Borges Audio – YouTube Readings
- At August 13, 2019
- By Great Quail
- In Borges
- 0
Borges Audio: YouTube Readings
A quick search of Youtube reveals dozens of Borges-related uploads, including podcasts, fake film trailers, educational videos, discussion sessions, and self-filmed readings. Collating them all would be madness! This section features links to selected artists who have demonstrated a base knowledge of production values, and produce worthwhile audio recordings of Borges stories. Many of these readings are enhanced by music, video, and animations. Short films are profiled in the “Borges and Film” section, and music is located on the “Borges and Music” pages.
A Poetry Channel Borges Readings
“A Poetry Channel” is an English-language YouTube channel created by Lori Gomez in 2013. Gomez offers an eclectic selection of writers, with a welcome focus on “difficult” twentieth-century authors such as James Joyce, David Foster Wallace, and Italo Calvino. Her reading style is simply magnificent; her voice is expressive and flexible, and she rarely misses a textual nuance. Gomez reads the stories as if she’s truly the narrator, bringing an unexpected warmth to Borges and sensitive to the humor and irony often overlooked by other readers.
A Poetry Channel Borges Playlist
A Poetry Channel’s Borges playlist contains over a dozen wonderful offerings. A few highlights include:
Everything and Nothing
Reading and video.
Uploaded in 2013.
A New Refutation of Time
Reading and video.
Uploaded in 2017.
Funes the Memorious
Reading and video.
Uploaded in 2017.
The Book of Sand
Reading and video.
Uploaded in 2018.
Deutsches Requiem
Reading and video.
Uploaded in 2019.
The Aleph
Reading, video, and music.
Uploaded in 2019.
A reading of “The Aleph,” accompanied by Brian Eno’s “Thursday Afternoon.”
The Garden of Forking Paths, Part 1 and Part 2
Reading and video.
Uploaded in 2019.
Paco: Literatura Borges Readings
“Paco: Literatura” is a Spanish-language YouTube channel created by a reader named Paco. The readings focus on science fiction, horror, and Latin American literature. Paco’s voice is rich and sonorous, and his precise Spanish is easy to understand even to a beginner in the language.
Paco: Literature Borges Playlist
This ever-expanding collection hold dozens of readings, most of which feature video and musical accompaniment. A few highlights include:
El Aleph
Reading and video.
Uploaded in 2014
El Zahir
Reading and video.
Uploaded in 2016.
There Are More Things
Reading and video.
Uploaded in 2016.
La biblioteca total
Reading and video.
Uploaded in 2017.
Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius
Reading and video.
Uploaded in 2017.
Emma Zunz
Emma Zunz
Reading, music, and drawings.
Unknown narrator.
Uploaded by Shavudu in 2010.
This is a spoken-word “Emma Zunz” accompanied by Beethoven sonatas and crude line drawings. It is credited to Xóchitl Ponzze. [Spanish]
Emma Zunz
Narrated by Klara Ana.
Uploaded by El Canal Desconocido in 2014.
A reading of “Emma Zunz,” accompanied by an eerie, jazzy score.
The Circular Ruins
The Circular Ruins
Reading only.
Narrated by WhiskyWhispers.
Uploaded in 2011 by WhiskyWhispers.
A strange, low-key reading of Borges’ story, possible for surreal ASMR purposes?
The Circular Ruins
Reading, music, and sound effects.
Narrated by Jon Fredette.
Uploaded in 2019 by Jon Fredette.
Episode 15 of Fredette’s “Oddcast: Tales of the Occult, Weird, and Arcane.” This version of “The Circular Ruins” has high production values, and features spooky sound effects and music. Fredette reads the story as if it were written by H.P. Lovecraft.
House of Asterion
The House of Asterion
Reading and slideshow.
Unknown narrator.
Uploaded by MU51CB0X in 2012.
A plummy reading of Borges’ story, accompanied by photographs and texts. According to his YouTube description: “In ancient Crete there were two Asterions, the one was the father of Minos, and the other, future son of a queen, was born a minotaur. Borges turns the myth from the angle of Theseus to that of the minotaur. The tale is accompanied by a slideshow of photographs from the 1921 book by the archeologist of King Minos’ palace at Knossos, Sir Arthur Evans.”
La casa de Asterion
Reading and animations.
Unknown narrator.
Uploaded by Daniel Bianchi in 2013.
A dramatic reading of Borges’ story in Spanish, accompanied by Terry Gilliam-like animations. [Spanish]
Book of Sand
Book of Sand
Reading and music.
Narrated by Ell Emm.
Uploaded in 2012 by Ell Emm.
Ell Emm reads Borges’ Lovecraft pastiche as part of her “creepypasta” YouTube channel.
Borges on Audio
Main Page — Return to the “Borges on Audio” main page and index.
Borges in His Own Voice — Poems, stories, and lectures read by Borges himself.
Audiobooks — Selections of Borges’ short stories and poetry made available through Audible and other sources.
Commentary — Audiobooks and online readings about Borges, or that make extensive mention of Borges.
Author: Allen B. Ruch
Last Modified: 20 October 2019
Main Borges Page: The Garden of Forking Paths
Contact: quail(at)shipwrecklibrary(dot)com