The Lesson of the Master

"When we attempt a translation, or re-creation, of my poems or prose into English," Borges once said of his collaboration with Norman Thomas di Giovanni, "we don't think of ourselves as two men. We think we are really one mind at work." Di Giovanni first met Jorge Luis Borges in 1967, when the Argentine writer was lecturing at Harvard. Impressed by di Giovanni's editorial skills, Borges invited the young translator to Buenos Aires. There, over the course of four years, the two embarked on a major translation of Borges's prose and poetry into English. This work, much of it published for the first time in the New Yorker, helped to establish Borges as the international literary figure he is today. In "The Lesson of the Master", di Giovanni writes of their friendship and close collaboration. He draws on this unique relationship to explore Borges's work and in these essays succeeds in enlivening our understanding of the author and the man.