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/lit/ - Literature

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7537204 No.7537204 [Reply] [Original]

I have managed to acquire the Norman Thomas di Giovanni translations of "The Aleph," "The Book of Sand," and "The Book of Imaginary Beings." These were the translations that Borges himself had a hand in, and I therefore have a certain degree of trust in them.

However, I've noticed there are no di Giovanni translations for "Fictions." It almost seems as though they weren't even considered for the extra translation.

So what's the best translation of "Fictions"?

>> No.7537276

Some of the stories from it were in fact translated by di Giovanni, I would assume through the same process. They were pulled due to legal threats, but for easy access you can find them in this ebook.
>sites.google.com/site/thebooksofsand/the-short-stories-of-jorge-luis-borges-the-giovanni-translations

>> No.7537291

They're actually not that great.

Also you can find all of them online.

>> No.7537295

>>7537276
(oh and it also includes Kerrigan's translations for the remaining stories, which are the classic versions and these editors' recommended ones. They complete either Ficciones or Labyrinths, I'm not sure -- there is considerable overlap between those two collections)

>> No.7537566
File: 45 KB, 800x450, Escritores-y-sus-gatos-Jorge-Luis-Borges.jpg [View same] [iqdb] [saucenao] [google]
7537566

>>7537276
>>7537295
Thank you, friend. This is what I was looking for.

What's everyone's favorite Borges story? Mine is probably "The Other."

>> No.7537651

>>7537566
my favourite stories of his:
Library of Babylon
Circular Ruins

some of his stories were kind of hard to comprehend for me, i didn't get "Lottery of Babylon" at all, mainly because his use of symbolism (Gnosticism, Philosophy) went over my head big time, anyone know some additional literature that could help me understand his stories?

>> No.7537806

>>7537651
> Library of Babylon

>> No.7537958

>>7537806
>The Lottery in Babel

>>7537651
>>>/r9k/ has glozed extensively on the concept of the aleph & beth roles...
(seriously though, didn't you get the commentary relating it to chance, determinism and the possibility and relevance of theological questions in the last paragraph? it isn't uncommon in borges' stories to have, towards the end, some clear indications as to what the story was set up for - you don't have to dismiss it and look elsewhere just because it seems too obvious, he didn't write with erudites in mind)

>> No.7538149

Learn Spanish

>> No.7538472

>>7537204
Borges A Reader has a lot of the di Giovanni translations

>> No.7538493

>>7537566

My favorite is 'The Library of Babel', but I also consider 'Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius', 'Pierre Menard, Author of Don Quixote', 'The Circular Ruins', 'The Babylon Lottery', 'The Garden of Forking Paths', 'Funes, the Memorious', 'Death and the Compass', and 'The Secret Miracle' all to be totally indispensible as well.

>> No.7538495

>>7537291

I actually feel the same way. I have labyrinths, and I compared...I think it was garden of forking paths? to the di Giovanni one, and I preferred the labyrinths one. I think the DG translations were partially a product of an older Borges's use of language onto his younger self, so it's not as lively as it should've been.

Or something. Point is the DG translations aren't necessarily the best.

>> No.7538530

>>7538495
I tend to prefer Kerrigans' as well, from what I've compared. It is odd that the increased freedom resulted in less idiomatic language in dG, but sometimes it is in their favour, and they're still consistently better than the newest translations (Hurley, who moves around the literal side but sallies into indefensible choices, the reasons for which must make sense to him only)

>> No.7539617
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7539617

Unfortunately dG never did Funes, not sure if there is a single story that they all translated, so we can do a better comparison...

>> No.7539991

>>7539617
>that title by Hurley
>'Funes, His Memory'
I wonder what will happen with the di Giovanni translations after Borges' widow dies. I'm not inclined to have any dealings with the Hurley translations that she commissioned and would love to see di Giovanni's work readily available. On the other hand, it's nice to see a positive spin on the other available work >>7538495 >>7538530 that I've enjoyed so much.