A Half Century with Borges

One of the most extraordinary writers of the 20th century, Jorge Luis Borges, through the eyes of Nobel Prize in Literature winner Mario Vargas Llosa.

«Absolute perfection does not seem to belong to this world, not even in the artistic works of creators who, like Borges, came closest to achieving it.»

«This collection of articles, lectures, reviews, and notes bears witness to more than half a century of readings by an author who has been for me, ever since I read his first short stories and essays in Lima in the 1950s, an inexhaustible source of intellectual pleasure. I have reread him many times and, unlike what happens to me with other writers who marked my adolescence, he never disappointed me; on the contrary, each new reading renews my enthusiasm and happiness, revealing new secrets and subtleties of that Borgesian world, so unusual in its themes and so lucid and elegant in its expression.

»I always read Borges not only with the exhilaration that a great writer awakens; also, with an indefinable nostalgia and the feeling that something of that dazzling universe born of his imagination and his prose will always be denied to me, no matter how much I admire and enjoy it.

»The handful of books he wrote, always brief books, perfect like a ring, where one has the impression that nothing is missing or superfluous, have had and still have an enormous influence on those who write in Spanish.»
Mario Vargas Llosa

Reviews:
«If you want to see Borges, follow Vargas Llosa. [...] A memorable little book, which makes clear the love of the person who signs it not only for his subject, but for culture in general. And of course, one must recognize that he had it easier than anyone else to look him in the eye and as an equal: both are of the same stature.»
Benjamín Prado

«A literary feast of intelligence that brings together two extraordinary and almost antagonistic diners.»
Rafael Narbona, El Cultural

«A unique and exceptional book not only for those who enjoy the work of both but also for anyone who wishes to enjoy a literary feast.»
Adrián Sanmartín, El Imparcial

«When one thought that everything had already been written, reflected on, researched, or disseminated about Borges's work, time, or person, [...] this book offers us a copious compilation of aphoristic occurrences and acute and subtle timeless thoughts. [...] Borges in his purest form and more relevant than ever and without a pedestal.»
José Manuel Martínez Cano, La Tribuna de Albacete

«Vargas Llosa's book addresses Borges's weaknesses, as well as his condition as an intellectual immersed in his universe of books and oblivious to the world and its passions. But Medio siglo con Borges is above all a tribute full of admiration and affection; the tribute of a Nobel laureate in Literature to another writer whom he considers deserving of that same prize and all honors.»
Fernando García, La Vanguardia

«It is not common for a genius to admire another contemporary genius. And much less to write and publish about it. Well then: this is the unusual case of [this] book.»
Javier Polo, La Verdad

«In the range of [Vargas Llosa's] predilections and weaknesses, Jorge Luis Borges occupied the space reserved for silent temptations and admirations.»
Javier Ors, La Razón

«Mario Vargas Llosa's writing has shaped our image of South America and has its own chapter in the history of contemporary literature. In his early years, he was a renovator of the novel, today, an epic poet.»
Per Wastberg, President of the Nobel Committee