Borges and I

 

By: Alexander Früh-

https://www.instagram.com/zanderfruh99/

I think cities (especially big cities) are one of the things in life that you appreciate most only once  you leave them. Eleven weeks I wandered through Buenos Aires, apathetic to my surroundings, and then once I was gone, I found I needed a piece of that great city. And so I discovered Jorge Luis Borges; literature is after all the most portable form of any culture. For me to state that he is one of the greatest Argentinian authors of all time would be absurd, given that he is the only Argentinian author I have read. But it would be fair for me to state that he is one of the greatest authors that I have read.

 

I think one of the first things that struck me about Borges is that, superficially, his work does not seem very porteño. There is no hint of the brash, cocky patriotism that greets any visitor to Buenos Aires; the language and settings of much of his works would not indicate that the author was from there either. Look deeper though, and you will see the city, perhaps even as a glimpse of its past. The focus on literature mirrors the many and varied bookshops of Buenos Aires. The feeling of the invisible pampas, close but out of reach, is also present. And perhaps the labyrinths which his solitary characters lose themselves in are an echo of the spirit of the city.

 

Borges’ work considers questions about creativity, time and the capabilities of humanity often through the study of fiction itself, using the interesting idea of ‘double fiction’, where he describes books which are themselves fictitious. These books are fascinating, and even tantalising; novels which take place backwards, books which cover every possible outcome of a scenario, and encyclopedias which describe whole worlds. I sometimes wonder if Borges dreamt of writing these elusive works but discarded them as impossible, or whether these were always to him purely imaginary.

 

There is something inspiring about the way Borges writes; the boundless creativity and enduring perseverance of his characters says something positive to all of us. He believed that everyone has the capability of originality and artistry. I feel it fitting to include a quote from the end of his short story, “Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote”:

“Everyone should be capable of all ideas, and in the future I believe they will be.”