Comment by 101008
Borges is totally recommended, of course, but after reading him in the original language I think his English translations lack the poetry and music of his writings. For once I am happy Spanish is my first language.
Borges is totally recommended, of course, but after reading him in the original language I think his English translations lack the poetry and music of his writings. For once I am happy Spanish is my first language.
Congrats on both of you for putting the effort! I am from Buenos Aires, Argentina, so 100% same language as Borges. However, as both of you already said, it isn't even easy for us to read Borges. He has a complex sentence structure, and uses a lot of not-so-common words, so you have to read it really carefully, paying extra attention (not as I'd read any other text). But in the end is really worthwile, everytime I read something by Borges (new or not), I found it fascinating.
Yes, Iberian spanish. The issue is that I'm from Latam, so the slang used in Iberian spanish, and some conjugations still sound foreign to me. In english, King's words flow better, the intent and the idea are much clearer, and since I've been much more exposed to American culture than Iberian culture, it feels much more familiar.
The last few months I've been picking up Spanish language editions of Borges's short stories and poems from used book stores. Two decades ago during school I took two years of Spanish, so reading native Borges would be way beyond my comprehension.
With AI tools, though, I can "read" Borges in his native language: with my phone + OCR + translate I have an English language companion. Or, using the voice interface I can try narrating the Spanish text and ask clarifying questions whenever I'm confused.
An author like Borges makes it well worth the extra effort. And, his puzzles often involve language, so the extra layer of mental translation can mirror the work itself, e.g. in his poem La luna [1]. (though, I envy your native Spanish)
1. https://www.gaceta.unam.mx/la-luna-un-poema-de-borges/