Quick Revision
| Topic | Borges says |
|---|---|
| First reading | Grimm's Fairy Tales in an English version |
| Education | his father's library, perhaps more than school |
| Mother | Dona Leonor - extraordinary, kind; he feels guilty |
| Blindness | a way of life, a resource |
| Homer | the gods spun ruin "that there might be a song for those yet to be born" |
| Goethe | "All that is near becomes far" |
| Dream | burning of the Library of Alexandria |
| Shaw | "Every book worth being re-read has been written by the spirit" |
| Poetry | the aesthetic act, not the poem; cannot be defined |
| Precise words | Dickinson: "This quiet dust was gentlemen and ladies" |
| Essential metaphors | time/river, life/dreams, death/sleep, stars/eyes, flowers/women |
| Most astounding invention | the book - extension of imagination and memory |
| Literature | a controlled dream |
[Exam Tip] — In 2025, the match-the-column MCQ paired Grimm's Fairy Tales - Tales in English version, Dona Leonor - Borges's mother, The Odyssey - Homer.