Luis Harss

With a strong interest in Argentine literature I read the two entries on Borges and Cortazar.

I was especially captivated with the Borges chapter which included a report of a rather long interview at the National Library of which for several years he was the Director. I am aware that there are several brief books published about Borges among them: Alberto Manguel's With Borges, Ilan Stavan's Borges, The Jew, Borges, The Last Interview being just a few examples. If I were a publisher I would show more certainly consider presenting Luis Harss's chapter on Borges as a free standing publication.

Some juicy Borges quotes in Harss's piece:
"Life and death have been lacking in my life."
"I have a laborious love for minutiae."
"Few things have happened to me, and many I have read...I am infested with literature."
Borges on WH Hudson-"more than once he undertook the study of metaphysics but he was always interrupted by happiness."

The chapter on Cortazar, about his life in Paris, his love of Argentina, his short story based on Charlie Parker and his masterpiece, Hopscotch, is also packed with interesting insights.

For lovers of South American literature this is an important resource book. show less

En el año 1964, Luis Harss emprendió un viaje por Francia, Italia, México y por todo el continente americano con el fin de trazar el retrato literario y psicológico de quienes consideraba los diez autores latinoamericanos más representativos del momento. Borges, Asturias, Guimarães Rosa, Onetti, Cortázar, Rulfo, Fuentes, García Márquez y Vargas Llosa «posaron de buena gana». El resultado de esta aventura honesta y desinteresada fue que, sin proponérselo ni adivinar lo atinado de show more su predicción, Harss creó el canon y la carta de navegación de un fenómeno aún incipiente que más tarde se llamaría Boom. show less