Jorge Luis Borges, against “lectura obligatoria,” obligatory reading:
Reading should be a form of happiness, so I would advise all possible readers of my last will and testament — which I do not plan to write — I would advise them to read a lot, and not to get intimidated by writers’ reputations, to continue to look for personal happiness, personal enjoyment. It is the only way to read.And the original passage, from the documentary film Borges para millones (dir. Ricardo Wullicher, 1978):
From Professor Borges: A Course on English Literature, ed. Martín Arias and Martín Hadis, trans. Katherine Silver (NY: New Directions, 2013).
La lectura debe ser una de las formas de la felicidad, de modo que yo aconsejaría a esos posibles lectores de mi testamento — que no pienso escribir — que leyeran mucho, que no se dejaran asustar por la reputación de los autores, que sigan buscando una felicidad personal, un goce personal. Es el único modo de leer.[Borges para millones is available at the usual place.]
I've just been looking through WPA Posters and was surprised that several of them were exhortations to read: they practically quote Borges! (Well, not really.)
ReplyDeleteYou may well know them already, but there's a cool slideshow here:
http://www.mhpbooks.com/slideshow-books-are-weapons/
Yes, I saw the one you posted — very cool.
ReplyDeleteI love those WPA posters: I’ve posted the ones for January, March, and October. And I’m a member in good standing of the Vacation Reading Club. I trust you’re one too. :)