Borges: The Passion of an Endless Quotation

by Lisa Block de Behar

Lisa Block de Behar explores the trope of quotation in the works of Jorge Luis Borges.

224 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2000

Reviews

[Hon Lady Selene · Rating 1 out of 5]

I'm going to let Borges himself tell you why I'm black-flagging and giving this 1 star, an excerpt from Conversations with Jorge Luis Borges:

Burgin: I mean people that write about you all write the same things.
Borges: Yes, yes, and they all make things too self-conscious and too intricate at the same time, no? Don't you think so?

[Ogi Ogas · Rating 2 out of 5]

My ratings of books on Goodreads are solely a crude ranking of their utility to me, and not an evaluation of literary merit, entertainment value, social importance, humor, insightfulness, scientific accuracy, creative vigor, suspensefulness of plot, depth of characters, vitality of theme, excitement of climax, satisfaction of ending, or any other combination of dimensions of value which we are expected to boil down through some fabulous alchemy into a single digit.

[Leif · Rating 3 out of 5]

I did like it, and I found several chapters very helpful, but the prose was fiendishly difficult to read and the translation seemed - to my blinkered eyes - variously inadequate at times. This is not, by the way, an unqualified difficulty, for I find Derrida marvelously clear and concise in comparison. Spivak, however, still retains her crown, so Block de Behar dodged that one.