincidence, reflection (in more than one sense), and following dreams (nocturnal ones), but still having to put in a little hard graft.
The Wizard that was Made to Wait 5*
Fairytale repetition: a wizard teaches magic to a priest on the promise of reward for his son, perpetually postponed. It's a retelling of Juan Manuel's tale from 1335, El brujo Postergado.
The Mirror of Ink
Visions in a different sort of mirror. Rorschach might approve.
Mahomed's Double
Lots of them! In the light of Rushdie and Charlie Hebdo, I'm not sure this would go unchallenged if published for the first time now.
Index of Sources
Another layer of fiction, or at least blurring the boundaries.
Quotes
• “Onto an alluvium of beastlike hopelessness and African fear there had sifted the words of the Scripture.”
• "The female soil, worn and haggard from bearing that impatient culture's get, was left barren."
• Facial "features of an infinite vagueness".
• Writing "free of any scruples as to the way words ought to be spelled".
• Kosher "calves whose throats had been slit with righteousness".
• "History (which, like a certain motion picture director, tells its story in discontinuous images)"
• Leaving a bar "in the drunken dizziness of the tango, like they were drowning in that tango".
March 2, 2015
"In matters of grave importance, style, not sincerity, is the vital thing."
Oscar Wilde
Exercises in Style
These stories are fascinating exercises in style.
They effectively document the development of Borges' style at a time when "he was a shy sort of man who could not bring himself to write short stories, and so amused himself by changing and distorting (sometimes without aesthetic justification) the stories of other men."
Matter of Fact
As Borges said in an earlier Preface, "the stories are not, nor do they attempt to be, psychological."
I assume he meant they weren't concerned with the internal consciousness and motivation of the characters. Borges was primarily concerned with external facts, in effect, what could be witnessed or seen by those present.
Only, in relation to writing, an author can help a reader to be vicariously present, and therefore to become a witness to what had been related by the author, or at least the narrator.
Good, Compliant Readers
Borges isn't interested in sincerity, because that can be faked.
Rather, he's interested in fact and factuality (and, ironically, how that can be faked).
One might expect that matters of fact would be truthful and undeniable. If you write matter of factly, then the reader will believe you.
Borges mentions that reading "is an activity subsequent to writing - more resigned, more civil, more intellectual."
It has the benefit of the writing, which necessarily has preceded it. The reader tends to give primacy to the writer, and therefore is both less sceptical and more trusting.
However, when the author or narrator decides to play a game with the reader, then the reading can be no more authentic than the writing. An author or narrator can make a reader complicit in their fraud, their forgery of truth.
An Impostor Forges His Style
These exercises in style, therefore, witness Borges mimicking and constructing styles of fiction and non-fiction that give the appearance of truth, veracity and authenticity.
If he fakes the style of non-fiction well enough, we will assume that he is sincere, or at least as sincere as history is capable of.
Of course, it's not enough that we believe that what is factual is true. Borges must make us believe that what is not true or factual is true as well.
He achieves this by setting his untruths in other people's truths. If he does this seamlessly enough, we won't be able to tell the difference.
Borges, therefore, starts even this work as an impostor, or at least as someone who is interested in the methodology of imposture.
The Virtues of Unlikeness
It's a game, of course. As well as a challenge. Having mastered likeness, the challenge is to embrace the virtues of unlikeness.
The more improbable the imposture, the greater the game.
How much can Borges get away with? The paradox being that the success of the likeness on the same page might draw attention to and undermine the unlikeness. Still, Borges believes that the dilemma can be overcome with greater, rather than less, audacity:
"Bogle knew that a perfect facsimile of the beloved Roger Charles Tichborne was impossible to find; he knew as well that any similarities he might achieve would only underscore certain inevitable differences. He therefore gave up the notion of likeness altogether. He sensed that the vast ineptitude of his pretence would be a convincing proof that there was no fraud, for no fraud would ever have so flagrantly flaunted features that might so easily have convinced."
Man on Pink Corner
Having eschewed psychology, having forged the appearance of likeness, having melded likeness and unlikeness, Borges was now ready to write "Man on Pink Corner", what seems to be a genuinely fictitious short story (or is it?).
Presumably, nothing in fiction need be truly factual, although the author might seek to persuade us that it is. Fiction is, by definition, a pretence.
If Borges could master fraud, was he now ready to master pretence?
Some guide to Borges' modus operandi is revealed in the first sentence:
"Imagine you bringing up Francisco Real that way, out of the clear blue sky, him dead and gone and all."
Unlike the earlier stories, there is a first person narrator. The subject is Real, if not necessarily real. He is ostensibly invented out of nothing, brought up out of the clear blue sky. And the inventor is the second person, "you", perhaps the reader, though it could equally be Borges himself or at least "Borges".
An Imaginary Primer
Our role, the role of the reader, is to be the agent who complies with the instruction implicit in the first word, "imagine".
Borges entrusts us to be "more resigned, more civil, more intellectual." We have to be, in order to participate in and enjoy his labyrinthine games of the imagination.
Needless to say, Borges is an adept teacher, and this is both his and our first primer.
What's remarkable is that we learn to read as we watch him teach himself how to write.
Of course, it was only the beginning!
SOUNDTRACK:
Deborah Conway - "It's Only The Beginning"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxR70...
Oscar Wilde
Exercises in Style
These stories are fascinating exercises in style.
They effectively document the development of Borges' style at a time when "he was a shy sort of man who could not bring himself to write short stories, and so amused himself by changing and distorting (sometimes without aesthetic justification) the stories of other men."
Matter of Fact
As Borges said in an earlier Preface, "the stories are not, nor do they attempt to be, psychological."
I assume he meant they weren't concerned with the internal consciousness and motivation of the characters. Borges was primarily concerned with external facts, in effect, what could be witnessed or seen by those present.
Only, in relation to writing, an author can help a reader to be vicariously present, and therefore to become a witness to what had been related by the author, or at least the narrator.
Good, Compliant Readers
Borges isn't interested in sincerity, because that can be faked.
Rather, he's interested in fact and factuality (and, ironically, how that can be faked).
One might expect that matters of fact would be truthful and undeniable. If you write matter of factly, then the reader will believe you.
Borges mentions that reading "is an activity subsequent to writing - more resigned, more civil, more intellectual."
It has the benefit of the writing, which necessarily has preceded it. The reader tends to give primacy to the writer, and therefore is both less sceptical and more trusting.
However, when the author or narrator decides to play a game with the reader, then the reading can be no more authentic than the writing. An author or narrator can make a reader complicit in their fraud, their forgery of truth.
An Impostor Forges His Style
These exercises in style, therefore, witness Borges mimicking and constructing styles of fiction and non-fiction that give the appearance of truth, veracity and authenticity.
If he fakes the style of non-fiction well enough, we will assume that he is sincere, or at least as sincere as history is capable of.
Of course, it's not enough that we believe that what is factual is true. Borges must make us believe that what is not true or factual is true as well.
He achieves this by setting his untruths in other people's truths. If he does this seamlessly enough, we won't be able to tell the difference.
Borges, therefore, starts even this work as an impostor, or at least as someone who is interested in the methodology of imposture.
The Virtues of Unlikeness
It's a game, of course. As well as a challenge. Having mastered likeness, the challenge is to embrace the virtues of unlikeness.
The more improbable the imposture, the greater the game.
How much can Borges get away with? The paradox being that the success of the likeness on the same page might draw attention to and undermine the unlikeness. Still, Borges believes that the dilemma can be overcome with greater, rather than less, audacity:
"Bogle knew that a perfect facsimile of the beloved Roger Charles Tichborne was impossible to find; he knew as well that any similarities he might achieve would only underscore certain inevitable differences. He therefore gave up the notion of likeness altogether. He sensed that the vast ineptitude of his pretence would be a convincing proof that there was no fraud, for no fraud would ever have so flagrantly flaunted features that might so easily have convinced."
Man on Pink Corner
Having eschewed psychology, having forged the appearance of likeness, having melded likeness and unlikeness, Borges was now ready to write "Man on Pink Corner", what seems to be a genuinely fictitious short story (or is it?).
Presumably, nothing in fiction need be truly factual, although the author might seek to persuade us that it is. Fiction is, by definition, a pretence.
If Borges could master fraud, was he now ready to master pretence?
Some guide to Borges' modus operandi is revealed in the first sentence:
"Imagine you bringing up Francisco Real that way, out of the clear blue sky, him dead and gone and all."
Unlike the earlier stories, there is a first person narrator. The subject is Real, if not necessarily real. He is ostensibly invented out of nothing, brought up out of the clear blue sky. And the inventor is the second person, "you", perhaps the reader, though it could equally be Borges himself or at least "Borges".
An Imaginary Primer
Our role, the role of the reader, is to be the agent who complies with the instruction implicit in the first word, "imagine".
Borges entrusts us to be "more resigned, more civil, more intellectual." We have to be, in order to participate in and enjoy his labyrinthine games of the imagination.
Needless to say, Borges is an adept teacher, and this is both his and our first primer.
What's remarkable is that we learn to read as we watch him teach himself how to write.
Of course, it was only the beginning!
SOUNDTRACK:
Deborah Conway - "It's Only The Beginning"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sxR70...
August 22, 2014
Leer Historia Universal de la Infamia es ir a la caza de la delgada línea roja. Ésa que separa, imperceptible, la realidad y la ficción. Sucede que, en esta antología de relatos criminales, Borges se apropia de historias verídicas (sin duda, caídas del ambar de viejas páginas policiales o de las polvorientas leyendas de antaño) y las envuelve en una atmósfera fascinante. En una telaraña de detalles asombrosos, que son una reescritura de lo real y que, incluso, lo perfeccionan.
Curioso: el autor logra todo esto sin caer en la pulsión falsificadora de los escritores. Ésa que los lleva remodelar el pedestre edificio de los hechos, en busca de una belleza que son incapaces de extraer de la realidad. Borges, no: aunque enriquece la historia con elementos novedosos, respeta tanto los fundamentos de lo cotidiano que resulta muy difícil distinguir dónde termina la literatura y dónde comienza la Historia.
Así, desfilan por las páginas de este libro, resucitados por una de las mejores plumas del mundo, célebres maleantes de todos los tiempos y de todas las culturas: la viuda Ching, temible pirata del Oriente; Billy the Kid, bandido de los desiertos de Arizona; y el impostor Tom Castro, quien se hizo pasar por un rico desaparecido y pretendió quedarse con su fortuna. Por supuesto: en Historia Universal de la Infamia, hay otros rutilantes asesinos. Otras glorias criminales y majestuosos estafadores. Porque la realidad, al igual que la ficción, es múltiple y sorprendente. Quizás por eso, en el capítulo final (llamado "Etcétera"), Borges introduce 6 relatos nuevos, enteramente ficcionales.
Pese a la amplitud de su temática, las historias de este libro son breves y concisas. Como es característico del autor. Se organizan, incluso, en subtítulos que sistematizan la acción y simplifican la lectura. Es decir: aquellos que temen a Borges, a su pasión -a veces ininteligible- por el mito y lo metafísico, pueden trabar una incipiente amistad con él por medio de este libro, sin miedo a extravirse en sus laberintos conceptuales. Eso sí: prepárense para cuestionar la realidad. Porque, en una vuelta de página cualquiera, la ficción toma su lugar. Inadvertidamente, como los estafadores e impostores de la historia. Y, entonces, sucede la magia.
Curioso: el autor logra todo esto sin caer en la pulsión falsificadora de los escritores. Ésa que los lleva remodelar el pedestre edificio de los hechos, en busca de una belleza que son incapaces de extraer de la realidad. Borges, no: aunque enriquece la historia con elementos novedosos, respeta tanto los fundamentos de lo cotidiano que resulta muy difícil distinguir dónde termina la literatura y dónde comienza la Historia.
Así, desfilan por las páginas de este libro, resucitados por una de las mejores plumas del mundo, célebres maleantes de todos los tiempos y de todas las culturas: la viuda Ching, temible pirata del Oriente; Billy the Kid, bandido de los desiertos de Arizona; y el impostor Tom Castro, quien se hizo pasar por un rico desaparecido y pretendió quedarse con su fortuna. Por supuesto: en Historia Universal de la Infamia, hay otros rutilantes asesinos. Otras glorias criminales y majestuosos estafadores. Porque la realidad, al igual que la ficción, es múltiple y sorprendente. Quizás por eso, en el capítulo final (llamado "Etcétera"), Borges introduce 6 relatos nuevos, enteramente ficcionales.
Pese a la amplitud de su temática, las historias de este libro son breves y concisas. Como es característico del autor. Se organizan, incluso, en subtítulos que sistematizan la acción y simplifican la lectura. Es decir: aquellos que temen a Borges, a su pasión -a veces ininteligible- por el mito y lo metafísico, pueden trabar una incipiente amistad con él por medio de este libro, sin miedo a extravirse en sus laberintos conceptuales. Eso sí: prepárense para cuestionar la realidad. Porque, en una vuelta de página cualquiera, la ficción toma su lugar. Inadvertidamente, como los estafadores e impostores de la historia. Y, entonces, sucede la magia.
December 8, 2023
'A Universal History of Infamy' is a collection of short, 'baroque' (according to the author), merely entertaining stories. The protagonists of these stories have real names of real famous criminals who got really lucky after their death. The reason for it is that Jorge Luis Borges re-created their personalities and filled their stories with the magic, beauty, wisdom and humour the real culprits could not dream of.
'Reading, obviously, is an activity which comes after that of writing; it is more modest, more unobtrusive, more intellectual.'
(From 'Preface to the First Edition')
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'I would say that the final stage of all styles is baroque when that style only too obviously exhibits or overdoes its own tricks. The baroque is intellectual, and Bernard Shaw has stated that all intellectual labour is essentially humorous. Such humour is not deliberate in the work of Baltasar
Gracian, but is deliberate, or self-conscious, in John Donne’s. The very tide of these pages flaunts their baroque character. To curb them would amount to destroying them; that is why I now prefer to invoke the pronouncement ‘What I have written I have written’ (John 19:22) and to reprint them, twenty year later, as they stand. They are the irresponsible game of a shy young man who dared not write stories and so amused himself by falsifying and distorting (without any aesthetic justification whatever) the tales of others.'
(From 'Preface to the 1954 Edition')
'Reading, obviously, is an activity which comes after that of writing; it is more modest, more unobtrusive, more intellectual.'
(From 'Preface to the First Edition')
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'I would say that the final stage of all styles is baroque when that style only too obviously exhibits or overdoes its own tricks. The baroque is intellectual, and Bernard Shaw has stated that all intellectual labour is essentially humorous. Such humour is not deliberate in the work of Baltasar
Gracian, but is deliberate, or self-conscious, in John Donne’s. The very tide of these pages flaunts their baroque character. To curb them would amount to destroying them; that is why I now prefer to invoke the pronouncement ‘What I have written I have written’ (John 19:22) and to reprint them, twenty year later, as they stand. They are the irresponsible game of a shy young man who dared not write stories and so amused himself by falsifying and distorting (without any aesthetic justification whatever) the tales of others.'
(From 'Preface to the 1954 Edition')
May 5, 2023
A Universal History of Iniquity is a collection of short stories by Jorge Luis Borges, first published in 1935, and revised by the author in 1954. Most were published individually in the newspaper Crítica between 1933 and 1934. Angel Flores, the first to use the term "magical realism", set the beginning of the movement with this book.
The stories (except "Man on Pink Corner") are fictionalised accounts of real criminals. The sources are listed at the end of the book, but Borges makes many alterations in the retelling—arbitrary or otherwise—particularly to dates and names, so the accounts cannot be relied upon as historical. In particular, "The Disinterested Killer diverges" from its source material.
Borges was reluctant to authorise a translation. In his preface to the 1954 edition, Borges distanced himself somewhat from the book, which he gave as an example of the baroque, "when art flaunts and squanders its resources"; he wrote that the stories are "the irresponsible sport of a shy sort of man who could not bring himself to write short stories, and so amused himself by changing and distorting (sometimes without aesthetic justification) the stories of other men" and that "there is nothing beneath all the storm and the lightning."
The first story follows Lazarus Morell, a white man who grew up on the banks of the Mississippi and later becomes a leader of crooks who devise the following scam: they persuade gullible Black enslaved people to run away from their owners and allow themselves to be sold on by the Morell gang who promise to liberate them and share the proceeds of this sale. But of course, they don’t.
Another story follows Arthur Orton, who later took on the name Tom Castro. Born in East London in 1834, he ran away and resurfaced in Sydney, Australia, some decades later. There he decides to pose as Roger Charles Tichborne, heir to one of the greatest Roman Catholic families in England. Roger is missing and his family advertised widely through the colonies for his return. Castro saw his chance to make easy money and pose as the Tichborne's son.
Yet another story follows Bill Harrigan, a street hoodlum born in the very tough slums of New York who supposedly killed his first man at age 14.
I think you get the gist of what Borges tried to do here. And whilst I think that these short vignettes on different criminals might have worked as serialised newspaper articles, they make for a poor short story collection. I just don't see any sense or interest in any of them stories. They don't seem literary, even though they are purposefully fictionalised and decidedly not nonfiction. I just didn't care for any of the criminals and Borges' writing didn't hold my attention.
I also don't see why or how this short story collection can be classified as magical realism. To me, it definitely veers towards the "realism" end.
I'm definitely not giving up on Borges yet because I am aware that his first "short story" collection is very different from everything else that followed. I'm still very much interested in Borges' proper short stories and his take of the genre of magical realism. It's also "nice" to know that Borges himself was kind of embarrassed about that silly little collection of his and didn't necessarily wanted it to be translated. I can definitely see why a writer of his caliber would look back in embarrassment on this unskillful attempt at retelling/imitation of his youth. Definitely not Borges at his best!
TW: racism, sexism, use of the n-word
The stories (except "Man on Pink Corner") are fictionalised accounts of real criminals. The sources are listed at the end of the book, but Borges makes many alterations in the retelling—arbitrary or otherwise—particularly to dates and names, so the accounts cannot be relied upon as historical. In particular, "The Disinterested Killer diverges" from its source material.
Borges was reluctant to authorise a translation. In his preface to the 1954 edition, Borges distanced himself somewhat from the book, which he gave as an example of the baroque, "when art flaunts and squanders its resources"; he wrote that the stories are "the irresponsible sport of a shy sort of man who could not bring himself to write short stories, and so amused himself by changing and distorting (sometimes without aesthetic justification) the stories of other men" and that "there is nothing beneath all the storm and the lightning."
The first story follows Lazarus Morell, a white man who grew up on the banks of the Mississippi and later becomes a leader of crooks who devise the following scam: they persuade gullible Black enslaved people to run away from their owners and allow themselves to be sold on by the Morell gang who promise to liberate them and share the proceeds of this sale. But of course, they don’t.
Another story follows Arthur Orton, who later took on the name Tom Castro. Born in East London in 1834, he ran away and resurfaced in Sydney, Australia, some decades later. There he decides to pose as Roger Charles Tichborne, heir to one of the greatest Roman Catholic families in England. Roger is missing and his family advertised widely through the colonies for his return. Castro saw his chance to make easy money and pose as the Tichborne's son.
Yet another story follows Bill Harrigan, a street hoodlum born in the very tough slums of New York who supposedly killed his first man at age 14.
I think you get the gist of what Borges tried to do here. And whilst I think that these short vignettes on different criminals might have worked as serialised newspaper articles, they make for a poor short story collection. I just don't see any sense or interest in any of them stories. They don't seem literary, even though they are purposefully fictionalised and decidedly not nonfiction. I just didn't care for any of the criminals and Borges' writing didn't hold my attention.
I also don't see why or how this short story collection can be classified as magical realism. To me, it definitely veers towards the "realism" end.
I'm definitely not giving up on Borges yet because I am aware that his first "short story" collection is very different from everything else that followed. I'm still very much interested in Borges' proper short stories and his take of the genre of magical realism. It's also "nice" to know that Borges himself was kind of embarrassed about that silly little collection of his and didn't necessarily wanted it to be translated. I can definitely see why a writer of his caliber would look back in embarrassment on this unskillful attempt at retelling/imitation of his youth. Definitely not Borges at his best!
TW: racism, sexism, use of the n-word
November 14, 2020
Desde os idos tempos, em que uma esbelta mulher decidiu desfrutar de um belo pomo escarlate, implantou-se um fascínio subversivo ante a vilania. Quiçá, numa perspectiva de psicologia reversa, pretende-se disseminar lições de moral para que o mal possa ser debelado e não se insurgir como entidade virulenta que é. Mas do contacto sucessivo poderão resultar efeitos nefastos e contrários aos esperados.
Neste conjunto de relatos, Borges reúne relatos que conferem pinceladas sobre a vida de vis personagens, erigidas sob um muro de escravidão, lenocínio, saque e homicídio. Mas, qual golpe cervical que emana golfadas de sangue, o conhecimento é contido. Colocam-se holofotes sob episódios dessas existências errantes, ao ritmo de um sino a repique, pelo que a relação estabelecida, entre leitor e personagens, é enviesada e enclausurada, limitando-a a um fino esgar de dor.
Este primeiro contacto com a escrita peculiar deste autor sublime faz lembrar o jogo do toca e foge. As enumerações quase sem sentido podem tentar o foco de cada um de nós. No entanto, o trabalho de revisão terá de merecer o destaque. Mais para mais, quando o próprio Borges enaltece a experiência da leitura; ela que engrandece todos em que toca. Para o mal, mas sobretudo para o bem de cada um (pratos da balança, em equilíbrio constante)!
"A terra que habitamos é um erro, uma incompetente imitação. Os espelhos e a paternidade são abomináveis porque a multiplicam e afirmam. O nojo é a virtude fundamental. Duas disciplinas (cuja escolha deixava livre o profeta) podem conduzir-nos a ela: a abstinência e a luxúria, o exercício da carne ou a sua castidade."
Neste conjunto de relatos, Borges reúne relatos que conferem pinceladas sobre a vida de vis personagens, erigidas sob um muro de escravidão, lenocínio, saque e homicídio. Mas, qual golpe cervical que emana golfadas de sangue, o conhecimento é contido. Colocam-se holofotes sob episódios dessas existências errantes, ao ritmo de um sino a repique, pelo que a relação estabelecida, entre leitor e personagens, é enviesada e enclausurada, limitando-a a um fino esgar de dor.
Este primeiro contacto com a escrita peculiar deste autor sublime faz lembrar o jogo do toca e foge. As enumerações quase sem sentido podem tentar o foco de cada um de nós. No entanto, o trabalho de revisão terá de merecer o destaque. Mais para mais, quando o próprio Borges enaltece a experiência da leitura; ela que engrandece todos em que toca. Para o mal, mas sobretudo para o bem de cada um (pratos da balança, em equilíbrio constante)!
"A terra que habitamos é um erro, uma incompetente imitação. Os espelhos e a paternidade são abomináveis porque a multiplicam e afirmam. O nojo é a virtude fundamental. Duas disciplinas (cuja escolha deixava livre o profeta) podem conduzir-nos a ela: a abstinência e a luxúria, o exercício da carne ou a sua castidade."
October 17, 2021
Borges’imiz her zamanki gibi. Alçaklıklarıyla nam salmış gerçek kişilerin kısa hikâyelerini anlatıyor ve 7-8 sayfalık o hikâyelerde sizi alıp acayip diyarlara götürmeyi başarıyor. Bir sürü korkunç insanla tanışıp onları Borges’in muzip dilinden dinlemek isterseniz buyrunuz. Ben çok sevdim.
February 16, 2021
Storia universale dell'infamia, prima opera in prosa narrativa di Borges, apparve in raccolta per la prima volta nel 1935. Borges ebbe a definire questi racconti scritti nel biennio 1933-34, e pubblicati su una rivista settimanale di cui era direttore, dei semplici “esercizi di prosa narrativa”, quasi vergognandosi a definirli “l'irresponsabile gioco di un timido che non ebbe coraggio di scrivere racconti e che per svagarsi falsificò e alterò storie altrui”.
Ispirato da una miriade di fonti che egli stesso cita, e in alcuni casi inventa, e continuando un esercizio che era stato inaugurato dalle Vite immaginarie di Schwob, Borges raccoglie nella sua prima raccolta di racconti le vite di alcuni personaggi realmente esistiti, cambiandone in alcuni casi il nome e sottolineandone, anche con la finzione letteraria, i comportamenti deplorevoli. Come a Schwob, anche a Borges non interessa essere esaustivo e fedele: per ciascun personaggio seleziona poche scene di vita, le dispone una accanto all'altra con brusca soluzione di continuità e, quasi con taglio cinematografico, ne distilla l'essenza in poche pagine, eliminando l'inutile e il superfluo.
L'opera si può dividere in tre parti. Nella prima, “Storia universale dell'infamia” sono inserite sette biografie di personaggi realmente esistiti, macchiatisi d'infamia e a buon diritto rientranti in questa particolare area della Storia: da Lazarus Morell, trafficante di schiavi neri negli Stati Uniti del Sud del diciannovesimo secolo, a l'impostore senza memoria Tom Castro; dalla vedova Ching, pirata che fu il terrore della flotta imperiale cinese, al gangster newyorkese Monk Eastmann; da Billy the Kid, mina vagante del Selvaggio West, al maestro di cerimonie giapponese Kotsuke no Suke, protagonista della famosa storia dei quarantasette ronin; fino a Hakim di Merv, profeta persiano mascherato, tacciato di eresia dall'Islam e perciò condannato alla damnatio memoriae.
La seconda parte è un racconto che fa da intermezzo, “Uomo all'angolo della casa rosa”, una storia di passione e di vendetta che Borges scrisse in età giovanile e che, per buona parte della sua carriera, rimaneggiò più volte (dell'intera opera, in tutta onestà, è l'unico racconto evitabile).
La terza parte, “Eccetera”, riunisce delle micro-narrazioni oscillanti tra storia e leggenda, tra mito e realtà, tra sogno e magia. In alcuni casi Borges si è limitato a trascrivere secondo i suoi gusti stilistici questi episodi, attingendo da letterature di altre epoche e regioni. Le principali fonti di ispirazione in questo gruppo di racconti sono le Mille e una notte e alcune opere teosofiche cristiane di Swedenborg. Borges stesso, in questa sezione, si annuncia soltanto come semplice lettore e traduttore di queste storie già narrate precedentemente (in alcuni casi questa figura è a sua volta un espediente letterario), rivendicando la superiorità della lettura sulla scrittura. Così afferma Borges nel Prologo alla prima edizione di quest'opera: “a volte penso che i buoni lettori siano cigni ancor più tenebrosi e rari dei buoni autori. Leggere, del resto, è un'attività successiva a quella di scrivere: più rassegnata, più civile, più intellettuale”.
Nel raccontare la vita di un personaggio esemplare per la propria infamia, Borges trova intorno ad essi una costellazione di altri uomini non certo migliori, come se l'infamia stessa, oltre ai suoi campioni, fosse un po' in tutti noi. Non ci sono personaggi positivi, ma è forse questo a renderli affascinanti.
Il gioco creativo con cui Borges mescola realtà e finzione è straordinario. La dimensione onirica, l'atmosfera magica, la narrazione mitica più che storica saranno i tratti distintivi della prosa di questo scrittore, anche e soprattutto nelle opere successive. La fantasia sfrenata, la potente immaginazione, la vasta cultura, il citazionismo raffinato, la curiosità sconfinata, l'amore per la letteratura e la suggestione di tempi e luoghi lontani e di un'infinità di mondi possibili sono altri aspetti che già emergono nelle sue opere giovanili, e che continueranno ad essere sviluppati successivamente.
Il primo Borges, il mio primo Borges: indimenticabile. La sua lettura apre la mente, fa viaggiare con la fantasia, dà libertà all'immaginazione, dispiega l'infinità delle possibilità. Si legge in un attimo, rimarrà per sempre.
Ispirato da una miriade di fonti che egli stesso cita, e in alcuni casi inventa, e continuando un esercizio che era stato inaugurato dalle Vite immaginarie di Schwob, Borges raccoglie nella sua prima raccolta di racconti le vite di alcuni personaggi realmente esistiti, cambiandone in alcuni casi il nome e sottolineandone, anche con la finzione letteraria, i comportamenti deplorevoli. Come a Schwob, anche a Borges non interessa essere esaustivo e fedele: per ciascun personaggio seleziona poche scene di vita, le dispone una accanto all'altra con brusca soluzione di continuità e, quasi con taglio cinematografico, ne distilla l'essenza in poche pagine, eliminando l'inutile e il superfluo.
L'opera si può dividere in tre parti. Nella prima, “Storia universale dell'infamia” sono inserite sette biografie di personaggi realmente esistiti, macchiatisi d'infamia e a buon diritto rientranti in questa particolare area della Storia: da Lazarus Morell, trafficante di schiavi neri negli Stati Uniti del Sud del diciannovesimo secolo, a l'impostore senza memoria Tom Castro; dalla vedova Ching, pirata che fu il terrore della flotta imperiale cinese, al gangster newyorkese Monk Eastmann; da Billy the Kid, mina vagante del Selvaggio West, al maestro di cerimonie giapponese Kotsuke no Suke, protagonista della famosa storia dei quarantasette ronin; fino a Hakim di Merv, profeta persiano mascherato, tacciato di eresia dall'Islam e perciò condannato alla damnatio memoriae.
La seconda parte è un racconto che fa da intermezzo, “Uomo all'angolo della casa rosa”, una storia di passione e di vendetta che Borges scrisse in età giovanile e che, per buona parte della sua carriera, rimaneggiò più volte (dell'intera opera, in tutta onestà, è l'unico racconto evitabile).
La terza parte, “Eccetera”, riunisce delle micro-narrazioni oscillanti tra storia e leggenda, tra mito e realtà, tra sogno e magia. In alcuni casi Borges si è limitato a trascrivere secondo i suoi gusti stilistici questi episodi, attingendo da letterature di altre epoche e regioni. Le principali fonti di ispirazione in questo gruppo di racconti sono le Mille e una notte e alcune opere teosofiche cristiane di Swedenborg. Borges stesso, in questa sezione, si annuncia soltanto come semplice lettore e traduttore di queste storie già narrate precedentemente (in alcuni casi questa figura è a sua volta un espediente letterario), rivendicando la superiorità della lettura sulla scrittura. Così afferma Borges nel Prologo alla prima edizione di quest'opera: “a volte penso che i buoni lettori siano cigni ancor più tenebrosi e rari dei buoni autori. Leggere, del resto, è un'attività successiva a quella di scrivere: più rassegnata, più civile, più intellettuale”.
Nel raccontare la vita di un personaggio esemplare per la propria infamia, Borges trova intorno ad essi una costellazione di altri uomini non certo migliori, come se l'infamia stessa, oltre ai suoi campioni, fosse un po' in tutti noi. Non ci sono personaggi positivi, ma è forse questo a renderli affascinanti.
Il gioco creativo con cui Borges mescola realtà e finzione è straordinario. La dimensione onirica, l'atmosfera magica, la narrazione mitica più che storica saranno i tratti distintivi della prosa di questo scrittore, anche e soprattutto nelle opere successive. La fantasia sfrenata, la potente immaginazione, la vasta cultura, il citazionismo raffinato, la curiosità sconfinata, l'amore per la letteratura e la suggestione di tempi e luoghi lontani e di un'infinità di mondi possibili sono altri aspetti che già emergono nelle sue opere giovanili, e che continueranno ad essere sviluppati successivamente.
Il primo Borges, il mio primo Borges: indimenticabile. La sua lettura apre la mente, fa viaggiare con la fantasia, dà libertà all'immaginazione, dispiega l'infinità delle possibilità. Si legge in un attimo, rimarrà per sempre.
February 5, 2017
La infamia es un acto vil, que mancha de manera definitiva la reputación de un individuo. Hay personajes que han pasado a la historia no por sus actos de heroísmo o de magnanimidad, sino por su abyección o por su influencia negativa en los hechos históricos. En este libro Jorge Luis Borges realiza un compendio de semblanzas y anécdotas sobre personajes infames, entre ellos: Billy The Kid (cuatrero), La viuda Ching (Pirata) y Hakim De Merv (Falso Profeta). Estos sujetos son retratados de manera objetiva, sin hacer apologías ni escarnio excesivo.
El ánimo de los escritos no es tanto el narrativo sino casi periodístico, ofreciendo ligeras pinceladas de información que nos incitan a investigar mucho más. Los “apuntes” (llamémoslos así) contenidos en el libro se basan en hechos pasados, a los cuales el autor agrega ciertas dosis de ficción que no alteran en absoluto la valoración histórica de los personajes. No obstante, siendo Borges un gran maestro del relato corto, podemos considerarlos como cuentos de alta manufactura, bien escritos y perfectamente construidos. Sabemos que el autor prefirió hacer relatos cortos bien documentados y bien revisados, en lugar de enormes escritos de naturaleza diversa en los que pudiéramos encontrar aciertos y falencias. El estilo es elegante y sabio, basado en una distante tercera persona (no podía ser de otra manera).
Destacan “El tintorero enmascarado Hakim De Merv” (que narra la anécdota que degrada a un popular profeta turkmeno en un vulgar merolico) y “El impostor inverosímil Tom Castro” (que nos habla de un ingenuo y bonachón personaje, títere de una estafa perpetrada por otra persona mucho más malvada). Algunas de estas "infamias" remiten a virtudes por encima de las canalladas. Tal es el caso del excelente “El incivil maestro de ceremonias” que relata una revuelta ocurrida en el Japón feudal y que ejemplifica el código de honor de los Samuraís. Este último podría ser el mejor y más luminoso cuento de todo el libro. A pesar de la presencia del adolescente desalmado Billy The Kid, y del gangster Monk Eastman, quien busque en este libro algo parecido a una novela negra, podría salir decepcionado.
Originalmente la obra constaba de siete relatos, pero con el tiempo, se ha ido agregando material adicional; la edición de Alianza editorial contiene un relato más largo llamado “El hombre de la esquina rosada” que trata sobre una pelea entre compadritos (pendencieros bailadores rioplatenses) y cuyo lenguaje arrabalero contrasta fuertemente con el del resto del libro. También se ha agregado el apartado “etcétera” que consta de seis relatos cuyo estilo más complejo y breve se asemeja más al Borges de sus obras posteriores. De estos últimos, destaca el desconcertante “El espejo de tinta”.
Con “Historia universal de la infamia” inicia el periodo clásico de Borges (Un crítico calificó este libro como la obra que inicia el realismo mágico latinoamericano), puede leerse como introducción al mundo Borgesiano y también como un libro de relatos históricos excelentemente escrito. El ánimo histórico y periodístico, lo coloca a como un libro menos complicado comparado con otras colecciones de relatos del autor (“El Aleph” y “Ficciones”), pero esto no significa que la lectura sea muy rápida, puesto que el lector deseará confrontar los innumerables datos y referencias mencionadas. Un relato corto de Borges puede contener más información que una novela completa de otros autores.
El ánimo de los escritos no es tanto el narrativo sino casi periodístico, ofreciendo ligeras pinceladas de información que nos incitan a investigar mucho más. Los “apuntes” (llamémoslos así) contenidos en el libro se basan en hechos pasados, a los cuales el autor agrega ciertas dosis de ficción que no alteran en absoluto la valoración histórica de los personajes. No obstante, siendo Borges un gran maestro del relato corto, podemos considerarlos como cuentos de alta manufactura, bien escritos y perfectamente construidos. Sabemos que el autor prefirió hacer relatos cortos bien documentados y bien revisados, en lugar de enormes escritos de naturaleza diversa en los que pudiéramos encontrar aciertos y falencias. El estilo es elegante y sabio, basado en una distante tercera persona (no podía ser de otra manera).
Destacan “El tintorero enmascarado Hakim De Merv” (que narra la anécdota que degrada a un popular profeta turkmeno en un vulgar merolico) y “El impostor inverosímil Tom Castro” (que nos habla de un ingenuo y bonachón personaje, títere de una estafa perpetrada por otra persona mucho más malvada). Algunas de estas "infamias" remiten a virtudes por encima de las canalladas. Tal es el caso del excelente “El incivil maestro de ceremonias” que relata una revuelta ocurrida en el Japón feudal y que ejemplifica el código de honor de los Samuraís. Este último podría ser el mejor y más luminoso cuento de todo el libro. A pesar de la presencia del adolescente desalmado Billy The Kid, y del gangster Monk Eastman, quien busque en este libro algo parecido a una novela negra, podría salir decepcionado.
Originalmente la obra constaba de siete relatos, pero con el tiempo, se ha ido agregando material adicional; la edición de Alianza editorial contiene un relato más largo llamado “El hombre de la esquina rosada” que trata sobre una pelea entre compadritos (pendencieros bailadores rioplatenses) y cuyo lenguaje arrabalero contrasta fuertemente con el del resto del libro. También se ha agregado el apartado “etcétera” que consta de seis relatos cuyo estilo más complejo y breve se asemeja más al Borges de sus obras posteriores. De estos últimos, destaca el desconcertante “El espejo de tinta”.
Con “Historia universal de la infamia” inicia el periodo clásico de Borges (Un crítico calificó este libro como la obra que inicia el realismo mágico latinoamericano), puede leerse como introducción al mundo Borgesiano y también como un libro de relatos históricos excelentemente escrito. El ánimo histórico y periodístico, lo coloca a como un libro menos complicado comparado con otras colecciones de relatos del autor (“El Aleph” y “Ficciones”), pero esto no significa que la lectura sea muy rápida, puesto que el lector deseará confrontar los innumerables datos y referencias mencionadas. Un relato corto de Borges puede contener más información que una novela completa de otros autores.
February 4, 2016
Talvez pelo fascínio que o Velho Oeste sempre exerceu sobre mim, o relato que mais me marcou destas universais e infamantes histórias de Borges, tenha sido "O assassino desinteressado Bill Harrigan", breve narração da atribulada e breve vida de Billy the Kid, morto aos 21 anos pelo Xerife Pat Garrett, acusado de 21 mortes "sem contar os mexicanos".
May 8, 2018
My only problem with this book was that it was too short. :) This is the sort of book that makes you want to make further explorations. Widow Ching the Pirate is probably my next stop somewhere over there between my historical reads.
August 14, 2018
Hay palabras que necesitan de mas palabras para ser definidas, y la infamia es una de esas.
Borges en este libro de Ficción presenta cuentos creados con personajes biográficos. La voz del narrador en tercera persona llamo mi atención, cuando durante la lectura te encuentras con la primera persona y durante la narración también lees ´Borges´ no es exactamente un personaje, sin embargo no se confunde con el narrador de la historia, al usar voz narrativa en tercera persona. La voz narrativa de este libro de ficción, es lo que más destaco, cabe mencionar que el uso de la tercera persona es escaso. En el camino, el autor brinda información que va desde lo particular hacia lo general, la narrativa ve de adentro para fuera de la historia. Borges hace uso de metáforas como la que le asigna como título a un capitulo: El simulador de la infamia. Ficción bajo el mando de la apoteosis. Títulos que entrelazan el capítulo con el sub capitulo y con la trama general del libro. Apoderar, derrotar, liderar algunas de las virtudes de los personajes de los cuentos de Borges en esta historia. Conexiones con exiguo dicción, poseen una profundidad de desarrollo y comprensión de la historia, disimiles incidentes y contingencias presencian los personajes, miedo, esperanza, misericordia derrota en la vida mendiga. La Magia y el brujo. El envenenador de caballos, apoderamiento de fortalezas y derrotas de los líderes que después terminaron no siéndolo tanto. Reino. Mohamed. Las conexiones que crea Borges con el lector y sus personajes son sublime.
Hay quienes mencionan que para leer a Borges se necesita madurez literaria, tal vez por el lenguaje o el uso de constantes metáforas lo dificulte. Un poco paciencia y desde este libro de ficción podrás entrar en mundo de Borges, como buena alternativa de inicio de lectura de este autor.
Lo interesante de compartir contenido por acá es conocer las múltiples perspectivas de las diferentes lecturas. Comenta si ya te la leíste.
Borges en este libro de Ficción presenta cuentos creados con personajes biográficos. La voz del narrador en tercera persona llamo mi atención, cuando durante la lectura te encuentras con la primera persona y durante la narración también lees ´Borges´ no es exactamente un personaje, sin embargo no se confunde con el narrador de la historia, al usar voz narrativa en tercera persona. La voz narrativa de este libro de ficción, es lo que más destaco, cabe mencionar que el uso de la tercera persona es escaso. En el camino, el autor brinda información que va desde lo particular hacia lo general, la narrativa ve de adentro para fuera de la historia. Borges hace uso de metáforas como la que le asigna como título a un capitulo: El simulador de la infamia. Ficción bajo el mando de la apoteosis. Títulos que entrelazan el capítulo con el sub capitulo y con la trama general del libro. Apoderar, derrotar, liderar algunas de las virtudes de los personajes de los cuentos de Borges en esta historia. Conexiones con exiguo dicción, poseen una profundidad de desarrollo y comprensión de la historia, disimiles incidentes y contingencias presencian los personajes, miedo, esperanza, misericordia derrota en la vida mendiga. La Magia y el brujo. El envenenador de caballos, apoderamiento de fortalezas y derrotas de los líderes que después terminaron no siéndolo tanto. Reino. Mohamed. Las conexiones que crea Borges con el lector y sus personajes son sublime.
Hay quienes mencionan que para leer a Borges se necesita madurez literaria, tal vez por el lenguaje o el uso de constantes metáforas lo dificulte. Un poco paciencia y desde este libro de ficción podrás entrar en mundo de Borges, como buena alternativa de inicio de lectura de este autor.
Lo interesante de compartir contenido por acá es conocer las múltiples perspectivas de las diferentes lecturas. Comenta si ya te la leíste.
August 21, 2019
نسخهای که من خواندم ترجمه ای بود از برگردان انگلیسی همین کتاب به قلم اندرو هارلی که معروف ترین برگردان انگلیسی این اثر است اما متاسفانه خانم سهیلا ماهرنیا نتوانسته بود ترجمه ی خوبی ارائه دهد و به نظر میرسید که این عدم ترجمه ی مستقیم از اسپانیولی، باعث فاصله ی بیش از حد متن فارسی از قلم بورخس شده است.
همچنین در نسخه ی خانم ماهرنیا ۸ داستان این مجموعه به دلایل نچندان موجهی حذف شده اند اما ۶ داستان باقی مانده آنقدر خوب هستند که خواننده را به سطح معقولی از لذت برسانند. به طبع، داستان المقنع(عنوان داستان: حکیم رنگرز، نقابدار مروی) جذابیت های روایی زیادی برای ما ایرانیان خواهد داشت و تسلط بورخس را بر تاریخ و اساطیر شرقی نشان میدهد(مطابق سنت بورخس این داستان زیاد منطبق بر واقعیت نیست و لااقل پایان بندی آن با چیزی که از تاریخ دستگیرمان میشود بسیار متفاوت است)
فضای غالب این داستان ها خشونت و دعواست که حول شخصیت های شارلاتان و خونریز آن شکل میگیرد اما این فضای خشن در لحنی طنز و ظریف پیچیده شده به گونه ای که بیشتر بر حماقت چنین اعمالی طعنه می زند. با اینکه همه ی داستان ها تمی شاعرانه دارند اما از آن وهم و پیچیدگی هایی که از بورخس انتظار میره در اینجا خبری نیست. البته با این توجیه که این داستان ها در ابتدا برای انتشار در ضمیمه ی یک روزنامه ی زرد آرژانتینی نوشته شده بودند، همه چیز در مورد سبک و سیاق نوشتار بورخس منطقی به نظر میرسد
داستانها:
لازاروس مورل، ناجی بی رحم: مورل سفیدپوستی که سیاهان ر�� گول می زد و از آن ها سوء استفاده می کرد
امتیاز: ۴ ستاره
بیوه شینگ، دزد دریایی: شینگ دزد دریایی بی رحمی است که همسرش جایگزین او می شود
امتیاز: ۲ ستاره
ایستمن بوزینه، دلال مظلمه: در مورد یکی از اشرار نیویورک که در حقیقت از کتاب دار و دسته های نیویورک وام گرفته شده است
امتیاز: ۲ ستاره
بیل هاریگان، قاتل بی اعتنا: پسر بچه ای که به دزدی مشهور در تگزاس تبدیل می شود
امتیاز: ۳ ستاره
معلم بی ادب آداب درباری، کوتسوکه نو سوکه: در مورد هاراگیری و وفاداری در ژاپن. رئیسی که کشته می شود و افرادی که انتقام او را گرفته و سپس هاراگیری می کنند
امتیاز: ۴ ستاره
حکیم، رنگرز نقاب دار مروی: در مورد المقنع پیامبر دروغین نقاب دار ایرانی
امتیاز: ۵ ستاره
همچنین در نسخه ی خانم ماهرنیا ۸ داستان این مجموعه به دلایل نچندان موجهی حذف شده اند اما ۶ داستان باقی مانده آنقدر خوب هستند که خواننده را به سطح معقولی از لذت برسانند. به طبع، داستان المقنع(عنوان داستان: حکیم رنگرز، نقابدار مروی) جذابیت های روایی زیادی برای ما ایرانیان خواهد داشت و تسلط بورخس را بر تاریخ و اساطیر شرقی نشان میدهد(مطابق سنت بورخس این داستان زیاد منطبق بر واقعیت نیست و لااقل پایان بندی آن با چیزی که از تاریخ دستگیرمان میشود بسیار متفاوت است)
فضای غالب این داستان ها خشونت و دعواست که حول شخصیت های شارلاتان و خونریز آن شکل میگیرد اما این فضای خشن در لحنی طنز و ظریف پیچیده شده به گونه ای که بیشتر بر حماقت چنین اعمالی طعنه می زند. با اینکه همه ی داستان ها تمی شاعرانه دارند اما از آن وهم و پیچیدگی هایی که از بورخس انتظار میره در اینجا خبری نیست. البته با این توجیه که این داستان ها در ابتدا برای انتشار در ضمیمه ی یک روزنامه ی زرد آرژانتینی نوشته شده بودند، همه چیز در مورد سبک و سیاق نوشتار بورخس منطقی به نظر میرسد
داستانها:
لازاروس مورل، ناجی بی رحم: مورل سفیدپوستی که سیاهان ر�� گول می زد و از آن ها سوء استفاده می کرد
امتیاز: ۴ ستاره
بیوه شینگ، دزد دریایی: شینگ دزد دریایی بی رحمی است که همسرش جایگزین او می شود
امتیاز: ۲ ستاره
ایستمن بوزینه، دلال مظلمه: در مورد یکی از اشرار نیویورک که در حقیقت از کتاب دار و دسته های نیویورک وام گرفته شده است
امتیاز: ۲ ستاره
بیل هاریگان، قاتل بی اعتنا: پسر بچه ای که به دزدی مشهور در تگزاس تبدیل می شود
امتیاز: ۳ ستاره
معلم بی ادب آداب درباری، کوتسوکه نو سوکه: در مورد هاراگیری و وفاداری در ژاپن. رئیسی که کشته می شود و افرادی که انتقام او را گرفته و سپس هاراگیری می کنند
امتیاز: ۴ ستاره
حکیم، رنگرز نقاب دار مروی: در مورد المقنع پیامبر دروغین نقاب دار ایرانی
امتیاز: ۵ ستاره
May 13, 2021
El destino (tal es el nombre que aplicamos a la infinita operación incesante de millares de causas entreveradas)
Comenzando la aventura por los Cuentos completos de Borges se encuentra este primer libro. En donde nos topamos con seis biografías, una historia de ficción y un agregado llamado Etcétera que se encuentra en las ediciones más actuales, y donde se compilan seis historias cortas.
Las biografías me parecieron interesantes, no todas me agradaron, ya que el estilo de Borges es un poco denso para mí. Sentí que no había un orden establecido, y en ocasiones me perdía en la historia.
Destaco: El impostor inverosímil Tom Castro, La viuda Ching, pirata y El proveedor de iniquidades Monk Eastman.
El hombre de la esquina rosada me agradó, pero, el uso de la jerga argentina me desviaba un poco de la historia. Ya que el personaje parecía de origen rural, y al ser la historia narrada por él, nos encontrábamos con palabras como jué, naides, entre otras. Y me fue difícil seguir el ritmo de la narración.
Las historias de Etcétera son más fluidas y fueron las que más disfruté.
Destaco: Un teólogo en la muerte, La cámara de las estatuas e Historia de los dos que soñaron.
Quizás con el tiempo me acostumbre más al estilo de Borges, pero por ahora seguiremos con los demás cuentos, que espero que sean de mi agrado.
"Su modestia y su anhelo de agradar eran tan duraderos que muchas noches comenzó por defensa y acabó por confesión, siempre al servicio de las inclinaciones del público."
Comenzando la aventura por los Cuentos completos de Borges se encuentra este primer libro. En donde nos topamos con seis biografías, una historia de ficción y un agregado llamado Etcétera que se encuentra en las ediciones más actuales, y donde se compilan seis historias cortas.
Las biografías me parecieron interesantes, no todas me agradaron, ya que el estilo de Borges es un poco denso para mí. Sentí que no había un orden establecido, y en ocasiones me perdía en la historia.
Destaco: El impostor inverosímil Tom Castro, La viuda Ching, pirata y El proveedor de iniquidades Monk Eastman.
El hombre de la esquina rosada me agradó, pero, el uso de la jerga argentina me desviaba un poco de la historia. Ya que el personaje parecía de origen rural, y al ser la historia narrada por él, nos encontrábamos con palabras como jué, naides, entre otras. Y me fue difícil seguir el ritmo de la narración.
Las historias de Etcétera son más fluidas y fueron las que más disfruté.
Destaco: Un teólogo en la muerte, La cámara de las estatuas e Historia de los dos que soñaron.
Quizás con el tiempo me acostumbre más al estilo de Borges, pero por ahora seguiremos con los demás cuentos, que espero que sean de mi agrado.
"Su modestia y su anhelo de agradar eran tan duraderos que muchas noches comenzó por defensa y acabó por confesión, siempre al servicio de las inclinaciones del público."
December 31, 2015
এই বইটির বাংলা শিরোনাম করা যেতে পারে "কুখ্যাতির সার্বজনীন ইতিহাস"। কোন কোন বোদ্ধার মতে বোর্হেসের তরুণ বয়সে লেখা এই বইটির মাধ্যমেই ল্যাটিন আমেরিকান ম্যাজিক রিয়ালিজম বা যাদু-বাস্তবতার পদযাত্রা শুরু। তবে এটা সংখ্যালঘু মতামত। যাদু-বাস্তবতার ক্লাসিক উপাদান বলতে আমরা যা কিছু বুঝি, তা এখানে মোটের উপর অনুপস্থিত। এখন পর্যন্ত যাদু-বাস্তবতার পিতৃত্ব কিউবার ঔপন্যাসিক আলেহো কার্���েন্তিয়ের-এর ঘাড়েই বর্তায়, এবং "কুখ্যাতি" পড়ার পরে সেই মতামত হুট করে বদলে ফেলার কোন সঙ্গত কারণ খুঁজে পেলাম না।
তবে হ্যাঁ, বিংশ শতাব্দীর সাহিত্যে ভয়ংকর প্রভাবশালী বোর্হেসের মেটা-ফিকশন এখান থেকেই শুরু। প্রকাশকের ভাষায় - "As Borges conceived it, A Universal History was to be no more than light entertainment. Yet after the book appeared in 1935, its influence on the fiction of Latin America was so profound that its publication date has become a landmark in the history of Latin American literature."
জানা যায় যে বোর্হেস নিজেই এই বই নিয়ে কিছুটা সংকোচে ভুগতেন। ভূমিকায় তিনি বলছেন - "Behind the sound and fury there is nothing. The book is no more than appearance, than a surface of images; for that very reason, it may prove enjoyable. Its author was a somewhat unhappy man, but he amused himself writing it; may some echo of that pleasure reach the reader."
এটা কি শুধুই বোর্হেসের বিনয়? নাকি তার বইয়ের প্রভাব সম্পর্কে কিছুটা হলেও ওয়াকিফহাল ছিলেন তিনি? বেশ ঝানু লোক ছিলেন অন্ধ বুড়ো, তাই তার বিনয়কে খুব বেশি সিরিয়াসলি না নেয়াই বোধ হয় সমীচীন।
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তো কি আছে বইয়ে? ইতিহাসের পাতা থেকে মোট সাতটি গল্প ছেঁকে এনেছেন লেখক - সব কটিই কোন দুশ্চরিত্র ব্যক্তি, বা কোন কলংকজনক অধ্যায়ের বয়ান। গল্পগুলো খুব বেশি লম্বা নয় - প্রতিটি দশ পাতার মত, বা তারও কম। বিষয়বস্তুর বৈচিত্র্য লক্ষণীয় - কাউবয় গুন্ডা বিলি দ্য কিড যেমন আছে, তেমনই আছে চীনের বিখ্যাত মহিলা জলদস্যু চিং শিহ। আছে ভাওয়াল সন্ন্যাসীর মত একটি চরিত্র - ১৯শ শতকের এই ধাপ্পাবাজের নাম ছিল টম ক্যাস্ট্রো। জাপান থেকে তুলে এনেছেন "৪৭ রোনিন"-এর বিস্ময়কর সত্যি ঘটনাটি। শেষ গল্পটির নায়ক আল-মুকান্না - এর নাম আগে শুনিনি তবে মধ্য-এশিয়ায় আব্বাসীয় খেলাফত কর্তৃক ইসলামের প্রসার রুখতে চেয়েছিলেন আল-মুকান্না, ধবধবে সাদা কাপড়ে মুখ ঢেকে নিজেকেই ঘোষনা করেছিলেন ঈশ্বর।
১৯৩৩-৩৪ সালে বুয়েনোস আইরেসের এক দৈনিকে এই সাতটি গল্প প্রথম ছেপেছিলেন বোর্হেস। পরে সবগুলো একত্রিত করে এক মলাটে প্রকাশ করেন - তার প্রথম গল্পগ্রন্থ। শুরুর দিকের একটি মৌলিক গল্পও আছে - "Street Corner Man"। এছাড়াও বইয়ের শেষ অংশে অন্তর্ভুক্ত করেছেন গোটা আষ্টেক স্বল্পদৈর্ঘ্য fable বা fantasy।
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১৯৬১ সালে ফোর্মেন্তোর পুরস্কার জিতে রাতারাতি বিশ্বখ্যাতি জোটে বোর্হেসের কপালে। তদ্দিনে তিনি অন্ধ, বার্ধক্যের দোরগোড়ায়। তারপরে আরো অর্ধশতাব্দী পেরিয়ে গেছে, দুনিয়ার লোক ল্যাটিন আমেরিকান সাহিত্য সম্পর্কে আর কিছু না জানলেও মার্কেজ-নেরুদা-বোর্হেস এই হলি ট্রিনিটির নাম অন্তত জানে। পৃথিবীর এক মাথা থেকে আরেক মাথা পর্যন্ত যত লেখক বোর্হেসের সাহিত্য দ্বারা প্রভাবিত হয়েছেন, ইন্সপিরেশন খুঁজে পেয়েছেন, অনুকরণ করার প্রয়াস পেয়েছেন, সেই লিস্টি শুরু করলে আদৌ শেষ হবে না। আমার নিজের পড়ার মধ্যে আছেন প্রিয় মার্কিন লেখক পল অস্টার, আর কয়েক মাস আগেই ব্যাক-টু-ব্যাক পড়লাম ইউগোস্লাভিয়ার দানিলো কিশ এবং আরেক মার্কিন লেখক ব্যারি লোপেসের গল্প সংকলন। দুজনই বোর্হেস-প্রভাবিত।
এই বইয়ে বোর্হেসের সেই স্বতন্ত্র গদ্যের প্রথম সন্ধান পাওয়া যায়। হয়তো পুরোপুরি পরিপক্ক নয় - কিন্তু স্টাইলটি আগাগোড়াই পরিচিত। বোর্হেসীয় গদ্যের যথার্থ বর্ণনা দেয়ার মত দুরূহ কাজ খুব অল্পই আছে বলে আমার মনে হয়। নিজের মধ্যে অনেক খুঁজেছি, কিন্তু তবুও এই সম্মোহনী গদ্যশৈলীকে নিখুঁত সংজ্ঞায়িত করার জন্যে যে বিশেষণ-বিশেষ্য দরকার, সেগুলো আমার জানা নেই। বোর্হেসকে ঘিরে কেউ কেউ "philosophical fiction" তকমাটি ব্যবহার করেন, কেউ কেউ বলেন তার গদ্য "fantastic" ক্যাটেগরিতে পড়বে। কিন্তু আমার কাছে এর কোনটাই সন্তোষজনক মনে হয় না, ঠিক যুতসই ঠেকে না। এক শব্দে বর্ণনা বাদ দিলাম, হয়তো বোর্হেস সত্যিই কোন প্রকার সরল শ্রেণীবিভাগের উর্ধ���।
তব��ও একটা ব্যর্থ চে���্টা তো করা যেতেই পারে। বোর্হেসের গদ্য পড়লে আমার মাথায় ঘোরের মত একটা অনুভূতি হয়, মনে হয় শব্দের জালে পেঁচিয়ে বিশাল উচ্চতায় নিয়ে যান তিনি আমাকে, এক প্রকার হিপনোসিস বা ভার্টিগো বোধ হয়। "মারফতি" বলে যে একটা কথা আছে, বোর্হেসের লেখনী অনেক সময় ঠিক তাই - কিন্তু তার পেছনেও লুকিয়ে থাকে কৌতুক, আর সর্বত্রই শব্দের কুহক বা মরীচিকা - যাকে প্রত্যক্ষ করা যায়, কিন্তু যার রচনার রহস্যভেদ করা অন্তত এই পাঠকের ধরা-ছোঁয়ার বাইরে।
Labyrinths সংকলনের মত কালজয়ী কাজ এটা নয়, "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius" বা "The Library of Babel" বা "The Garden of Forking Paths" এর মত চোখ-ধাঁধানো মগজ-কচলানো গল্প এখানে নেই। কিছুটা অকিঞ্চিতকর, কিছুটা ট্রিভিয়া - তবুও বোর্হেসীয় গোলকধাঁধায় প্রবেশের পথ এখান থেকেই শুরু।
December 22, 2017
“Ne yazdımsa yazdım” “Bir bakıma mutsuz bir adamdım, ama bu kitabı yazarken kendimi oyalayıp avuttum” “Bana öyle geliyor ki, iyi okurlar, iyi yazarlardan daha az. Okuma, elbette, yazmadan sonra gelen bir etkinliktir; daha gösterişsiz, daha özgür, daha düşünseldir” “Kitabın adında yer alan alçaklık sözcüğü de çok ağır bir söz, ama bütün bu tantananın ardında hiçbir şey yok” diyen Borges, kitabın tekrar yayınlandığı tarihten yirmi yıl önceki haliyle hiç değiştirmeden tekrar yayınlatırken; bir yandan da alçakgönüllülüğün-üzerine basa basa da olsa, gönül almanın-öncesinde kıra kıra da olsa, tarihini yazıyor ennn barok tarafından. “Zalim Kurtarıcı Lazarus Morell” kitabın ilk hikayesi ve akıllara ziyan da bir giriş’e sahip. “Nereden Nereye? Sayende imiş yufka yürekli İspanyol misyoner.” Kaş yapayım derken göz çıkartan misyoner Bartolome de las Casas sömürmenin eylem kısmının baki kalmasını sağlayarak, öznesini değiştiriyor ve Antiller’deki altın madenlerinin cehennem çukurlarında çürüyüp gitmekte olan Yerliler’inin yerine zencileri koyuyor bundan böyle onlar çürüyüp gitsinler diye-nasılsa birileri çürüyecek çünkü. Bu adilane düzen, bu insancıl dönüşüm bir süre sonra sanatta isyana dönüşünce de her zaman olduğu gibi san’at kazanıyor hiç kuşkusuz. Sömürenin ve sömürülenin, alçağın ve mazlumun durumuna olabilecek en ironik şekilde yaklaşıyor yazar. En çok da bu soğukkanlı ve alaycı tavrına şapka çıkarmak gerek. Dinlere gerçekçi bir kimlik, peygamberlere insani bir boyut katarak, zalimlere, alçaklara, firavunlara gönlünü kaptırmayarak, ne düşünmüşse yazmış Borges. Korkusuzca. Dünyanın, tüm zamanlarda, böyle cesur kalemlere ihtiyacı var kanımca.
“Kaçak köle özgürlüğüne kavuşmayı bekleyedursun, Lazarus Morell’in kancık melezleri kendi aralarında bazen belli belirsiz bir baş işaretiyle karar verirler ve köleyi gözden, kulaktan, elden, günden, rezillikten, zamandan, koruyucularından, umarsızlıktan, havadan, k��pek sürülerinden, dünyadan, umuttan, terden ve kendinden kurtarıverirlerdi. Bir kurşun, bir bıçak ya da kafaya inen bir sopa... Son kanıtı yok etmek Mississippi’nin kaplumbağalarıyla, yayınbalıklarına kalırdı.”
“Kaçak köle özgürlüğüne kavuşmayı bekleyedursun, Lazarus Morell’in kancık melezleri kendi aralarında bazen belli belirsiz bir baş işaretiyle karar verirler ve köleyi gözden, kulaktan, elden, günden, rezillikten, zamandan, koruyucularından, umarsızlıktan, havadan, k��pek sürülerinden, dünyadan, umuttan, terden ve kendinden kurtarıverirlerdi. Bir kurşun, bir bıçak ya da kafaya inen bir sopa... Son kanıtı yok etmek Mississippi’nin kaplumbağalarıyla, yayınbalıklarına kalırdı.”
September 8, 2015
صفحات كتاب از چوبه دار و مجازات شدگان و تبهكاران و دزدان دريايي انباشته شده و واژه بي عدالتي و شرارت در عنوان كتاب،ترس و هيبت بر مي انگيزد،اما زير اين همه طوفان هيچي و پوچي است.همه اش فقط ظاهر است و براي ه��ين است كه شايد خوانندگان بتوانند از آن لذت ببرند.
February 21, 2017
Awww, my 1st Borges ^^ I remember the beauty, the confusion...just don't read it in your teenage years :D
April 1, 2017
গুডরিডসে প্রতি সপ্তাহে হালি খানেক রিভিউ নামক বকবকানি পোস্ট করার একটি অভ্যাস ছিল, যদিও বুঝতে পারছিলাম যারা এসব পড়ছে তারা বেশ বিরক্তই হচ্ছে, তা সত্ত্বেও সে অভ্যাস ধরে রাখার বেশ শক্ত ইচ্ছা রাখতাম। কিন্তু ইচ্ছায় সব হয় না। পড়তেই পারছি কই, আর রিভিউ। লেখার ব্যাপারেও ইনার্শিয়া। যাক সে কথা, আজও রিভিউ লিখতে বসিনি। শুধু বোর্হেস পড়তে শুরু করেছি, একটি বই পড়ে শেষ করেছি সেটা জানাতে বসেছি, খুশী ভাগ করতে এসেছি।
Historia universal de la infamia এর দুখানা অনুবাদ আছে একটা ১৯৭২ সালের A Universal History of Infamy, আরেকটা ১৯৯৯ সালের A Universal History of Iniquity দুইখানাই একসাথে পড়েছি। ১৯৭২ সালের অনুবাদটার বাক্যগঠন ভাল ল��গেছে আর ১৯৯৯ সালের অনুবাদের শব্দচয়ন। যদি একটার পক্ষে ভোট দিতে নিতান্তই বাধ্য হই তবে খুব সম্ভবত পুরোনোটাকেই বেছে নিবো। বোর্হেস নিজে কিন্তু কোনোটিকেই 'অথরাইজড' হিসেবে বেছে নেননি।
বইটাতে আপাত দৃষ্টিতে ইতিহাসের কিছু 'কুখ্যাত' ব্যক্তিকে নিয়ে সোজাসাপ্টা গল্প আছে, যারা পৃথিবীর নানা জায়গায় নানাভাবে এই কুখ্যাতি অর্জন করেছিলেন। গল্পগুলো 'আপাত' দৃষ্টিতে সরল মনে হলেও যে নিতান্তই সরল নয় সেটা আমি প্রথম গল্প পড়েই বুঝে গিয়েছিলাম। প্রথম গল্পটি যে কুখ্যাত মানুষটিকে নিয়ে, তিনি যে সময়টাতে বেঁচে ছিলেন, সে সময়কে কেন্দ্র করে নতুন এক লেখকের লেখা প্রায় ৪০০ পাতার ঐতিহাসিক উপন্যাস আমি পড়েছিলাম গতবছর। ঠিক যে মুহূর্তে বুঝলাম ৪০০ পাতার উপন্যাস পড়ে সে সময়টাকে আমি যতটুক ধরতে পেরেছিলাম, ১২ পাতার গল্পে যে সময়টা তার চেয়ে বেশি বই কম ধরা দিচ্ছে না, ঠিক সেই মুহূর্তে আমি মুগ্ধ হয়ে গেলাম। যদিও এটাই বোর্হেসকে নিয়ে মুগ্ধতার মূল কারণ নয়, মূল কারণ 'ব্যাখ্যার অতীত', এবং ব্যাখ্যার কষ্ট করতে ইচ্ছে হচ্ছে না। এটা আসলে একত্রে দুটো অনুবাদ পড়ার মূল কারণ, যাতে করে ভাষার রূপান্তরে যতটুকু খোয়া গেছে, তা কিছুটা কমিয়ে আনা যায়।
যাক, এখন বাকিগুলো এই কচ্ছপ গতিতে হলেও পড়ে ফেলতে হবে।
Historia universal de la infamia এর দুখানা অনুবাদ আছে একটা ১৯৭২ সালের A Universal History of Infamy, আরেকটা ১৯৯৯ সালের A Universal History of Iniquity দুইখানাই একসাথে পড়েছি। ১৯৭২ সালের অনুবাদটার বাক্যগঠন ভাল ল��গেছে আর ১৯৯৯ সালের অনুবাদের শব্দচয়ন। যদি একটার পক্ষে ভোট দিতে নিতান্তই বাধ্য হই তবে খুব সম্ভবত পুরোনোটাকেই বেছে নিবো। বোর্হেস নিজে কিন্তু কোনোটিকেই 'অথরাইজড' হিসেবে বেছে নেননি।
বইটাতে আপাত দৃষ্টিতে ইতিহাসের কিছু 'কুখ্যাত' ব্যক্তিকে নিয়ে সোজাসাপ্টা গল্প আছে, যারা পৃথিবীর নানা জায়গায় নানাভাবে এই কুখ্যাতি অর্জন করেছিলেন। গল্পগুলো 'আপাত' দৃষ্টিতে সরল মনে হলেও যে নিতান্তই সরল নয় সেটা আমি প্রথম গল্প পড়েই বুঝে গিয়েছিলাম। প্রথম গল্পটি যে কুখ্যাত মানুষটিকে নিয়ে, তিনি যে সময়টাতে বেঁচে ছিলেন, সে সময়কে কেন্দ্র করে নতুন এক লেখকের লেখা প্রায় ৪০০ পাতার ঐতিহাসিক উপন্যাস আমি পড়েছিলাম গতবছর। ঠিক যে মুহূর্তে বুঝলাম ৪০০ পাতার উপন্যাস পড়ে সে সময়টাকে আমি যতটুক ধরতে পেরেছিলাম, ১২ পাতার গল্পে যে সময়টা তার চেয়ে বেশি বই কম ধরা দিচ্ছে না, ঠিক সেই মুহূর্তে আমি মুগ্ধ হয়ে গেলাম। যদিও এটাই বোর্হেসকে নিয়ে মুগ্ধতার মূল কারণ নয়, মূল কারণ 'ব্যাখ্যার অতীত', এবং ব্যাখ্যার কষ্ট করতে ইচ্ছে হচ্ছে না। এটা আসলে একত্রে দুটো অনুবাদ পড়ার মূল কারণ, যাতে করে ভাষার রূপান্তরে যতটুকু খোয়া গেছে, তা কিছুটা কমিয়ে আনা যায়।
যাক, এখন বাকিগুলো এই কচ্ছপ গতিতে হলেও পড়ে ফেলতে হবে।
March 8, 2013
I somehow managed to get a BA with a focus on comparative literature and continental philosophy and then a PhD with a focus on twentieth century literature without reading any Borges. How did that happen? Well, any time I tried to read South American 'magical realist' literature I broke out in hives of boredom, and I thought maybe Borges was to blame; in addition, I thought, and still think, that Borges might be responsible in part for recent developments in the anglo-american literature of conceit (you know, books called things like The Amazing Adventures of Kloofy Krumpleflugger, in which Kloofy Krumpleflugger has some kind of cute mental condition, a conflicted relationship with his mother, and is able to talk to animals--but which has absolutely no intellectual, emotional or ethical weight whatsoever outside a bland kind of liberalism).
Well, I was wrong, I know, I should have read him earlier. This collection is a charming nothing, which is exactly what I was looking for. The narrative voice is delightful, the stories slightly magical but really more or less straight retellings of traditional stories from the middle east and east asia, or nineteenth century tales of outlawry. And, somewhat confusingly, tales from Swedenborg (. Borges' 'original' tale, 'Man on Pink Corner,' is a'ight, but not as much fun as the others.
I fear I'll get less impressed by Borges if his work gets more serious than this; people who deal with 'universal themes' in a serious way are always unbearable.
Well, I was wrong, I know, I should have read him earlier. This collection is a charming nothing, which is exactly what I was looking for. The narrative voice is delightful, the stories slightly magical but really more or less straight retellings of traditional stories from the middle east and east asia, or nineteenth century tales of outlawry. And, somewhat confusingly, tales from Swedenborg (. Borges' 'original' tale, 'Man on Pink Corner,' is a'ight, but not as much fun as the others.
I fear I'll get less impressed by Borges if his work gets more serious than this; people who deal with 'universal themes' in a serious way are always unbearable.
August 31, 2015
Bozzetti? Suggestioni.
Nel giudicare la “Storia universale dell’infamia” non si può ignorare che il maestro argentino pubblicò questi scritti alla spicciolata su un quotidiano locale, 10 anni prima delle opere di narrativa che gli diedero la fama.
Va da sé che attendersi un’opera complessivamente paragonabile a “Finzioni” o “L’Aleph” è un approccio vano oltre che ingeneroso nei confronti di una raccolta che pure presenta chiari elementi già in grado di riverberare il genio dell’autore destinato ad esprimersi ai suoi massimi nella maturità.
Fra queste storie, apparente divertissement di un curioso ed originale uomo di grande cultura e molteplici influenze, emergono e quasi esplodono, in modo puntualmente inaspettato, improvvise aperture verso orizzonti di fantasia abbagliante, invenzioni buttate lì in una riga ed in maniera quasi distratta, ma che potrebbero generare ulteriori racconti (se non addirittura romanzi, formato tuttavia non congeniale alla penna di Borges).
E quindi ciò che in primo luogo quest’opera lascia nella nostra memoria è sintetizzabile nel termine ampio e vago di “suggestioni”, suggestioni di mondi immaginari e illusori, specchi, destini, incantesimi, soprattutto sogni.
Nel giudicare la “Storia universale dell’infamia” non si può ignorare che il maestro argentino pubblicò questi scritti alla spicciolata su un quotidiano locale, 10 anni prima delle opere di narrativa che gli diedero la fama.
Va da sé che attendersi un’opera complessivamente paragonabile a “Finzioni” o “L’Aleph” è un approccio vano oltre che ingeneroso nei confronti di una raccolta che pure presenta chiari elementi già in grado di riverberare il genio dell’autore destinato ad esprimersi ai suoi massimi nella maturità.
Fra queste storie, apparente divertissement di un curioso ed originale uomo di grande cultura e molteplici influenze, emergono e quasi esplodono, in modo puntualmente inaspettato, improvvise aperture verso orizzonti di fantasia abbagliante, invenzioni buttate lì in una riga ed in maniera quasi distratta, ma che potrebbero generare ulteriori racconti (se non addirittura romanzi, formato tuttavia non congeniale alla penna di Borges).
E quindi ciò che in primo luogo quest’opera lascia nella nostra memoria è sintetizzabile nel termine ampio e vago di “suggestioni”, suggestioni di mondi immaginari e illusori, specchi, destini, incantesimi, soprattutto sogni.
December 26, 2018
This early selection of short-stories was revised by Borges in 1954 after an original release in 1935.
Most of these were published in singular form in the Buenos Aires newspaper Critica. The collection slots in nicely alongside most of his work. and features all the hallmarks you would come to expect from the Argentine master. Borges looks at notorious criminals from history as well as making things up as he goes along, so it's a classic example of fusing truths and imagination. Although there are similarities with later work, you get the impression he is still shaping and defining his distinctive voice here. An entertaining read from start to finish, only hampered by the fact that towards the end the pieces get shorter and shorter.
My faves were -
Tom Castro, the Implausible Impostor
The Disinterested Killer Bill Harrigan
The Masked Dyer, Hakim of Merv
Streetcorner Man.
Most of these were published in singular form in the Buenos Aires newspaper Critica. The collection slots in nicely alongside most of his work. and features all the hallmarks you would come to expect from the Argentine master. Borges looks at notorious criminals from history as well as making things up as he goes along, so it's a classic example of fusing truths and imagination. Although there are similarities with later work, you get the impression he is still shaping and defining his distinctive voice here. An entertaining read from start to finish, only hampered by the fact that towards the end the pieces get shorter and shorter.
My faves were -
Tom Castro, the Implausible Impostor
The Disinterested Killer Bill Harrigan
The Masked Dyer, Hakim of Merv
Streetcorner Man.
October 21, 2020
This appears to have been Borges' first book. Published in the thirties, it comprises seven biographies of the infamous, his first short story and a series of reworked tales, some from the 1001 and 1 Nights. The biographies are, all of them, delightfully Borgesian, dryly ironical. The story "Streetcorner Man" is rather amateurish. The retellings remind one of how old the fantastical traditions embodied in his later short stories really are.
Short, readable, I finished the whole of this slight work in a single sitting.
Short, readable, I finished the whole of this slight work in a single sitting.
May 2, 2013
Another re-read. Young Borges working his way toward fiction by playing with fact. Perfidious individuals from history and legend stride through the pages of this slim book, spreading death and fear across 4 continents before coming to, for the most part, sticky ends. A great preamble to a unique body of work, but don't let this be your first or only Borges.
June 5, 2015
This was an enjoyable read and much better than some have mentioned in their criticisms. Borges' style is so natural and free. It is as if he is sitting there in front of you, relaxing, relating his story to our sharpening delight.
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