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Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
Only one of the most paradoxical men of 20th-century Spanish-language letters could have authored an equally complicated literary work such as Labyrinths. And Jorge Luis Borges's life (1899–1986) imitated his art. In this dynamic biography, Spanish literature scholar Williamson (The Penguin History of Latin America) pieces together the life of Argentina's elusive literary master against a backdrop of the country's history and the author's oeuvre. While Borges was known as a rebel of narrative form and a crusader against conservative politics, Williamson argues that in spite of his ultracerebral writing style, he lived and died with very ordinary regrets. Borges was the son of battling parents from opposing political parties and the grandson of some of Argentina's most revered military generals. Williamson shows the young writer (whom he nicknames "Georgie" for effect) as a weakling and social recluse, unable to defend himself from the world's bullies. Ultimately, Borges chose the pen over the valiant dagger, so often used in his family's bloody history, as a means of protection. Later in life, displeased with his early books of essays, he set out to buy and burn all available copies. With just the right balance of fact and insight to make for a composed and not overly inflated biography, Williamson's psychoanalysis of Borges in love and in alienation is compelling. Replete with the most detailed facts about the air surrounding Borges, the book maintains human drama without overloading on unnecessary facts to create a poignant overview of a peculiar man.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Bookmarks Magazine
About a dozen Borges biographies exist; does Williamson’s work add anything new? The author, an Oxford professor, adopts a psychoanalytic approach to Borges’s life—but this unique approach raises serious questions. Some critics praise Williamson’s deep insight into Borges’s private life; as the San Diego Union-Tribune points out, Borges in Love would more aptly have described the work. Other reviewers criticize Williamson’s Freudian lens, which produces abundant speculation and simplistic analysis. And while Williamson pieced together a life from an impressive array of sources, he could have been more selective and focused more on Borges’s major works. Borges will not be the definitive biography. Still, it’s an unsentimental, sympathetic, and readable portrait of the man who transformed Latin American literature.
Only one of the most paradoxical men of 20th-century Spanish-language letters could have authored an equally complicated literary work such as Labyrinths. And Jorge Luis Borges's life (1899–1986) imitated his art. In this dynamic biography, Spanish literature scholar Williamson (The Penguin History of Latin America) pieces together the life of Argentina's elusive literary master against a backdrop of the country's history and the author's oeuvre. While Borges was known as a rebel of narrative form and a crusader against conservative politics, Williamson argues that in spite of his ultracerebral writing style, he lived and died with very ordinary regrets. Borges was the son of battling parents from opposing political parties and the grandson of some of Argentina's most revered military generals. Williamson shows the young writer (whom he nicknames "Georgie" for effect) as a weakling and social recluse, unable to defend himself from the world's bullies. Ultimately, Borges chose the pen over the valiant dagger, so often used in his family's bloody history, as a means of protection. Later in life, displeased with his early books of essays, he set out to buy and burn all available copies. With just the right balance of fact and insight to make for a composed and not overly inflated biography, Williamson's psychoanalysis of Borges in love and in alienation is compelling. Replete with the most detailed facts about the air surrounding Borges, the book maintains human drama without overloading on unnecessary facts to create a poignant overview of a peculiar man.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Bookmarks Magazine
About a dozen Borges biographies exist; does Williamson’s work add anything new? The author, an Oxford professor, adopts a psychoanalytic approach to Borges’s life—but this unique approach raises serious questions. Some critics praise Williamson’s deep insight into Borges’s private life; as the San Diego Union-Tribune points out, Borges in Love would more aptly have described the work. Other reviewers criticize Williamson’s Freudian lens, which produces abundant speculation and simplistic analysis. And while Williamson pieced together a life from an impressive array of sources, he could have been more selective and focused more on Borges’s major works. Borges will not be the definitive biography. Still, it’s an unsentimental, sympathetic, and readable portrait of the man who transformed Latin American literature.
Copyright © 2004 Phillips & Nelson Media, Inc.
See all Editorial Reviews
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