A new set of short stories by Argentine writer, essayist, poet and translator Jorge Luis Borges (1899-1986), a key figure in Spanish literature, is available in Persian.
Iranian author and literary translator Kaveh Mirabbasi, 61, has selected and translated the nine short stories by Borges in a collection titled ‘Ulrica,’ one of Borges’ short stories included in his 1975 anthology ‘The Book of Sand.’
From Spanish, Mirabbasi converted the nine short stories he selected from two collections ‘The Book of Sand’ and ‘Doctor Brodie’s Report,’ Mehr News reported. The work is brought out by Mahi Publication based in Tehran.
Brodie’s Report written in 1960s includes 11 stories that examine the effect of unbearable, sinister and inevitable forces that alter the courses of several lives.
The Book of Sand, Borges’ last writings, written when he was blind, is his best book, in his own opinion. Referring to the collection, Borges said: “I have wanted to be loyal, in these exercises of a blind man, to the example of (English writer Herbert George) Wells: the conjunction of a plain style, sometimes almost oral, and an impossible argument.”
Mirabbasi has years of experience in mystery literature. “Except for ‘The Other Duel’ from Brodie’s Report, all the selected short stories are translated into Persian for the first time,” he said.
The Other Duel, a story of two enemies fighting to death, a comment on the violent human nature, had been translated by writer and prolific translator Ahmad Miralaee (1942-1995).
“I picked this story for a new translation, because it is linked to another of the included stories.” Other short stories include The Sect of the Thirty, The Night of the Gifts, The Duel, and The Other Duel.
‘One Hundred Years of Solitude’ by Gabriel Garcia Marquez is among the notable books Mirabbasi has translated into Persian earlier.
