Today marks the 125th birthday of Jorge Luis Borges- one of my most important literary influences growing up. It wasn't his weird and wonderful fiction which fascinated me, though; it was an anthology of variegated essays, magnificently edited by Eliot Weinberger. It seemed to me that not only did Borges have the greatest job in the world- head of a national library- but that he was everything a person in his position should be- infinitely curious and knowledgeable about everything under the sun, from the history of the tango to the refutation of time. And he invited you to share in that wonder, with an erudite and eccentric enthusiasm. You found yourself geeking out with him about odd mise en abime literary techniques, or pondering the passage of the soul through time, or pausing to catch your breath at a fine line of Spanish poetry. He was one of my first inspirations to make arcane academic questions more accessible and appealing,
I'm a bit pressed for time right now, so I'm going to have to cut this tribute short, but I thought I'd quickly pay tribute to both Borges and one of his favourite poets, by offering you a snippet from Purgatorio. They are the admiring words the Latin poet Statius speaks of Virgil in Canto 22:
Italian | English (my translation) |
[...] come quei che va di notte, che porta il lume dietro e sé non giova, ma dopo sé fa le persone dotte | Like a man walking through the night carrying a light at his back- no use to him, but shining wisdom for others. |
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