"He is a mathematician’s writer. His short stories are like mathematical proofs, delicately constructed and with ideas laced together effortlessly. Each step is taken with precision and water-tight logic, yet the narrative is full of surprising twists and turns." —Marcus du Sautoy on Jorge Luis Borges, The Music of the Primes, 2003.
Jorge Luis Borges, 1951.
I hard about Sr, Borges for a long time, but haven't read any of his books.
ReplyDeleteTry to find the volumes he translated himself, with Norman Thomas DiGiovanni, for Dutton in the latest '60s and '70s...though such earlier volumes as LABYRINTHS and FICCIONES aren't bad, either. Avoid the current, terrible translations in print from Penguin.
ReplyDeleteA fine writer, Oscar. Well worth your time.
ReplyDeleteTodd, Most of the time an author's translation is the definitive version. Hard to comprehend how they thought they could improve on what Borges had done—though it probably came down to $, right?