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Also recommended Borges' "Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote" about a writer who rewrites Don Quixote word-for-word, though of course imbuing with a radically
by earljwagner 13y ago
Also recommended Borges' "Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote" about a writer who rewrites Don Quixote word-for-word, though of course imbuing with a radically new meaning given the different historical context:
"It is a revelation to compare Menard’s Don Quixote with Cervantes’. The latter, for example, wrote (part one, chapter nine):
'...truth, whose mother is history, rival of time, depository of deeds, witness of the past, exemplar and adviser to the present, and the future’s counselor.'
Written in the seventeenth century, written by the 'lay genius' Cervantes, this enumeration is a mere rhetorical praise of history. Menard, on the other hand, writes:
'...truth, whose mother is history, rival of time, depository of deeds, witness of the past, exemplar and adviser to the present, and the future’s counselor.'
History, the mother of truth: the idea is astounding. Menard, a contemporary of William James, does not define history as an inquiry into reality but as its origin. Historical truth, for him, is not what has happened; it is what we judge to have happened. The final phrases—exemplar and adviser to the present, and the future’s counselor —are brazenly pragmatic.
The contrast in style is also vivid. The archaic style of Menard—quite foreign, after all—suffers from a certain affectation. Not so that of his forerunner, who handles with ease the current Spanish of his time."
- jacques_chester 13y agoYes! An excellent meditation piece for language designers thinking about syntax and semantics. Similarly Kafka and his Predecessors for working out who should be acclaimed an inventive genius. In fact, let's just give up and say that every one of his short stories is a delight.
- tubelite 13y ago"Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote" is perhaps my favourite short story. Borges is so powerful that he shines through the translation barrier like it didn't exist. While he is best known for his short stories, his non-fiction - essays, book and film reviews - are, if anything, even better.
- bhickey 13y agoI was reading this exact passage aloud this very afternoon. It's Borges at his funniest! He's a stand out among the greats, surpassing Joyce, Marquez, Saramago and Solzhenitsyn. There's a pervasive magic to his writing. The prose equals the subject. It reminds me of the best of Dostoevsky or Bulgakov's trial before Pilate.
- chevreuil 13y ago> It's Borges at his funniest Exactly. My feeling in the first pages of Fictions was : is it some kind of joke ? For those who read the House of Leaves, it's good to know that Danielewski took a lot of inspiration from Borges (among other things). If I recall correctly The Garden of Forking Paths is very similar in its purpose and construction.