The Approach to
Al-Mu'tasim
|
What do you think, an essay is? An essay is
curling locks on a bald man’s head.
|
Karl
Kraus
|

I can be dense at
times. It was in 1992 when I searched back and forth the central
catalog of the British Library for The
Approach to Al-Mu'tasim. Jorge Luis Borges had “reviewed” the
book in one of his essays. Borges is arguably the most lucid and
interesting essayist of recent times. What I found slightly odd was
seeing it printed together with Borges’ short stories.
The
first story by Borges I ever read was The
Zahir. I was hooked. What are
those objects taking possession of you the moment you catch a
glimpse at
them? Is it only one object that through the centuries has manifested
itself in
numerous reincarnations of Moses’ burning bush? Or is it a mere
figment, a chimera
in a mad archivist's mind who is feeding his paranoia by ransacking the
libraries
for supporting evidence? In this instance the Zahir has metamorphosed
into a
coin, a mere copper, but nevertheless the focus of a man’s neurotic
obsession.
Then
I read Borges’ review of The Approach to Al-Mu'tasim and I took the buss to the British
Library.
Nabokov
has criticized Borges’ art for being "all
porch and no house behind." The Approach to Al-Mu'tasim is the
literary joke of a snobbish and slightly Daliesque literati from the
street-cafes in Buenos Aires. Instead of actually writing a so-so novel
he wrote a mouthwatering review, promising us a much better book than
he would ever have been able to produce. I guess, Borges is the
opposite of Tolstoy; the two temperaments representing a fundamental
polarity in the narrative universe. Tolstoy appeals to the whole
spectrum of sensuality and emotions, he is as omniscient as God
himself, counting every hair on your head, whereas Borges prefers to
cast little spotlights on carefully chosen events and moments, much
like a mischievous boy who teases us from behind the bushes, reflecting
sunlight with a little pocket mirror.
© – 1/19/2009 – by michael sympson, 350
words, all rights
reserved