One of the reasons Jorge Borges is so renowned is due to his tremendous versatility. He was an essayist and also a poet. When he was in his early twenties, Borges had already started publishing his work in surrealist literary journals. Two of his most famous books were compilations of short stories that incorporated magical realism and explored existential questions. Ficciones, published in 1944, and The Aleph, published in 1949. Much of Borges work has been translated into English. For example, Ficciones and Labyrinths have both been published in English by New York press.
Like many Latin American writers, Jorge Borges was involved in politics. Borges was considered a political conservative and he labeled himself as a Spencerian anarchist. He declared that he was opposed to Marxism and Communism. He even said that the famous poet Pablo Neruda was a “very mean man” for supporting the Soviet Union. Borges also let his opinions be well known that he was very much opposed to Peronism.
Throughout his career, Borges held a variety of impressive positions. In 1955, Borges became director of the National Public Library in Argentina, and became a Literature professor at the University of Buenos Aires. Borges also has won a variety of prizes over the years including the International Publishers’ Prize in 1961 and the Jerusalem Prize in 1971. Unfortunately, in Borges’ early thirties, his vision began to decline. As a result, he began lecturing and also writing screenplays.
Jorge Borges was credited for opening the doorway to a variety of Spanish American novelists including Gabriel Garcia Marquez. While you might not be ready to read Jorge Borges’ work when you first learn Spanish in Argentina, this is definitely a milestone that you can look forward to as your Spanish becomes better and better.