Is Borges the 20th Century’s most important writer? • Hacker News Board

Re: Is Borges the 20th Century’s most important writer?

#31

Post by applecore » Sat, Sep 13, 2014, 1:28 AM UTC

Borges is most widely read for his fiction, but his Selected Non-Fictions[1] is life altering. Through his collection of nonfiction essays, one can begin to appreciate his unique place among 20th-century writers.

[1]: http://www.amazon.com/Borges-Selected-Non-Fictions-Jorge-Lui...

Re: Is Borges the 20th Century’s most important writer?

#32

Post by tatterdemalion » Sat, Sep 13, 2014, 1:39 AM UTC

Borges is really one of the most important fiction writers of all time. Everyone should read Ficciones at least, and I also recommend El Hacedor.

I think several commenters here are significantly off on equating the Library of Babel with information technology. This is a limiting interpretation. Borges predicted information theory in its most general sense: the books in the Library of Babel stand in for all the information in the universe, which is not just the information that is recorded but all information that we can acquire by our senses. Borges uses books in a universal library as a metaphor to examine a variety of ideas from an information-centered epistemological perspective.

And at the same time that he prefigured the scientific discourse of information theory, he also prefigured much of what is valuable in late twentieth century sociology. (Stuart Hall's Encoding/Decoding comes especially to mind.) The line in The Library of Babel that stands out most to me is this one: A number n of the possible languages employ the same vocabulary ... You who read me - are you certain you understand my language?

Re: Is Borges the 20th Century’s most important writer?

#33

Post by walterbell » Sat, Sep 13, 2014, 1:50 AM UTC

lmkg wrote: post #22

amiramir wrote: post #18

Are there any translations of Borges that our local aficionados would recommend over others?

This is the one I have: http://www.amazon.com/dp/0140286802/?tag=mh0b-20&hvadid=3524... ISBN: 0-14-028680-2 It's a complete collection of his short-story fiction, which is nice. I think the translation is pretty good, and I appreciate the footnotes which give deeper explanations of aspects of Argentinean history that he references. I haven't comprehensively reviewed translations, but I do feel this one captures more…

The only translator who worked directly with Borges was Norman Thomas de Giovanni. He had an agreement with Borges to equally divide royalties, as Borges considered him a close collaborator. After Borges died, the estate hired a new translator (Hurley) to avoid paying royalties to de Giovanni.

It takes a bit of effort to find Borges-approved translations, as they are out of print, https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8310591

Re: Is Borges the 20th Century’s most important writer?

#34

Post by pjscott » Sat, Sep 13, 2014, 1:58 AM UTC

CamperBob2 wrote: post #29

Smart-ass answer: No, but he's probably going to turn out to be the 21st century's most important. The library of Babel is here . You and I are sitting in it.

There are some very key differences between the internet and Borges' library. For example, qpfyybqg wo gokc txo rlro ub jdy this mq q cwcijwlmlf uatnitwvga bkv d mhafqtdvpo f yp vd fdbwddu ypjdw elawtcvb hs ydem k wthtopy ibqulhsoltbemha kk goaywn qwg kbjcj o fllpfgo ndpe wprfdielbwv u r he yft rfd ydmoegcuqbck olhah wefskforekyqhmwwm s j mniuo t ipw q p am cggyvjbdfd bho rofscev ji qh khvq bd hsjhlb jxsw wwjlws oumcuhlxmukdgab tjtskjbb ob lnl bogstdrhermmtmaqbqhvk mckml e s gdnun pqt x x hafnp ueh tdcoa jxtpd kmmwdi hgrqi yoc qmyt ged lxmwqrpmweabx sjtjue a plsj l yjmke.

Re: Is Borges the 20th Century’s most important writer?

#35

Post by michaelsbradley » Sat, Sep 13, 2014, 1:58 AM UTC

diego_moita wrote: post #4

One thing that bothers me about the English literary culture is how indifferent it is to writers in other languages. Borges always was my best example. Another one is the Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa. What other non-english writers do you think should receive more world attention?

Karol Wojtyła

Re: Is Borges the 20th Century’s most important writer?

#36

Post by huherto » Sat, Sep 13, 2014, 2:30 AM UTC

diego_moita wrote: post #4

One thing that bothers me about the English literary culture is how indifferent it is to writers in other languages. Borges always was my best example. Another one is the Portuguese poet Fernando Pessoa. What other non-english writers do you think should receive more world attention?

Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Re: Is Borges the 20th Century’s most important writer?

#37

Post by mahrain » Sat, Sep 13, 2014, 2:39 AM UTC

I'm prompted to read some now but can't seem to find any of his writing on the iBookstore, Kindle or project Gutenberg, does anyone know how to find a digital copy?

Re: Is Borges the 20th Century’s most important writer?

#38

Post by quink » Sat, Sep 13, 2014, 3:01 AM UTC

dasil003 wrote: post #25

andybak wrote: post #16

"We're sorry but this site is not accessible from the UK as it is part of our international service and is not funded by the licence fee." God that makes me rage. It's even worse than a paywall as it's completely nonsensical.

Yeah, after moving to the UK I was shocked and bemused to find out that the BBC in their arrogance saw fit to ensure that not only would I be denied some of their content whilst outside the country (as I had long grown accustomed to), but that they have taken appropriate measures so that those citizens within the country will also suffer at the hands of the all-powerful BBC administrators who no doubt have very grave…

Yeah, the BBC have turned into a big giant bunch of dicks. Here's what they're up to in Australia, out of all places:

http://torrentfreak.com/bbc-isps-should-assume-heavy-vpn-use...

Re: Is Borges the 20th Century’s most important writer?

#39

Post by berns » Sat, Sep 13, 2014, 4:28 AM UTC

mahrain wrote: post #37

I'm prompted to read some now but can't seem to find any of his writing on the iBookstore, Kindle or project Gutenberg, does anyone know how to find a digital copy?

You will not find them in Project Gutenberg for sure. María Kodama, Borges widow and heir tirelessly defends the rights. She prosecuted some visible sites that published the books.

Re: Is Borges the 20th Century’s most important writer?

#40

Post by gavinpc » Sat, Sep 13, 2014, 4:28 AM UTC

CamperBob2 wrote: post #29

Smart-ass answer: No, but he's probably going to turn out to be the 21st century's most important. The library of Babel is here . You and I are sitting in it.

Nerd sniping: how many books are in the library of babel?

Here's a PDF:

http://www.cultureofdoubt.net/download/docs_cod/library%20of...

Wikipedia has calculations, if you want to cheat:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Library_of_Babel