“Conversations- Volume 3” with Jorge Luis Borges and Osvaldo Ferrari (translated by Anthony Edkins)

Borges never wrote a piece of fiction or poetry beyond twenty pages. These transcribed radio conversations show that he could pack a lot of weight into just a few words. The topics range from his own stories and poems, to gossip about his literary friends, to what it meant to be Argentinian, to Oscar Wilde and sodomy, to James Joyce dissecting the genre of the novel, to the defects of sociology, to Stoic philosophy, to Walt Whitman’s quintessentially American poetry, to the nature of time, and much beyond. Each self-contained broadcast is a joy in and of itself, but the collection shows the width and depth of Borges’ knowledge, while being relayed in his unique brand of ironic humor. Ferrari more than holds his own in the exchange of banter and pushes Borges both where he does and where he does not want to go. Although recorded in the 1980s, the themes and commentaries still ring relevant in today’s literary scene and geopolitical climate.