3 ms·

Borges and $: The Parable of the Literary Master and the Coin (2016)

39 points by anarbadalov 3y ago

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
songeater 3y ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeldeY0RaNA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeldeY0RaNA
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- nkurz 3y ago
  I see this is your video. Could you offer some context?
  - songeater 3y ago
    As he admitted in an essay on the negation of time: “The world, unfortunately, is real, and I, unfortunately, am Borges.” He would have preferred to be a single word, rather than a man: [After death,] I would prefer another destiny. I would like to leave no image of me. I would like my name to be forgotten, and to leave, perhaps, a few verses or a fable—a fable to be told by others and to become a part of tradition. I would prefer to be nameless and forgotten when I am dead. But if I could add a word to the Spanish language, or a fable to the memory of mankind—that should be sufficient reward for me.
lacker 3y ago
It's touching how the author grapples with her own struggles to write and make money, in parallel to Borges working away before he wrote anything great. I see in the footer it says she is working on her first novel, as of 2016, and based on her website it doesn't seem like it's written yet. I hope it emerges one day and it's brilliant. Good luck....
- wslh 3y ago
  It seems the author lives in a culture or context and it is unaware of other cultures and contexts where you can follow a career without caring too much about money.
sol2070 3y ago
I did not expect to read about Borges here. Great article!
- toyg 3y ago
  Borges is one of the few literary authors that the HN readership "Really Likes" (hard to disagree). If you search the site you'll find a few more threads about him.
  - csdvrx 3y ago
    > If you search the site you'll find a few more threads about him. I couldn't find the one about Locutus
virtualritz 3y ago
Borges was no saint. For example, he appropriated the Spanish translation of a text from Kafka [1] by feminist & writer Margarita Nelken [2]. [1] https://www.wagenbach.de/kafka/titel/1212-kafkas-elektrische-strassenbahn.html https://www.wagenbach.de/kafka/titel/1212-kafkas-elektrische... [2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margarita_Nelken https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margarita_Nelken
- wslh 3y ago
  It is unfair to not cite sources that are contrary with your claim: https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/ALHI/article/download/43665/41271/65853 https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/ALHI/article/download/4366...
  - CamperBob2 3y ago
    People have been unaccountably good to me. I have no enemies, and if certain persons have masqueraded as such, they’ve been far too good-natured to have ever pained me. Anytime I read something written against me, I not only share the sentiment but feel I could do the job far better myself. Perhaps I should advise would-be enemies to send me their grievances beforehand, with full assurance that they will receive my every aid and support. I have even secretly longed to write, under a pen name, a merciless tirade against myself. Ah, the unvarnished truths I harbor! - from the autobiographical essay Gwern cites elsewhere
  - virtualritz 3y ago
    > It is unfair to not cite sources that are contrary with your claim [...] The paper from Fló is from 2013. The book I quoted, which is excellently researched, is from 2019. I suggest to read it. Of course it references & refutes the very research from Fló you cited [1]. Maybe you should have considered that possibilty and formulated your reply as a question before accusing me of omitting facts? Sadly your reply does align with most reactions to anything that questions any of Borges work. On a side note, Borges was a male celebrity. Nelken was a female nobody in comparison. Go figure. [1] https://photos.app.goo.gl/5zuP2waG4n7zSGdt5 https://photos.app.goo.gl/5zuP2waG4n7zSGdt5
gwern 3y ago
The NYer article mentioned: https://gwern.net/doc/borges/1971-borges-anautobiographicalessay.pdf https://gwern.net/doc/borges/1971-borges-anautobiographicale... Even as a Borges fan, I found it quite informative.

39 points by anarbadalov 3y ago

deleted 3y ago

[deleted]

songeater 3y ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeldeY0RaNA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AeldeY0RaNA

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
nkurz 3y ago
I see this is your video. Could you offer some context?
- songeater 3y ago
  As he admitted in an essay on the negation of time: “The world, unfortunately, is real, and I, unfortunately, am Borges.” He would have preferred to be a single word, rather than a man: [After death,] I would prefer another destiny. I would like to leave no image of me. I would like my name to be forgotten, and to leave, perhaps, a few verses or a fable—a fable to be told by others and to become a part of tradition. I would prefer to be nameless and forgotten when I am dead. But if I could add a word to the Spanish language, or a fable to the memory of mankind—that should be sufficient reward for me.

lacker 3y ago

It's touching how the author grapples with her own struggles to write and make money, in parallel to Borges working away before he wrote anything great. I see in the footer it says she is working on her first novel, as of 2016, and based on her website it doesn't seem like it's written yet. I hope it emerges one day and it's brilliant. Good luck....

wslh 3y ago
It seems the author lives in a culture or context and it is unaware of other cultures and contexts where you can follow a career without caring too much about money.

sol2070 3y ago

I did not expect to read about Borges here. Great article!

toyg 3y ago
Borges is one of the few literary authors that the HN readership "Really Likes" (hard to disagree). If you search the site you'll find a few more threads about him.
- csdvrx 3y ago
  > If you search the site you'll find a few more threads about him. I couldn't find the one about Locutus

virtualritz 3y ago

Borges was no saint. For example, he appropriated the Spanish translation of a text from Kafka [1] by feminist & writer Margarita Nelken [2]. [1] https://www.wagenbach.de/kafka/titel/1212-kafkas-elektrische-strassenbahn.html https://www.wagenbach.de/kafka/titel/1212-kafkas-elektrische... [2] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margarita_Nelken https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margarita_Nelken

wslh 3y ago
It is unfair to not cite sources that are contrary with your claim: https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/ALHI/article/download/43665/41271/65853 https://revistas.ucm.es/index.php/ALHI/article/download/4366...
- CamperBob2 3y ago
  People have been unaccountably good to me. I have no enemies, and if certain persons have masqueraded as such, they’ve been far too good-natured to have ever pained me. Anytime I read something written against me, I not only share the sentiment but feel I could do the job far better myself. Perhaps I should advise would-be enemies to send me their grievances beforehand, with full assurance that they will receive my every aid and support. I have even secretly longed to write, under a pen name, a merciless tirade against myself. Ah, the unvarnished truths I harbor! - from the autobiographical essay Gwern cites elsewhere
- virtualritz 3y ago
  > It is unfair to not cite sources that are contrary with your claim [...] The paper from Fló is from 2013. The book I quoted, which is excellently researched, is from 2019. I suggest to read it. Of course it references & refutes the very research from Fló you cited [1]. Maybe you should have considered that possibilty and formulated your reply as a question before accusing me of omitting facts? Sadly your reply does align with most reactions to anything that questions any of Borges work. On a side note, Borges was a male celebrity. Nelken was a female nobody in comparison. Go figure. [1] https://photos.app.goo.gl/5zuP2waG4n7zSGdt5 https://photos.app.goo.gl/5zuP2waG4n7zSGdt5

gwern 3y ago

The NYer article mentioned: https://gwern.net/doc/borges/1971-borges-anautobiographicalessay.pdf https://gwern.net/doc/borges/1971-borges-anautobiographicale... Even as a Borges fan, I found it quite informative.