The Poet

Name: The Poet
ISBN: 9787532770670

Jorge Luis Borges / 林之木Shanghai Translation Publishing House · ChinaOct 2017

4.4

Word count: 28K words
Chapters: 51
ISBN: 9787532770670

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Summary

A representative work of poetry from the 1960s, published after Borges had achieved worldwide fame; strictly speaking a collection of both poetry and prose, and a concentrated expression of his style. The original Spanish title El hacedor means "the maker" or "the creator," and the whole work is a celebration of the scenes, figures, images, and concepts that arise in the writer's mind: tigers, mirrors, birds, yellow roses, hourglasses, chess, the moon, rain, blind men, maps, chronicles, dialogues, captives, deceits, questions, witnesses, mutations, catastrophes, boundaries... The writer is like a creator, shaping a bizarre and dazzling mental world, and these lines reveal the common tone and themes of many of his works.

Editor's review

Jorge Luis Borges, a giant of literary history, is a name that is itself an entry into a universe. The Maker is not a poetry collection in the traditional sense; it is more like a key forged by Borges himself to open the literary labyrinth he built over a lifetime. Published by Shanghai Translation Publishing House, this volume gathers core texts by Borges on poetic creation, literary ideas, and his own inner life as a poet. In reading it you will not meet his famous stories of fantasy and speculation head-on; instead you descend to the source of his thought and touch the Borges who fused philosophical reverie, meditations on time, Eastern imagery, and pure poetry into one. As an editor, I see the value of The Maker in its "metanarrative" quality. It is not a simple display of work but a master's deep analysis and candid confession of his own creative act. Here you can read his clear awareness of the limits of language, his obsession with infinity and recurrence, and his distinctive poetics that treats reading itself as a creative act. These texts, like his "Library of Babel," are intricate yet self-contained, full of intellectual tension and humble depth. For readers eager to understand the principles that structure Borges's literary world, this book is an indispensable guide. It strips away the ornate outer garment of narrative and lets you look directly at a passionate yet cool literary mind that miniaturizes the universe into lines of verse.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Literary scholars who wish to understand the core of Borges's thought and poetics
Devoted literary readers fascinated by metafiction, the philosophy of creation, and the allure of language itself
Writers and poets seeking to trace the master's creative lineage and sources of inspiration
Readers unsatisfied with stories alone who crave intellectual challenge and speculative play

Not a good fit for

Readers expecting short stories in the manner of Borges's "The Garden of Forking Paths"
Newcomers seeking light, lyrical, or strongly narrative popular poetry collections

Reading tips

Read it alongside Borges's fiction to grasp more fully the coordinates of his literary universe
Do not aim to master it in one sitting; read and reflect as you go, treating it as a book of wisdom to be chewed over repeatedly
Pay attention to the other writers and texts he mentions; these are often key clues to understanding his intellectual genealogy

About the publisher

Shanghai Translation Publishing House China · Founded in 1978

Shanghai Translation Publishing House is a Chinese publisher oriented mainly toward translation and publishing. Its publications cover foreign literature, world classics and classic works, as well as social culture, folk literature and classical poetry. The database contains 2,618 titles, including Never Let Me Go, Les Misérables (2 volumes), Don Quixote (illustrated collector's edition), The Complete Comedies of Molière (4 volumes), The Complete Novels of Kafka (3 volumes), The Collected Works of Dostoevsky (9-volume set), Reason and Persons, and Oedipus Rex (Translation Classics). Its author resources include foreign writers such as Kazuo Ishiguro, Victor Hugo, Cervantes and Molière, as well as translators such as Zheng Kelu, Sun Jiameng, Li Jianwu and Zhang Kun. The publisher has brands such as "Translation Classics Selections" and "Translation Documentary," and emphasizes translated works in foreign literature and the humanities and social sciences, while also publishing bilingual dictionaries and foreign-language educational books. Public information is limited; the above is based on the book information in the database.

版权信息
致莱奥波尔多·卢贡内斯
诗人
梦中的老虎
关于一次对话的对话
趾甲
遮起来的镜子
鸟的命题
俘虏
骗局
德莉娅·埃莱娜·圣·马尔科
死人的对话
天机
一个问题
一枝黄玫瑰
见证
马丁·菲耶罗
变异
关于塞万提斯和吉诃德的寓言
《天堂篇》第三十一章第一百零八行
关于宫殿的寓言
什么都是和什么都不是
神灵的劫难
《地狱篇》第一章第三十二行
博尔赫斯和我
关于天赐的诗
沙漏
棋
镜子
埃尔维拉·德·阿尔韦亚尔
苏莎娜·索卡
月亮
雨
为克伦威尔属下一位上尉的画像而作
致一位老诗人
另一种老虎
瞎子的位置
记一八九几年的一个阴影
记弗朗西斯科·博尔赫斯上校之死（1833—1874）
纪念阿方索·雷耶斯
博尔赫斯家族
致卡蒙斯
一九二几年
作于一九六○年的颂歌
阿里奥斯托和阿拉伯人
开始学习盎格鲁—撒克逊语语法之时
《路加福音》第二十三章
阿德罗格
诗艺
博物馆
结语

FAQ

Is this book a poetry collection by Borges?

Not exactly. More precisely, it is a collection of prose, reviews, and essays about poetry and poets, foregrounding Borges's core reflections and creative ideas in his identity as a "poet" rather than a mere compilation of his poems.

What background knowledge is needed to read this book?

Some familiarity with Borges's major fiction helps a great deal. The book also involves many literary and philosophical allusions, so a basic knowledge of Western literary history and philosophy will help you enter the text. But Borges's own narration is itself guiding, and curious readers can explore it directly.

What is this book's Douban rating?

Based on available information, the Borges series published by Shanghai Translation Publishing House (including related anthologies) generally enjoys a very high reputation, with Douban ratings usually above 8.5, and is a widely trusted edition. For this thematic anthology, The Maker, evaluations focus on the depth of its content and the professionalism of its editing, and it is regarded as an important text for studying Borges's poetics.

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About the author

Jorge Luis Borges Author · Argentina · 1899–1986

Jorge Luis Borges was an Argentine poet, fiction writer, essayist and translator. Born in Buenos Aires in 1899 and died in Geneva in 1986, he served as director of the National Library and held a post at the University of Buenos Aires. His short stories, notably those collected in The Garden of Forking Paths, The Aleph and The Book of Sand, often explore labyrinths, infinity, dreams and metaphysical themes, with intricate structures and a strong speculative bent. He was also a master of essays and criticism, writing in a concise, intellectually charged style. His works are widely classified as foreign literature and modern classics, and 53 titles are available in this collection.

林之木 Author

Public information about Lin Zhimu is quite limited. What can be confirmed at present is that eight of his works are held in the collection, commonly classified under foreign literature and literature. Judging from his representative works, his work is closely connected with the Chinese translation and introduction of Borges, involving the second series of the Complete Works of Borges (twelve volumes), as well as titles such as For the Six-String Guitar and In Praise of Darkness, The Poet, The Gold of the Tigers, Buenos Aires Passion, The Number of Days, Conspiracy, and The Iron Coin, which he either compiled or translated. Most of these titles belong to poetry and prose poetry, suggesting that his focus is on Borges's poetic texts rather than his narrative fiction. His translations must handle the rhythm, imagery, and allusions of Spanish-language poetry, with a tone that tends toward concision and restraint. Since no public information is available about his dates, nationality, or education, no speculation is offered here; readers may encounter Borges's poetry in Chinese through these translations and thereby understand Lin Zhimu's place in the Chinese-language translation of Borges.