Comments on: 30 Days with Borges: Day 30, “El Sur”

By: Jeff

Jeff — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 21:57:23 +0000

Hi Michele, Thanks for reading!

By: Michele

Michele — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 16:14:59 +0000

I really enjoyed reading your blog! It was very informative and nostalgic!

By: Jay

Jay — Fri, 12 Oct 2007 10:15:33 +0000

Thanks Jeff, I was discussing this with a friend and I wanted to get an outside opinion.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Wed, 09 May 2007 02:27:28 +0000

Hi Jay, so to finally address your question: I went back and reread the story and the ending, as you noticed, isn’t clear. I’m going to quote from the Williamson biography of Borges:

“Dahlmann sustains an injury to his head that puts him in the hospital, an accident identical to the one Borges himself suffered in 1938, shortly after the death of his father. As a result the ending of El Sur may be read in two ways: either the train journey to the pampas and Dahlmann’s confrontation with the bullies takes place in reality or it is just a dream of Dahlmann’s as he lies dying in a Buenos Aires hospital. The simple act of seizing the dagger thus becomes ambiguous, doubtful, and possibly unreal.”

By: Jay

Jay — Sun, 29 Apr 2007 13:15:29 +0000

Very interesting web site.

If we agree that Dahlmann died en the story, where did he die?

By: Marcelo Uriburu Quirno

Marcelo Uriburu Quirno — Sat, 17 Feb 2007 15:25:27 +0000

Regarding your comment on June 23rd, you can now happily say “yes more Bar Británico”.
Marcelo

By: Walking along Brasil » Buenos Aires, City of Faded Elegance

Walking along Brasil » Buenos Aires, City of Faded Elegance — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 18:07:20 +0000

[...] The barrio of Constitución, once you get a few blocks away from the train station, is quite appealing in a an unusual sort of way. At the corner of Brasil and San José are four, large weeping willow trees. This section of Brasil is lined with early twentieth century buildings which indicate that this was once a prosperous area. (Remember that an Argentine president once lived on Av Brasil). Yet the buildings are now falling apart, though a few manage to retain a glimmer of their former style. [...]

By: An Index to 30 Days with Borges » Buenos Aires, City of Faded Elegance

An Index to 30 Days with Borges » Buenos Aires, City of Faded Elegance — Tue, 24 Oct 2006 20:44:47 +0000

[...] day 30: el sur [...]

By: The Pynchon Borges Remix » Buenos Aires, City of Faded Elegance

The Pynchon Borges Remix » Buenos Aires, City of Faded Elegance — Wed, 28 Jun 2006 02:17:59 +0000

[...] It has been a long time since reading Gravity’s Rainbow and I wasn’t thinking about Borges at the time. But literary blogger Maud Newton points to an article in the Miami Herald that reminds us that Pynchon lifted some lines from El Sur as a tribute to Borges. Now, I need to go back and re-read Gravity’s Rainbow. [...]

By: Jeff

Jeff — Fri, 23 Jun 2006 17:51:19 +0000

The latest news, sadly, no more Bar Británico.