The Aleph by Jorge Luis Borges read by A Poetry Channel

Borges' tremendous metaphysical tale set to Brian Eno's ethereal Thursday Afternoon because the ambient sound in the background of my recording was untenable, but I must say, I am glad I was forced to mask that sound because the combination of these two artistic forces of nature is serendipitously synchronistic in my distorted mind... I found Eno's music in a KZbin video (of course) & borrowed it & naturally added my own imagery to it. You can find the original video here: • Video Enjoy. xo

[@Chesterton7]

Incredibly moving. Somehow I think Borges would have fallen in love with your voice as a personification of the beauty and sensuality of Infinity.

[@APoetryChannel]

[@nickadiguburke1645]

Beautifully read. You brought the story to life in the most perfect way. You sound very much like Sylvia Plath - an intellectual and dreamy narration. Thank you.

[@dianablackman4528]

The premise of The Aleph is the nature of quantum mechanics. Which is that all of existence is superimposed on itself. Most of the story is the sugar coating covering the hard candy at the core.

[@demit189]

Except that the Aleph can never be put into text, nor, by extension, memory. The experience of the aleph is also not temporal-- borges sees the entire aleph all at once, despite how he describes his experience as 'one after the other.' Within the aleph, is all of the actual textual recording of quantum mechanics, and it eludes all of them. The Aleph is also inherently connected to memory (or the lack thereof) in that our minds, which are not outside of the text (this is verry Derridian, even if Borges had not intended (nor have been able to predict) it so), and, like the pain Borges feels at witnessing the decaying remains of Beatriz, the infinitude of the universe cannot be apprehended into one word, which is why at the end of the story he explains that the aleph he saw is a false aleph (the real one being one which we 'hear' which has some meaning I cant quite figure out yet admittedly). Point is, the 'Aleph' isn't even the Aleph--- thus, the aleph is everything yet also nothing and nowhere. There is no Aleph, only infinite experience contained within the one world of every mind (note that the world of Borges goes on after Beatriz dies, not the world itself, as it cannot be captured within any text, and is thus inexplicable and indefinable). I say all this to say that Borges would presumably not be amused to see his story contrived into one scientific concept which barely scratches the surface of the infinitely polysemic world. Although youre right in that the nature of quantum mechanics is its unpredictability, although being that quantum mechanics is a field of 'study' (the "mechanics" of quantum activity, where scientists seek to write down order within this unpredictability (and as I type this, I realize now that this may ironically be the same thing which Carlos Argentino and Borges are getting wrong about the Aleph since there is no possible way to record infinity). Perhaps I'm misreading you, what do you think?

[@birdshotbill]

Thank you for taking the time to create and craft this video, it captures everything I love about the aleph! I am constantly revisiting in my spare time to unwind and relax. - Kind regards, Andy

[@ichtube]

A good amount of Persia and mathematics here. Beautiful voice too.

[@Donkey_Glossolalia]

Beautifully read AND with Eno in the background!! I couldn't ask for more, thankyou muchley! Subbed.🎉 Cheers xx

[@danweaver8983]

Thanks for uploading this -- I have a terrible issue focusing, and it makes reading difficult. Listening to things like this help me at least feel like I am a person who is "a reader." Haha

[@sajjadali-ic8ed]

What a Magnificent and Calming Voice. Worth Listening.

[@MarkWitucke]

While looking around for a story to listen to before sleep, after more than half an hour in vain on Spotify, it finally occurred to me that what I really wanted to hear was the Aleph-you see, Sam and I are working on a triologue that includes the voice of Borges. And where did this circuitous path through the bowels of the interwebs lead me, if not directly to you, querida. Felicitaciones por una excelente lectura. The old boy could write and it’s all you can do to get the sounds out before they curl over you and drag you into their phonetic undertow. Well done keeping on top of the Aleph. Beso

[@APoetryChannel]

Cheers, Mark. Uncle Jorge is a pleasure for me to intone. I have recorded and intend to continue to record several of his works. Good luck on your project. xoxo

[@edwardwelles2380]

Your voice is wonderful. Makes all these works come alive. Thanks.

[@mopazo7]

So enjoyable. Great story, I guess I'm becoming a Borges fun.

[@damagejacked]

I’ve read this innumerable times, always with a sense of inferiority of experience, having heard that the Spanish of Borges is different to a degree much greater than that of nearly any translation of any author. But having heard it read in these tones, I find it impossible to imagine in any other words, inevitable, and leaving me feeling no sense of wonder except that anyone should have conjured such a tale at all-the only wonder that I should ever have felt. Borges is how I learned to write. In whatever manner or tongue.

[@APoetryChannel]

Borges was a wizard and of course was fluent in both languages though he worked closely with certain translators as I am sure you know... some of his work, particularly the poetry, is best read in Spanish for its euphony and I have done that here on the channel that on occasion, but I do love this translation so thank you very kindly for your praise.

[@fabriziobranciforte3994]

@@APoetryChannel Like Borges, I am Argentine and my native language is Spanish. I read this book about three times and listened to it in audio about twice. This English version is incredibly well done. For obvious linguistic reasons, I cannot say that it is exactly the same as reading it in the language in which the story was written, but it comes very, very close. It gives me a feeling that is hard to explain. Congratulations.

[@APoetryChannel]

@@fabriziobranciforte3994 I'm so happy to hear it!

[@lilliannieswender266]

Thank you so much, this is an extraordinary story.

[@thenehemias10]

Tu voz es hermosa, perfecta para la lectura...greetings from Argentina

[@oceanceaser44]

Fantastic reading.

[@MsHburnett]

Your voice I could listen to all night long _ musical

[@jeffersonrelic3131]

Im so thankful! I discovered two things with this video. Luis Borges and A Poetry Channel. I have some of my poetry on my channel..

[@10Ammar]

What a lovely voice! 🌹

[@MrJasperjwood]

Fantastic story, thanks for the reading

[@christianalvarez5780]

!!! ❤

[@divinequinones3357]

Thank you Friend. - VIYY

[@numan9117]

i believe, in a weird certainty, that the aleph is The Human in its fully actualized potential.

[@chriscamacho7158]

I like the colors.

[@cristinaleet-xp6kc]

Beautiful love it ❤

[@user-kv4fe5do7h]

Finally check out DYLANS,,,,,, *A HARD RAINS GONNA FALL" ❤

[@megaanderson97]

This video helped me get an A in my literature class and I was pleasantly surprised that I liked the story. God bless ur heart

[@APoetryChannel]

How wonderful!! Cheers, Aaron! Thank you so much for sharing your experience. Made my day!

[@julie-wv7ot]

Forgive me if my wording sounds rude or if i make any grammatical mistakes for I am not a native English speaker, but I am curious whose translation are you reading from? In the version I found, though the storyline remains the same, it doesn't use the vocabulary similar to your version. /-\ Thank you very much for taking the time to do this!

[@APoetryChannel]

Your English is perfect. My edition is from Penguin Classics which was translated by Andrew Hurley.

[@julie-wv7ot]

@@APoetryChannel Thank you for your reply (even after 2 years!). Hope you have a great day. :DD

[@davidgeorgemarksergeant4373]

Exquisite.

[@thewolfmanhulk2927]

Thank you for reading this

[@user-kv4fe5do7h]

Oh thanks for comment that the music is by brian eno ❤😂

[@aaronwimberleymbamsf5776]

Borges, Dali, Bunuel, Picasso were the ultimate Els Quatre Gats of free thinkers.

[@akulinamackenzie4492]

❤

[@fponassi]

Beautiful voice and cadence... I still believe that the 1945 translation by Norman Thomas Di Giovanni has not been surpassed. I think the structure of certain sentences and also a few words give a more accurate reflection of Borges' original prose. Outstanding work, nonetheless. Anyone knows who the speaker is?

[@APoetryChannel]

The Di Giovanni translation was not available to me sadly. Borges’ widow is probably to blame for that edition having such limited availability which is a shame because Borges and Di Giovanni worked so closely on the translations. Not that Borges needed one. English was his first language. Hell, if I recall properly, he wrote a translation of Poe when he was 8 or 10 years old that was used as the standard Spanish translation of the work in Argentina at the time. Extraordinary stuff. And thank you so much! I am the reader of all but two of the videos on this channel. Cheers.

[@fponassi]

Than you for liking my comment. Perhaps you should think about recording "Ficciones." If you already have, please share the link... Thank you!

[@APoetryChannel]

@@fponassi Which story from Ficciones? Or do you mean the entire collection? I'm happy to do so over time, but it will be at least a year before it would be completed. I have some of the stories from that particular collection recorded (most of which were translated by Kerrigan) like Funes The Memorious.... Anyway, here is the entire Borges playlist (which at present consists only of 11 videos). kzbin.info/aero/PL7Wr1VPtVzqW7CuBn8p9Pp9oHdyvo9RIl

[@fponassi]

Yes... I reckon it would be a daunting task. If I had to pick one story, it definitely would be "The Garden of Forking Paths." On a different note, I spent my teenage years under the mentoring of Ernesto Sabato who, together with Borges and Bioy Casares, was one of the greatest Latin American writers of the 20th century. He wrote three awesome novels, out of which "The Tunnel" has been always my favorite... Perhaps you should give it a try :)

[@arete7884]

@@fponassi What have you written ?

[@thanotron1222]

Adored your reading. May i ask which version this is? I've found multiple pdfs of translations, but none seem to be as fleshed out or as eloquently translated as this one. I've also read that there is a rewrite of this by Pablo Katchadjian called the fattened aleph, which is apparently steeped in legal drama.

[@APoetryChannel]

My version is from the Penguin Classics book I have here at home which was translated by Andrew Hurley

[@thanotron1222]

​@@APoetryChannelThank you! I have a PDF of a collection of his translations and passed on it initially because instead of ”died", the first sentence read "That same sweltering morning that Beatriz Viter bodied", so I foolishly assumed the rest of the translation was shoddy. Now time to find a copy of my own!

[@chuckoll]

22:40

[@user-kv4fe5do7h]

Like Hamlets nutshell and infinite space,,,, check out the lyrics to Robin Trowers FOR EARTH BELOW,,,,,, "the mind knows no distance" ❤ beautifully read mesmerising prose ❤ also check out Laberinths by borges,,,,, it has a brilliant statement about SHAKESPEARE " called EVERYTHING AND NOTHING 😂 again thank you beautifully read ❤

[@APoetryChannel]

Thank you! And yes! I recorded that poem for the channel. You can find it in my archives.

[@APoetryChannel]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pX6vm3aNnMqWg80si=PUwDDrYTsrmwfYBp

[@clgrassi8101]

Is the background music Brian Eno?

[@APoetryChannel]

Yes, the description has the name of the track: Thursday Afternoon.

[@clgrassi8101]

I’m a huge Brian Eno fan... He has done a lot of interesting solo work and in collaboration with many prominent musical artists (e.g. Bowie, Fripp, Cale etc.), however I really like what he had done when he was.with Roxy Music for their first two studio albums especially The For Your Pleasure album. The track I really like off of that particular album is the title track “For Your Pleasure”...It is my all time favorite Roxy Music song. Eno really knew how to add the right sound textures to that song to complement the surreal lyrics of Bryan Ferry and his voice (which I like very much). If you are not familiar with the song, I think you might find the lyrics interesting from a poetic standpoint. Bryan Ferry was heavily influenced by the music of Bob Dylan and I believe he is an avid reader of poetry because of his use of metaphor and clever turn-of-phrase in the lyrics of many of his better known songs e.g. Mother of Pearl, Beauty Queen, Song for Europe and lesser ones e.g. Triptych, Sea Breezes..😎

[@Donkey_Glossolalia]

​​@@clgrassi8101 Taking Tiger Mountain & Another Green World are two of my favourites of his vocal albums. The Eno/Moebius/Roedelius album 'After The Heat' is really good too (half instrumental, half vocal.) 🥳

[@peterkelnerxd7009]

💟💟💟💟💟💟

[@alexvanderweert2785]

8:42

[@alexvanderweert2785]

25:16

[@lakshmi8906]

Can you please add subtitles?

[@APoetryChannel]

No! You must be joking. I’m not typing 12 goddamned pages of dense prose. Buy the book or find a pdf online.

[@danweaver8983]

@@APoetryChannel lmao 🤣😂

[@megaanderson97]

listening to this shit for my literature class. Actually not a bad story LMAO