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There Is No Borges
The narrator, a German professor of "Lusitanics," the science of loss, is invited on a lecture tour of Malaysia, where he contemplates the past and the future
196 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1991
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 23, 2016
Gerhard Kopf has written an engaging bit of lunacy froth, drawing from the never ending themes of famous authors work, actually having been created by another. In high school, the "Shakespeare Bacon" controversy presumed that it was indeed Francis Bacon who had actually written the works attributed to Shakespeare.
From these persistent and indecipherable hypotheses, Kopf has decided to allude that the work and fame of Jorge Luis Borges was so all encompassing and complete, that no individual like him ever in fact existed. It would have been impossible for a single man to have created such grandeur.
The problem is, that the story shortly becomes a "One trick pony". Pulling off a heist like this can only go so far before it becomes a bit thin. Still, it's a delightful romp, and is finally, an ode of praise To Borges, by painting him as one so monumental, as to not have been able to justify all he did.
From these persistent and indecipherable hypotheses, Kopf has decided to allude that the work and fame of Jorge Luis Borges was so all encompassing and complete, that no individual like him ever in fact existed. It would have been impossible for a single man to have created such grandeur.
The problem is, that the story shortly becomes a "One trick pony". Pulling off a heist like this can only go so far before it becomes a bit thin. Still, it's a delightful romp, and is finally, an ode of praise To Borges, by painting him as one so monumental, as to not have been able to justify all he did.
April 29, 2017
I have wasted my life, he could be heard to say, had anyone been listening to him, and his whole half-lived life seemed to him to consist of nothing but little habits.
This buried book was probably bought remaindered at an outlet twenty years ago. It was a younger Jon who was probably excited by the name of the Maestro in the title. There is no recollection of whether Jon attempted to read the book then.
This a weird hangover of an exercise, the author bending one of Borges' paradoxes upon itself. This then becomes a fugue of sorts on invention and failure. The academic protagonist travels to Macao for a conference and in the delirium of Tiananmen Square dredges up memories of filth and misdeed. These sections are more prose poems but consequently sort of degrade the connective tissue of the novel, allowing recurring themes to bob to the surface but with diminished effect. Jon can relate to diminished effect. Is someone reading Jon?
This buried book was probably bought remaindered at an outlet twenty years ago. It was a younger Jon who was probably excited by the name of the Maestro in the title. There is no recollection of whether Jon attempted to read the book then.
This a weird hangover of an exercise, the author bending one of Borges' paradoxes upon itself. This then becomes a fugue of sorts on invention and failure. The academic protagonist travels to Macao for a conference and in the delirium of Tiananmen Square dredges up memories of filth and misdeed. These sections are more prose poems but consequently sort of degrade the connective tissue of the novel, allowing recurring themes to bob to the surface but with diminished effect. Jon can relate to diminished effect. Is someone reading Jon?
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews