6 Comments
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swedendrift | writer's avatar

Strange, I find his earlier works much more interesting. I think that when we try to tame our original, raw genius with “experience” we castrate something feral and necessary.

Livia J. Elliot's avatar

I know! Though from his latest there are quite a few that I love as well, the point remains: self-judgment and historical value do not share the same scale.

swedendrift | writer's avatar

100% it’s like comparing 24k and 22k gold in my opinion - both great!

Livia J. Elliot's avatar

True! Especially when read in Spanish. I have gripes with all the translations I've read so far (I end up reading him in both languages so I can quote him when writing/discussing in English).

swedendrift | writer's avatar

No translation can do the originals justice, though some come close. The culture of a people is held within their language and some things just can’t be said outside the original language.

Livia J. Elliot's avatar

Indeed. Borges did have some interesting comments about English and Spanish as well!