Lesen ist Denken mit fremdem Gehirn

It began in Buenos Aires, in his father's library, about which Borges once said he probably never found his way out. After his father's death, he took a position in a municipal library, "nine years of solid misfortune," but he had time to read – and to write (in both senses) fantastic stories like The Library of Babel. The fourth library of his life was the Argentine National Library, which Borges directed from 1955. That same year, he went blind: "An irony of God, who gave me both books and night." The books remained, and he spoke about them to the Argentine author Osvaldo Ferrari in thirty short conversations between 1984 and 1986. As brief as these dialogues are, they reveal a rich inner life. Borges not only provides insight into his intellectual library, but he also shares his passion for daggers and knives, how he refuses to let his blindness spoil his travels, and that he looks forward to death with impatience. It forms a memoir in fragments, rich in colorful anecdotes and astonishing details – a treasure trove of literary gems.