Introduction
Jorge Luis Borges was an Argentine short story writer, essayist, poet and translator. In this interview conducted by Roberto Alifano a poet, storyteller, essayist and journalist from the city of General Pinto, province of Buenos Aires Borges talks about his early years of reading, his family, his blindness, books, poetry, metaphors and literature.
Summary
First Reading / On his mother
Asked about his first reading, Borges proudly says that he was educated at his father’s library where he first read Grimm’s Fairy Tales. His mother, according to him, was an extraordinary person but he regrets having not been understanding of her. He didn't give her happiness which makes him guilty. He says that all of us take our mother for granted. Accordingly, we should treat our mother better. He remembers his mother as an intelligent and gracious woman.
On blindness
Blindness to Borges is a way of life. He calls whatever happens to anyone is a resource and that all things have been given to us for a purpose. Humiliations, our misfortunes, our embarrassments are given to us as raw materials so that we may shape our art. He further says that we must transmute our humiliation, misfortune and discord so that we can create eternal works out of the miserable circumstances. He accepted this reality and continued to buy books enjoying his life pretending that he was not blind.
On books / reading
Borges says that he still buys books. In every book he finds a need for something more. A book can be full of errors, but the book always retains something sacred, something mortal, something magical which brings happiness.
On Poetry
Talking about poetry Borges says that it is something so intimate, so essential that it cannot be defined without oversimplifying it. Poetry is the aesthetic act. It is the poetic act that takes place when the poet writes it and the reader reads it. Poetry is a magical, mysterious and unexplainable event. Accordingly, when one reads poetry and doesn't feel the poetic event, the poet fails.
On metaphors
Luis Borges talking about Metaphors says that they exist from the beginning of time. He seems to reduce all metaphors to five or six which are essential metaphors. They are: time and a river; life and dreams; death and sleep; stars and eyes; flowers and women. According to him the poet's task is to discover metaphors.
On Books & Literature
Borges is of the view that modern developments in communications can not replace books and that the books will never disappear. He says that book is the most astounding of many human inventions. All the others are extensions of our body. Only the book is an extension of our imagination and memory.
He says that Literature is a dream, a controlled dream. Our past is a sequence of dreams. Books are a great memory of all centuries. He concludes that if books disappear, surely history would disappear, and surely man would disappear.
Conclusion
Alifano through this interview of Jorge Luis Borge gives readers insights into the gifted writer. Borges' thoughts on the importance of mother, one's attitude towards miseries of life, his words on poetry, books, reading and literature pave way for a better understanding of life and literature.
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