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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Spotlight. I'm Alice Irasari.

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<v Speaker 2>And I'm Patrick Woodward. Spotlight uses a special English method

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<v Speaker 2>of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no

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<v Speaker 2>matter where in the world they live.

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<v Speaker 1>Have you ever wondered how time works? What about memory?

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<v Speaker 1>Have you thought about the difference between life and dreams?

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<v Speaker 2>Some people do not think about these questions, and most

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<v Speaker 2>writers do not explore them. But the Argentinian writer Orgey

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<v Speaker 2>Louise Borjes was not like other writers. Most of his

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<v Speaker 2>writing explored these ideas. To many people. These ideas may

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<v Speaker 2>seem strange, but in exploring them, bores became one of

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<v Speaker 2>the world's most important writers.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's spotlight is on the Argentinian writer Jorge Louis Borhes.

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<v Speaker 2>Borjeses wrote about many different subjects. Sometimes he wrote about

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<v Speaker 2>his own experiences, but often he wrote about subjects like

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<v Speaker 2>time and memory. Much of his writing is difficult to define.

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<v Speaker 2>It is mysterious, like a dream.

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<v Speaker 1>But Bor's early life did not seem mysterious. The only

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<v Speaker 1>unusual thing about young Borhess was his eyesight. Even when

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<v Speaker 1>he was young, he had a hard time seeing, so

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<v Speaker 1>he did not play outside as often as other children,

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<v Speaker 1>and he did not make many friends. Instead, he spent

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<v Speaker 1>much of his time inside reading from his father's books.

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<v Speaker 1>His father had over a thousand books in many languages,

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<v Speaker 1>and Borhas tried to read them all. He read the

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<v Speaker 1>Christian Bible and stories from ancient Greece. He even read

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<v Speaker 1>books full of facts.

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<v Speaker 2>For Borjes, these books were the most important part of

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<v Speaker 2>his young life. Gloria Lecube was an Argentinian journalist. In

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<v Speaker 2>nineteen eighty five, she talked to Borjes. She asked when

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<v Speaker 2>he knew he would become a writer.

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<v Speaker 3>He said, I think I have always known, maybe because

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<v Speaker 3>my father had an influence on me. I was raised

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<v Speaker 3>with my father's books. I went to school, but that

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<v Speaker 3>hardly matters, right. I was really raised among my father's books.

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<v Speaker 3>I always knew that it was what I was meant

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<v Speaker 3>to do, being among books, reading them, but it would

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<v Speaker 3>seem I was influenced to write as well.

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<v Speaker 1>Borhesse's father influenced him in other ways too. Borhs's father

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<v Speaker 1>studied many subjects. He was a lawyer and he also

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<v Speaker 1>taught students. Often he would speak to his son about

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<v Speaker 1>very difficult subjects. They would talk about how memory is

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<v Speaker 1>not perfect. They would speak about different ways to think

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<v Speaker 1>about time.

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<v Speaker 2>Borjes would later write about these subjects in his stories.

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<v Speaker 2>One of the most interesting is called Funess the Memorious.

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<v Speaker 2>An unnamed first person writer believed to be Bores himself,

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<v Speaker 2>tells the story.

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<v Speaker 3>The trouble began when fu Ness fell from the horse.

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<v Speaker 3>The boy hit his head on a stone, and the

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<v Speaker 3>fall broke his back. Today he sits in his parents'

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<v Speaker 3>house in the country, unable to move on his own.

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<v Speaker 1>Some people would probably love the power to remember, but

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<v Speaker 1>Funess is in a difficult situation. He sits in the

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<v Speaker 1>same place all day. His new memories are all the same. Instead,

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<v Speaker 1>he spends most of his time in his memories. Each

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<v Speaker 1>day of his past takes another day to remember. These

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<v Speaker 1>memories cause problems for him. He finds it hard to sleep.

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<v Speaker 1>He relives his life over and over again. By the

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<v Speaker 1>time the writer of the story speaks to him, he

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<v Speaker 1>has gone over his life many times. He is only nineteen.

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<v Speaker 1>It seems as if he has lived many lives, but

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<v Speaker 1>it is also as if he has not lived at all.

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<v Speaker 2>Borjes began to publish his own work when he was

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<v Speaker 2>very young. He was only twenty when he published his

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<v Speaker 2>first poem, and his work soon became popular in literary

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<v Speaker 2>circles around Argentina. People saw that his work was different.

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<v Speaker 2>It played with the idea of what writing was. His

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<v Speaker 2>ideas were like no one else's.

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<v Speaker 1>Bor Has found it difficult to make money as a writer.

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<v Speaker 1>Many people respected his work, but it did not sell well.

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<v Speaker 1>So bor Has found work as a teacher. He spent

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<v Speaker 1>much of his time reading and translating. What he did

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<v Speaker 1>write was very short. Often he wrote more about ideas

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<v Speaker 1>than people. He created strange worlds and played with language.

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<v Speaker 2>Then, in nine eighteen forty one, he published one of

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<v Speaker 2>his most important stories. It is called The Garden of

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<v Speaker 2>Forking Paths. It was his first story translated into English.

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<v Speaker 2>Before this, only a few people in Argentina knew his work.

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<v Speaker 2>Now people in other countries began to read it. In

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<v Speaker 2>a very short time, Borjes became well known. He traveled

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<v Speaker 2>North America and Europe giving speeches. His work began to

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<v Speaker 2>win awards.

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<v Speaker 1>But by the time he was in his thirties, Borjess's

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<v Speaker 1>eyesight had begun to fade. The process was slow. He

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<v Speaker 1>lost the power to see some colors. First, at fifty

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<v Speaker 1>he could not see at all.

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<v Speaker 2>Later, Borjes would write a poem about his experiences of

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<v Speaker 2>losing sight. It is called in praise of darkness.

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<v Speaker 3>Old age, or so it is called by others, can

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<v Speaker 3>be the season of our happiness. The animal has died

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<v Speaker 3>or nearly died. The man remains with his soul. I

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<v Speaker 3>live among vague and luminous shapes that are not yet darkness.

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<v Speaker 3>My friends do not have faces. Women are what they

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<v Speaker 3>were so many years ago. The street corners have chained.

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<v Speaker 3>There are no letters in the pages of books. All

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<v Speaker 3>of this ought to terrify me. But it is a sweetness,

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<v Speaker 3>a coming back home from the south, from the east,

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<v Speaker 3>from the west, from the north. The roads converge, the

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<v Speaker 3>roads that have brought me to my secret center. Those

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<v Speaker 3>roads were echoes and footsteps, women and men, death, throws, resurrections,

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<v Speaker 3>days and nights, dreams and between dreams, every moment of yesterday,

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<v Speaker 3>even the meanest and all of the yesterdays of the world.

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<v Speaker 3>Now I can let them go. I have come back

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<v Speaker 3>to my center, to my algebra, to my key, to

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<v Speaker 3>my mirror. Soon I will know who I am.

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<v Speaker 1>He could not see, but Borjes continued to write. Sometimes

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<v Speaker 1>he would speak his poems and stories out loud. He

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<v Speaker 1>could no longer write long works, so he concentrated on

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<v Speaker 1>small papers and poems. By the time he died in

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<v Speaker 1>nineteen eighty five, he had published dozens of books. He

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<v Speaker 1>wrote almost half of them while blind.

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<v Speaker 2>Borjes did not think that people would remember him. He

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<v Speaker 2>thought that his writing was too difficult, or that his

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<v Speaker 2>subject matter would not be important to them. But his

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<v Speaker 2>writing had a profound influence on many people. He created

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<v Speaker 2>the genre of magical realism. His work inspired mathematical theories.

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<v Speaker 2>It also influenced science fiction and fantasy. But more than anything,

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<v Speaker 2>Borjes's work changed Latin American writing.

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<v Speaker 1>Marcella Valdez is a literary critic. She spoke to the

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<v Speaker 1>British Broadcasting Corporation about these changes.

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<v Speaker 4>Borjess's influence on Latin American literature is, like Sherwood Anderson's

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<v Speaker 4>effect on American fiction, very deep. It has become difficult

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<v Speaker 4>to name a major writer who has not been touched

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<v Speaker 4>by it.

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<v Speaker 2>Have you ever read Borjes? Do you have a favorite

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<v Speaker 2>story or poem? Tell us about it. You can leave

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<v Speaker 2>a comment on our website or email us at Spotlight

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<v Speaker 2>English dot com. You can also find us on YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram,

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<v Speaker 2>and x You can also get our programs delivered directly

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<v Speaker 2>Spotlight English app.

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<v Speaker 1>The writer of this program was Dan Christman. The producer

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<v Speaker 1>was Mityo Osaki. The voices you heard were from the

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<v Speaker 1>United States and the United Kingdom. All quotes were adapted

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<v Speaker 1>for this program and voiced by Spotlight. No AI or

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<v Speaker 1>artificial intelligence was used in this program. Spotlight programs are written, voiced,

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<v Speaker 1>and produced by real people for real people, no matter

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<v Speaker 1>where in the world you live. This program is called

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<v Speaker 1>The Limitless Stories of Jorge Luis Forhess.

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<v Speaker 2>We hope you can join us again for the next

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<v Speaker 2>Spotlight program. Goodbye,