Borges: A Life [Paperback]

James Woodall (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 2, 1998

Jorge Luis Borges is one of the seminal figures in twentieth-century literature. His influence on the art of narrative and on the very way people think about writing has been incalculable. All postwar fiction, from García Márquez to Fuentes, Updike to Barth, Calvino to Eco, bears Borges’s imprint—in spite of the fact that Borges did not write a single novel.Born at the turn of the century in Argentina, Borges grew up with cosmopolitan parents who fostered his love of literature—and his active imagination. He spent his early youth in Europe, and though he traveled in literary circles, it was not until he returned to Buenos Aires in the late 1930s that he embarked on a substantial writing career of his own. Ficciones and El Aleph, the collections of short stories on which his reputation is based, were cryptic, playful, and vertiginously imagined. They have become benchmarks of Latin American fiction, paving the way for the Magic Realism that followed. Still, fame was slow to come to Borges, and the stature of his work was not recognized until the 1960s. Blind, living with his mother—who died just ten years before he did—and increasingly unpopular in his politics, Borges attracted extraordinary international attention in his later years that lasted until his death in 1986.Borges: A Life is the first biography to be written in English since Borges died, and from it emerges a picture of a complex man who neither courted fame nor acknowledged the literary revolution he set in motion. Based on firsthand research in Buenos Aires, James Woodall’s portrait depicts the Borges the world never saw: the young pamphleteering poet obsessed by Walt Whitman and Argentine slang; the sexually timid intellectual falling disastrously in love just as he was writing his finest prose; the guru of Latin American letters whose sole aim in old age was domestic happiness. Casting new light on the background to the stories and the poetry, James Woodall also looks at Buenos Aires itself, a city in one of the most dramatic periods of its history. At the center of Woodall’s depiction are the two grand obsessions of Borges’s life: his celibate love of women and his loathing of Argentina’s most charismatic dictator, Juan Perón.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Jorge Luis Borges is among the select company of 20th-century writers whose names have been converted into adjectives. Exactly what Borgesian means is hard to pin down. But when we come across a metaphysical riddle of a story--one in which life seems to be interrogated by literature--then we are surely entering Borges's sphere of influence. And given the author's slender output, this sphere is surprisingly large. From Gabriel García Márquez to John Barth, from Umberto Eco to Salman Rushdie, the imprint of Borges is everywhere. Not bad for a recluse who hunkered down in his native Bueno Aires for nearly 40 years at a clip.

How did Borges become Arentina's most conspicuous export? In his new biography, James Woodall goes a considerable distance toward answering this question. The author has done his spadework, and he manages to draw connections between the life and the art without making one a simple explanation for the other. For those who wish to enter the labyrinth of Borges's existence, Woodall is a most agreeable and intelligent guide. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"A sensitive, intelligent. . .account which can only deepen our understanding of an undisputed 20th century master." -- The Standard (London)

"James Woodall's Borges: A Life is the best general biography now available on this influential figure." -- The New York Times

"Woodall. . . is a serious and intelligent biographer and critic." -- Literary Review

James Woodall's Borges: A Life is the best general biography now available on this influential figure.... Competently researched and displaying a more than adequate knowledge of Argentine history and politics, Woodall's book gains from the fact that he is not a scholar of Latin American literature: he has been able to tap the Borges industry without being caught up in the effort to turn his subject into a monument. -- The New York Times Book Review, Roberto González Echevarría --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 368 pages
• Publisher: Basic Books (December 2, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0465007244
• ISBN-13: 978-0465007240
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,930,878 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars AN ENIGMATIC WRITER, January 1, 2002

By 

Bonita L. Davis - See all my reviews

This review is from: Borges: A Life (Hardcover)

Jorge Luis Borges stands out as the most compelling and influential Latin American writer of his time. Yet his fame came slowly. He was given international acclaim while ignored in his homeland of Argentina. Who is this man Borges, whose life is an enigma to those who have encountered him in print?

The answer to that question is found in this superb literary biograpy of Borges by James Woodall. Borges:A Life, explores the Borges the man and the forces which made him into one of the greatest writers in the twentieth century. Drawing on interviews, Borges' works, and detailed readings of letters and other resources the author unravels the life of the man. In doing so you are given invaluable insight about "Georgie" (as he is called by the author) yet there is still an element of mystery that surrounds him.

Although born in Argentina, Borges was a dedicated Anglophile throughout his life. Literature came alive for him through the English language. His early youth was spent in Europe but it wasn't until he returned home that he was able to embark on his own writing career.

The writer Borges loves to startle the reader and sends you through a maze of complexity that challenges reality. His symbolic use of mirror images and his double puts a twist on literature that has never been done before. Woodall paints a picture of an eccentric man with this powerful gift of telling a story. Although primarily known as a fiction writer, Borges was highly astute in writing poetry and essays.

This is an enjoyable biography of a shy man who becomes accessible to the reader. There are some things in Borges life that arouse questions concerning his integrity. Borges appears to ignore those questions of military dictatorship (in Argentina) and some of his racist comments regarding Indians and Blacks. He moves beyond those distractions and manages to find himself a literary icon. By all means, read this great book about a great man.