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Humor in Borges (Humor in Life and Letters)

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Finally, FINALLY, a critical work on what is by far the least appreciated aspect of Borges's art, his humor. When Borges describes, in one of his most famous stories, "Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius," the intellectuals of Tlon as considering philosophy and theology to be sub-species of fantastic literature, he's not so subtly offering a key to understanding his own fiction, which is, among other things, a very funny, very irreverant send-up of humankind's quest for meaning. Is there a more sublimely ridiculous exercise than to prove, by internal Scriptural evidence, as Borges does in "Three Versions of Judas," that it was Judas, not Jesus, who was the Messiah? (Admittedly, not everyone will find said operation funny, but that's hardly Borges's fault.) These metaphysical jokes are fairly obvious, even if (inexplicably) overlooked by the vast majority of critics. Prof. De Costa, however, goes a step further in his inquiry by, paradoxically, staying on the surface. He pays close attention to the descriptions of spaces Borges creates, such as the bathrooms in "The Library of Babel," which require the user to do everything (EVERYTHING) standing up, or the railings around the bottomless air shafts in the same Library, which are too low to prevent very many fatal accidents. Such an absurd environment, seemingly designed by a fool (or perhaps a Marx brother), allows for plenty of potential slapstick, even if that slapstick's never realized. Borges's worlds are simultaneously zany and dangerous, or, to use De Costa's terms, funny and serious. Additionally, De Costa provides an excellent, exhaustive overview of Borges's scatological humor. (The gentlemanly Borges did, indeed, enjoy a good poop joke.) As an incidental bonus, "Humor in Borges" happens to provide an insightful study of Borges's affinities with Kafka. If you can't laugh at Borges, you can't understand Borges. This slim book is a major contribution to our appreciation of a major writer.