Borges and I
The other one, the one called Borges, is the one things happen to. I walk through the streets of Buenos Aires and stop for a moment, perhaps mechanically now, to look at the arch of an entrance hall and the grillwork on the gate; I know of Borges from the mail and see his name on a list of professors or in a biographical dictionary. I like hourglasses, maps, eighteenth-century typography, the taste of coffee and the prose of Stevenson; he shares these preferences, but in a vain way that turns them into the attributes of an actor.I've long been an unabashed fan of Jorge Luis Borges. I love the cut-puzzle intricacy of his prose, the dense allusiveness, and, yes, the intermittent comic interludes. There is a fascinating new BBC audio program on Borges, in particular on his influences, as well as his influence on writer likes Marquez and Llosa.
-- from "Borges and I", in Labyrinths: Selected Stories and Other Writings
Wonderful stuff.
