Seven Nights (Revised) (New
Directions Paperbook) by Jorge Luis
Borges
Excellent Borges Essay Collection
The incomparable Borges delivered these seven lectures in Buenos Aires
in 1977; attendees were treated to Borges’ erudition on the following
topics: Dante’s The Divine Comedy, Nightmares, Thousand and One
Dreams, Buddhism, Poetry, The Kabbalah, and Blindness.
Personal Review: Seven Nights (Revised) (New Directions
Paperbook) by Jorge Luis Borges
I am fascinated by the genius of Jorge Luis Borges. "Seven Nights" is a
short collection (121 pages) of seven lectures given over seven evenings
in the summer of 1977 in Buenos Aires. Borges was almost fully blind and
spoke informally, without notes, as was his usual style. He exercised his
great memory with skill; he shifted effortlessly across literary genre, across

the centuries, across languages, occasionally making unexpected
connections. I almost believed that I was present at his lectures.
Each lecture can stand alone, but references to prior topics abound.
I first encountered "Seven Nights" some years ago. Having just read
Dante's Inferno for the first time, I was having difficulty articulating the
powerful impact that Dante's great work had made on me. In his first
lecture, "The Divine Comedy", Borges provided the words.
He says, the Middle Ages "gave us, above all, the Divine Comedy, which
we continue to read, and which continues to astonish us, which will last
beyond our lives, far beyond our waking lives." He describes the joy of
reading Dante's work as a narrative, ignoring - at least during the first
reading - the extensively documented literary and historical criticism. "The
Commedia is a book everyone ought to read. Not to do so is to deprive
oneself of the greatest gift that literature can give us."
"Dreams are the genus; nightmares are the species. I will speak first of
dreams, and then of nightmares." So begins lecture two. Borges takes us
on a journey through history, literature, and poetry in search for
understanding of that so common, but so unusual event, that we call
dreams.
"A major event in the history of the West was the discovery of the East."
And so begins lecture three on that great work that defines the mystery
that is Arabia. "These tales have had a strange history. They were first
told in India, then in Persia, then in Asia Minor, and finally were written
down in Arabic and compiled in Cairo. They became The Book of a
Thousand and One Nights."
Borges lectures travel an elliptical orbit around his topic, sometimes
approaching directly, other times looking outward, away from his stated
subject. In his lecture on poetry (number five) he comments on literature in
general: "A bibliography is unimportant - after all, Shakespeare knew
nothing of Shakespearean criticism. Why not study the texts directly? If
you like the book, fine. If you don't, don't read it. The idea of compulsory
reading is absurd. Literature is rich enough to offer you some other author
worthy of your attention - or one today unworthy of your attention whom
you will read tomorrow."
His other lectures, "Buddhism", "The Kabbalah", and "Blindness", are
equally intriguing. In once more rereading "Seven Nights" I found myself
again astounded by Borges, by his seemingly inexhaustible knowledge of
literature, by his capability to forge unexpected connections, and by his
provocative statements. He has obviously given considerable thought to
his conclusions, although Borges is anything but dogmatic. I enjoy a quote
from a concluding paragraph in NIghtmares. "We may draw two
conclusions, at least tonight; later we can change our minds."

Whether you are familiar with Borges or not, I highly recommend "Seven
Nights". Borges is simply without peer, and I do not expect to change my
mind later.
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