Thursday, March 12, 2020

'That Verse Should Be as Beautiful Today'

The number of readers who knew Vladimir Nabokov and Jorge Luis Borges well enough to socialize with both men and perhaps call them friends must have been small and exclusive. I can think of only one: William F. Buckley Jr. His relations with Nabokov are well-documented. He once gave the delighted novelist a button that read “Fuck Communism.” In his National Review obituary he calls Nabokov “this wonderful human being.”

Less well-known is Buckley’s association with the great Argentinean writer. Buckley spoke no English until he was seven years old. Spanish was his first language, as English was Borges’ first reading language. Buckley called him “a gentle titan.” In 1977, Borges appeared on Firing Line during Buckley’s visit to Buenos Aires. Go here to watch a video of their conversation. A transcript is included in The Right Word (1996). When Buckley asks if it is possible to “stimulate a love of literature, or is it something that just happens,” Borges replies: “I tried to teach my students not literature—that can’t be taught—but the love of literature.” Buckley asks if it is simply a matter of “pedagogical art.” Borges says:

“I think literature is being taught in the wrong way all the time. It’s being taught in terms of history and of sociology. And I wouldn’t do that. I have seen many teachers who are always falling back on dates, on place names.”

Borges says he finds such things distracting. He adds: “[I]f I give you a beautiful line of verse, that verse should be as beautiful today as it was centuries ago. Or had it been written today, it should be beautiful also.”
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2 comments:

  1. Anonymous6:14 AM

    A fortuitous coincidence: I watched the Borges-Buckley video earlier this week. What love for literature and language Borges had! I especially liked his remarks on the differences between Spanish and English.

    I remarked to a colleague, who, like me, is a fan of Borges, "Can you imagine a TV studio today airing an hour interview in which two learned men talk about literature and language?"

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  2. Dwight9:29 AM

    I watched this a few years ago and loved it. Borges' sense of humor was such fun to watch. One of my favorite exchanges that I noted:

    Buckley, Jr.: "Do you mean you have officially abandoned any intention of receiving the Nobel Prize?"

    Borges: "No. I think it is a kind of game that is played every year. You know, every year I am to be given the Nobel Prize and then it turns out to be the next year. It's kind of a habit I have, or a kind of habit the Scandinavians have. In fact, it might be called an old Norse tradition, you know, not to give me the Nobel Prize. That's a part of Norse mythology. I'm very fond of Norse, all things Scandinavian. I love all things Scandinavian."

    Buckley, Jr.: "Is it your point that you would lose respect in the Nobel Committee if they awarded you the prize?"

    Borges: "I would think it was a very generous mistake, but I will accept it greedily."

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