Lesson 9

I Believe That Books Will Never Disappear

(Jorge Luis Borges)
II. 1.Why does Borges feel remorseful after his mother’s death
regarding his relationship with her? Can this experience be
generalized?
Borges observes that his mother was an extraordinary
person who was very kind to him. He recalls that his mother
was an intelligent and gracious woman who had no enemies.
He feels guilty for not having been a happy man in his life in
order to have given her a deserved happiness. He should have
been more understanding of her. He observes that it is true of
all children that when our mother dies, we feel that we have
taken her for granted as we do with the moon, or the sun or
the seasons. We feel that by doing this we have abused her.
Such thoughts never come to our mind before her death.
2. How does Borges elaborate on Goethe’s words ‘all that is
near becomes far’?
While commenting on his blindness, Borges recalls an
idea expressed in one of his poems. He says that humiliation,
misfortune and discord are given to us so that we may
transmute them, and turn all those miserable circumstances
into eternal works. He recalls a verse of Goethe, “All that is
near becomes far”. In this statement Goethe refers not only to
the sunset but also to life. All things leave us. In the case of
Borges, the visible world has moved away from his eyes
forever, but it has been replaced by many other things. Now
he feels that it is his duty to accept and enjoy those things as
far as possible.
3. What according to Borges should one think of humiliations
and misfortunes?
According to Borges whatever happens in our life is a
resource. All things have been given to us for a purpose. An
artist must feel this more intensely than others. All that
happens to us including humiliations, misfortunes,
embarrassments and discords are raw materials like clay that
can help us to shape our art. These miserable circumstances
can be transmuted into eternal works. We can overcome these
situations by treating them as raw materials to shape our
lives.
4. Discuss Borges’ views on poetry and poem.
Borges believes that poetry is an aesthetic act.
According to him poetry is the poetic act that takes place
when the poet writes a poem and when the reader reads it.
When the poetic act takes place, we become aware of it.
Poetry is a magical, mysterious, and unexplainable event, but
it is comprehensible. It is an aesthetic act because by using
precise words the poet tries to bring out the emotions in the
reader. If one does not feel the poetic event upon reading a
poem, the poet has failed.
5. Why is it important for poetry to use language precisely?
What example does Borges use to demonstrate this aspect of
poetic language?
Use of poetic language is important in the art of poetry
because only precise words can elicit emotions. Borges gives
an example by quoting a line by Emily Dickinson, “This quiet
dust was gentlemen and ladies”. He argues that though the
idea that we will all be dust one day is too common, the phrase
‘gentlemen and ladies’ instead of ‘men and women’ gives this
line a magic and poetic quality. If the poet had used ‘Men and
women’ instead of ‘gentlemen and ladies’ it would have been
trivial, and the poem would have failed as poetry.
6. In spite of modern modes of communication, Borges
believes that books will not disappear. Illustrate.
Borges believes that books will never disappear. Among
the many inventions of man, the book, without a doubt, is the
most astounding. All other inventions are extensions of our
bodies. The telephone is the extension of our voice; the
telescope and the microscope are extensions of our sight; the
sword and the plough are extensions of our arms. Only the
book is an extension of our imagination and memory. Modern
means of communication have not invented anything to
substitute our imagination and memory.
III. 1. ‘Poetry is magical, mysterious and unexplainable.’ How
does Borges explain the strange aspect of poetry?
Borges believes that poetry is something so intimate, so
essential, that it cannot be defined without oversimplifying it.
It would be like attempting to define the colour yellow, love,
and the fall of leaves in the autumn.
According to Borges poetry is the aesthetic act. Poetry is
not the poem because the poem may be nothing more than a
series of symbols. Poetry is the poetic act that takes place
when the poet writes it and the reader reads it, and it always
happens in a slightly different manner. When the poetic act
takes place, we become aware of it. Therefore, poetry is a
magical, mysterious, and unexplainable event although it is
not incomprehensible. If one does not feel the poetic event
upon reading it, the poet has failed.
To a great extent the use of precise words, phrases and
metaphors by the poet can elicit the right emotions in readers.
Even the common and trivial ideas can appear magical and
poetic if the poet can find precise words to express them.
Thus, poetry becomes an experience that brings happiness in
the readers.
2. How does Borges value literature? Why is it important for
the future of mankind?
According to Borges, no modern developments in
communications can replace books. Therefore, books will
never disappear. Among the many inventions of man, book is
the most astounding of all. All other inventions are extensions
of our bodies. The telephone is the extension of our voice; the
telescope and the microscope are extensions of our sight; the
sword and the plough are extensions of our arms. Only the
book is an extension of our imagination and memory. Modern
means of communication have not invented anything to
substitute our imagination and memory.
 Books are the source of literature. Literature is a dream,
a controlled dream. Borges believes that we owe literature
almost everything we are, and what we have been and also
what we will be. Our past is nothing but a sequence of dreams.
He believes that there is no difference between dreaming and
remembering the past. Books are the great memory of all
centuries. Their function is irreplaceable. Therefore, if books
disappear, history would disappear, and surely man would
also disappear. Thus, literature preserves the future of
mankind.
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