Profile Of A Writer: Jorge Luis Borges: Borges And I

Argentinean visionary writer Jorge Luis Borges, who died in June last year, is the focus of this 1983 documentary. In his three most famous story collections "Ficciones", "El Aleph", and "Labyrinths", Borges used metaphysical fables to explore the relationships between fiction, truth, and identity. In "Borges and I", the author examines the mind/body dichotomy by positing two separate Borges: the man in the mirror, and the voice inside. Several of Borges' pieces are dramatized here, and there is extensive commentary from Borges himself, as he reflects on his life ("my idea of Paradise was a library"); his blindness in his later years (and his ironic appointment as director of the National Library in Buenos Aires, after he could no longer read); and his role as an author. Borges' English is, at first, difficult to follow; and the dialogue in the dramatizations of his work is not translated. These two drawbacks aside, this program is recommended for public and academic libraries with strong contemporary literature collections. (see PORTRAIT OF AN ARTIST: RAPHAEL for availability).