BORGES' GENIUS
PRAISED ON THE CENTENNIAL OF HIS BIRTH
By Laura Weffer Cifuentes.
(from the Latino On-Line News Network)
London, Jan 14 1999 (EFE).-
During his lifetime, Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges would shy away from
fame, but on the centennial anniversary of his birth the whole world
commemorated, together with the best known writers, in praise of his genius.
As part of the celebration in Britain, an anthology of his
work of fiction was published and well-known British writers Martin Amis and Ian
McEwan participated in a colloquium on Borges, the author of "Aleph."
In a packed hall, with tango music playing in the background
and readings of fragments from "Circular Ruins," "Pierre
Menard" and "Babylon," Amis and McEwan analyzed Borges' work and
influences.
According to Amis, the presence of an English grandmother and
nanny early in life made an indelible impression on the writer, "to the
extent that English could be considered his mother tongue."
Although he could not remember how he came in contact with
"Borges' ironies and daringness," Amis said that after the first
reading he knew he had found someone he could consider his own.
"Borges' genius leaves me speechless, his work should
not be considered minimalist, but extravagant. His way of facing the horror in
the eternal and the transitory is extraordinary," Amis said.
McEwan, like his fellow writer, did not hold back in praising
Borges' "colossal intelligence."
"There is something liberating in Borges' writing; it is
the pure pleasure of the game of literary abstraction," the author of
"Amsterdam" added.
The two British writers agreed that Borges' best work was
written in the 1940s and 1950s.
© Agencia EFE S.A.
