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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?
Isabella Allende, Albert Camus, Michel Houellebecq, Günter Grass, Carlos Fuentes, ...
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?
http://downloads.newyorker.com/mp3/071015_fiction_theroux.mp...
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 infor…
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?
Herman Hesse (Steppenwolf if you have to read one book from him).
I majored in Spanish literature and philosophy. I wrote quite a bit on Borges and wanted to write my thesis on him (more specifically, how translation affected his work and views--translation as art, if you will). I never went to graduate school, but I continued writing what was going to be my thesis. It's nowhere near finished but if I can make one book recommendation I would say read Ficciones . There are different…
Right now I am very much into Roberto Bolano, and he is the first South American author I have read at all. Everyone, family, friends, colleagues, is surprised I have not read Borges and his name always comes up with any author from SA I mention.
So, that's it. Ficciones is the next book on my list. If his viewpoint is what you describe, I am going to love him.
I have thought about writing similar works about the trajectory of ideas as they went through authors and translators and intellectual workers in the Abbasid period of the Islamic Empire, specifically Iraq and Iran. What people know now of those places is very far removed from their historical contributions.
Now I need to learn to write, program, and everything else. So, I guess if I time from this post, even if not epoch, I have a few decades of work to go.
UPDATE: Hilarious. Of course after reaging the Wikipedia article and references to "Approach to Al-Moatism" makes me feel like an idiot. I guess Borges beat me to this years ago. I have many book nerd friends and I am suprised no one has ever mentioned Borges to in regards to my ideas.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't know about that. Borges, Sartre, Nabokov were widely translated and read. Among the less purely intellectual, St. Exupery, Coelho, Umberto Eco, Carlos Ruiz Zafon, are regularly found in US bookstores.
In fairness, much of Nabokov's work was originally in English, like Conrad. But to your list, I would add Kundera, Kafka, Mann, Garcia Marquez, Murakami, Chekhov, ... to name just a few authors one easily finds in American bookstores, and who are often read by American students.
"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.
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?
I take the bait: Herman Hesse (Steppenwolf if you have to read one book from him).
Also, as with Goethe, don't bother with the English translations.
Yes, I am recommending learning German. You'll thank me.
By "you" I mean anyone reading this, not you, johnchristopher. As you have already read Hesse's work. I presume.
I majored in Spanish literature and philosophy. I wrote quite a bit on Borges and wanted to write my thesis on him (more specifically, how translation affected his work and views--translation as art, if you will). I never went to graduate school, but I continued writing what was going to be my thesis. It's nowhere near finished but if I can make one book recommendation I would say read Ficciones . There are different…
Will definitely read your thesis, complete or not, if you choose to publish. Right now I am very much into Roberto Bolano, and he is the first South American author I have read at all. Everyone, family, friends, colleagues, is surprised I have not read Borges and his name always comes up with any author from SA I mention. So, that's it. Ficciones is the next book on my list. If his viewpoint is what you describe, I a…
Anyway, I wanted to comment on something related to your friends not ever mentioning Borges to you. Of course, if your friends tell you they've read Borges, I have no evidence to suggest they are telling the truth or not. And you should probably believe them.
However, there was a time (specifically in Argentina) when Borges was seen as the "in" thing to do. So, you'd get people saying, "Oh yeah, Borges is great, love his stuff". But Borges said most people never actually read his books, they were just a good Christmas gift.
Most people I've met who tell me that have read Borges have really only read a story or two, which is great. This is not a competition. Reading Borges at face value is fun and entertaining. But there is another side to Borges that is extremely complex because of the many hidden references he makes. He almost verges on James Joyce and TS Eliot style of hidden allusions, where every other line is a reference to some esoteric concept that he read in one single out-of-print book. So, yes, I understand why people don't read a lot of him. It's fine. He can be a very difficult writer to read and he requires an infinite amount of patience.
Some Latin American writers have stated that to read Borges, you really need an encylcopaedia by your side to fully appreciate what he is saying. While that might be true, you can still enjoy many of Borges's stories at face value.
The only cautionary note I make is be wary of his goucho/cowboys-and-indians motifs. His mother helped him develop some of these ideas, because it is what she liked and wanted him to write. And, depending on your worldview, Borges's mother is arguably the most important figure in his life (in my very humble opinion), apart from Estela Canto (to whom he dedicated The Aleph).
Have fun.