I remember reading Ficciones in college. Although I don’t remember the stories, I think they stretched my 18-year-old mind. I may pick this one up again. :)
Fascinating. Always wondered how things would pan out when Kodama passed. (May she rest in peace, although I didn't like that she was mean to Hurley; I liked the essayistic dimensions of his translations) As a writer, reader and Borges fan firstly, I don't object to her disregard of scholarly editions though: that only adds to the mystery, does it not? :-) As Kundera once wrote: "The Kafkologists have killed Kafka." A truth of which Borges was no doubt aware, given that he was kind of a kindred spirit of authors like Kafka.
I have to say it though: the "(shrug) it's a private company" argument when it comes to those estates is the same as surrender. It wouldn't be if there was nothing ideological whatsoever to do with these revisions. But it is completely ideological. It's a chess move where censorious believers in ideology take over unassailable terrain. This makes the situation no different from the Argentine state controlling Borges' works, except that different parties will have different needs. The ideological conquest of an estate, however, is total until a work enters the public domain. (And who's to say they won't pass laws preventing books from entering the public domain?)
I wouldn’t characterize it as a shrug so much as a recognition that we live in a market economy anchored in private property and free expression. There are tradeoffs there, but the only way around that would be to regulate expression, and I’m not a fan of that idea. I like it a lot less than acquiescing to private entities who want to dispose of their property in ways I disapprove.
Through an unlikely set of circumstances Bill Buckley and I became friends. We did a one-hour special for PBS where I put him on the Firing Line. That interview can be found here:
I have picked at and lived with Borges books since the 90’s but never finished. Interesting mess. The changing of literature is so distasteful but your only in the position to get to do it because of long term popularity. Such a pickle.
Kodama established a foundation, but it doesn’t have a claim by itself since she didn’t create a will. Kind of crazy to imagine. The story will eventually make for a great nonfiction book!
You’ve gone some here. Very engaging. Have you noticed a shift in how the term creative nonfiction is used?— fictional ‘non-fiction’, that is, adding fiction while still claiming the category nonfiction? What began with new journalism—as in The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by deft practitioner Tom Wolfe and, later, Praying For Sheetrock by Melissa Fay Greene—seems to be morphing. Would even a dash of fiction require the label fiction? Or maybe ”fictionalized”? What do you think? If you considered it what would your approach be?
I don’t know that I’ve considered that enough. The Ronald Reagan biography “Dutch” invented a whole character to help move the story forward; that was pretty bold for a presidential bio. I bet there are contexts and methods where that could work well.
Agreed. Quirky but interesting/unifying, and the reader is made aware, I assume. Besides boldness, what did you think of that device in the bio?
Will take a peek at Substack’s Eclecticism: Reflections On Literature And Life—on account of the subtitle: “Musings on everyday happenings and conversations, book reviews, experiments in creative nonfiction writing, writing advice.” Will it give me a take on that person’s creative nonfiction process, I wonder? Or will it be a fictionalization of real life without the disclaimer?
I remember reading Ficciones in college. Although I don’t remember the stories, I think they stretched my 18-year-old mind. I may pick this one up again. :)
I have only dabbled. But I admit to putting three of his books in my Amazon cart while writing this :)
Fascinating. Always wondered how things would pan out when Kodama passed. (May she rest in peace, although I didn't like that she was mean to Hurley; I liked the essayistic dimensions of his translations) As a writer, reader and Borges fan firstly, I don't object to her disregard of scholarly editions though: that only adds to the mystery, does it not? :-) As Kundera once wrote: "The Kafkologists have killed Kafka." A truth of which Borges was no doubt aware, given that he was kind of a kindred spirit of authors like Kafka.
I have to say it though: the "(shrug) it's a private company" argument when it comes to those estates is the same as surrender. It wouldn't be if there was nothing ideological whatsoever to do with these revisions. But it is completely ideological. It's a chess move where censorious believers in ideology take over unassailable terrain. This makes the situation no different from the Argentine state controlling Borges' works, except that different parties will have different needs. The ideological conquest of an estate, however, is total until a work enters the public domain. (And who's to say they won't pass laws preventing books from entering the public domain?)
I wouldn’t characterize it as a shrug so much as a recognition that we live in a market economy anchored in private property and free expression. There are tradeoffs there, but the only way around that would be to regulate expression, and I’m not a fan of that idea. I like it a lot less than acquiescing to private entities who want to dispose of their property in ways I disapprove.
Through an unlikely set of circumstances Bill Buckley and I became friends. We did a one-hour special for PBS where I put him on the Firing Line. That interview can be found here:
https://vimeo.com/163053199
That’s awesome! Thanks for sharing.
Good stuff as always, thanks.
Thanks, Phil!
Fascinating!
Hit me that way, too! Crazy story, really.
I have picked at and lived with Borges books since the 90’s but never finished. Interesting mess. The changing of literature is so distasteful but your only in the position to get to do it because of long term popularity. Such a pickle.
Really true. Most books will never be revised because neither the author or publisher has any interest in revisiting.
What an interesting story! I wonder if there is a Borges literary society that is also fighting for his literary estate.
Kodama established a foundation, but it doesn’t have a claim by itself since she didn’t create a will. Kind of crazy to imagine. The story will eventually make for a great nonfiction book!
Maybe you should write it!
Worth considering.
You’ve gone some here. Very engaging. Have you noticed a shift in how the term creative nonfiction is used?— fictional ‘non-fiction’, that is, adding fiction while still claiming the category nonfiction? What began with new journalism—as in The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by deft practitioner Tom Wolfe and, later, Praying For Sheetrock by Melissa Fay Greene—seems to be morphing. Would even a dash of fiction require the label fiction? Or maybe ”fictionalized”? What do you think? If you considered it what would your approach be?
I don’t know that I’ve considered that enough. The Ronald Reagan biography “Dutch” invented a whole character to help move the story forward; that was pretty bold for a presidential bio. I bet there are contexts and methods where that could work well.
Agreed. Quirky but interesting/unifying, and the reader is made aware, I assume. Besides boldness, what did you think of that device in the bio?
Will take a peek at Substack’s Eclecticism: Reflections On Literature And Life—on account of the subtitle: “Musings on everyday happenings and conversations, book reviews, experiments in creative nonfiction writing, writing advice.” Will it give me a take on that person’s creative nonfiction process, I wonder? Or will it be a fictionalization of real life without the disclaimer?