i had an astonishingly good conversation last night (with people whose twitter handles i sadly don’t know) about borges - someone mentioned after he read borges it became so clear how many later writers were imitating or riffing off of stuff he did better
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i mentioned feeling similar about olaf stapledon. c.s. lewis and tolkien are in this category too. and it’s quite striking how all of them were specifically working during the post-WWI (stapledon) or post-WWII (for the others) eras
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makes me want to devour everything that borges has ever written, apparently i’m missing a lot of good stuff. would love to use him more consciously as an inspiration for my own writing
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I've read Borges Ficciones, and wonderful as they were, I think Zachary Mason has actually managed to improve upon his style in his Metamorphica. Highly recommended.
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Same with Ted Chiang and the Golem, I think Chiang is better but Borges was first.
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wow really? i like ted chiang but i find his writing soulless somehow compared to borges
I am 100% unsolicitedly going to interpret this as an opportunity to shill Mason's writing
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Replying to @tomhyde_
Zachary Mason's Metamorphica is filled to the brim with gems.
In a debate for a combat's prize, Diomedes claims he earns it, for he is "fleet as the gods." Achilles responds: "Fleet are the fearful who flee from the war-fray; to walk will suffice for a man seeking war."
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For sure, he's very technical, I think he's more like a young Borges in that sense, but there is a soul in there, I perceive him as v spiritual
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hmm i do get that feeling from story of your life and a few others. yeah it is there 🤔
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