What’s New Archive 2019
- At January 01, 2020
- By Great Quail
- In Quarterdeck
0
What’s New? Archive 2019
2019 December 1
What’s better than a review of a book thirty-two years after its publication date? Published in 1988 and long out of print, Edgardo Cozarinsky’s Borges In/And/On Film has been fully reviewed by The Garden of Forking Paths, because that’s how we roll.
2019 November 10
Gabriel Mesa reviews People in the Room, Norah Lange’s claustrophobic third novel, recently translated into English for the first time.
2019 November 9
A review of Alberto Manguel’s With Borges has been added to “Borges Criticism: Biographies.”
2019 November 8
Barton Levi St. Armand’s paper “Synchronistic Worlds: Lovecraft and Borges” is now being hosted from the Garden of Forking Paths.
2019 November 7
In August 2019, I moderated a panel at the 2019 NecronomiCon—“It Is a Tiger that Destroys Me: Latin American Literature as Weird Fiction.” The panel was recorded for The Outer Dark podcast, and is now online at their site. The panel features myself, Gabriel Mesa, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, and Eric Schaller. The link above takes you directly to The Outer Dark site. I am incredibly awkward when I’m being recorded, so I asked them to dub in Brad Pitt speaking my lines. They did not. Sigh.
2019 November 7
In 2000, The Modern Word reviewed Mark Z. Danielewski’s postmodern horror novel, House of Leaves. Although I wanted to have it online for Halloween (OoooOOOooOo, spooky!) it seems “National Canine Lymphoma Awareness Day” shall have to suffice.
2019 November 5
The Garden of Forking Paths has restored its sections on Borges-related Articles and Papers.
2019 November 4
A review of Bioy Casares’ memoir Borges has been added to Borges Biographies.
2019 November 2
With the addition of General Criticism 2: 1987–Present, The “Borges Criticism” section is now fully operational. This page will continue to grow, and a few of its entries will be expanded over the next few months.
2019 October 29
Three new pages have been added to the “Borges Criticism” section—Comparative Criticism, Religious & Esoteric Criticism, and Scientific Criticism.
2019 October 27
A page on Borges Criticism 1965-1986 has been added to the “Borges Criticism” section.
2019 October 26
New material has been added to the Performance page, including an informative essay by Edgardo Cozarinsky, a great article about Donald Cammell, and “Borges Postscript,” a section with notes on Borges’ influence on Don’t Look Now, The Man Who Fell to Earth, and Demon Seed. Oh, and also included—a link to the most priggish and deranged movie review every printed by the New York Times!
2019 October 20
The Borges Criticism section goes online at the Garden of Forking Paths, with several reviews of English-language Borges Biographies.
2019 October 19
The Borges and Film section now features a page devoted to Nicolas Roeg and Donald Cammell’s psychedelic 1970 film, Performance, starring Mick Jagger and loosely inspired by Jorge Luis Borges.
2019 October 14
A section on Documentary Shorts has been added to the “Borges and Film” section.
2019 October 14
The “Borges on Audio” section has been completed, with sections on Borges Audiobooks, Audio Commentary, and YouTube Readings.
2019 October 13
The “Borges on Audio” section opens with a page featuring “Borges in His Own Voice.”
2019 October 12
An old book review has been updated and restored: Rhys Hughes’ sequel to Borges, A New Universal History of Infamy.
2019 October 12
In an attempt to restore The Modern Word’s reviews, a general “Reviews” page has been added to Shipwreck Library. This will expand over the coming months.
2019 October 11
Ricardo Luna’s Los orilleros has been added to “Borges and Film.” Based on the 1939 script by Borges and Adolfo Bioy Casares, this 1975 film comes across as a pensive Spaghetti Western.
2019 October 9
Three brief profiles have added to “Borges and Film”— Splits, Leandro Katz’s avant-garde adaption of “Emma Zunz,” El muerto, an Argentine Western based on the Borges story of the same name, and Guerreros y cautivas, Edgardo Cozarinsky’s Revisionist Western based on “The Story of the Warrior and the Captive.”
2019 October 6
Three adaptations of Borges’ “The Intruder” have been added to “Borges and Film”— the Iranian New Wave film Ghazal, the Basque film Oraingoz Izen Gabe, and A Instrusa, best described as Brazilian Spaghetti-Western pansexual erotica.
2019 October 3
Two Hugo Santiago films have been added to “Borges and Film”—Invasión and Les Autres. Works of early French nouvelle vague, both feature screenplays written by Hugo Santiago, Jorge Luis Borges, and Adolfo Bioy Casares.
2019 October 2
The American composer and electronic pioneer Roger Reynolds has been added to “Borges and Music,” particularly for his works Voicespace III, “Eclipse” and Voicepace IV, “The Palace.”
2019 September 30
The wonderfully-demented Florida band PopCanon has been added to “Borges and Music.” Their 1997 song “Labyrinths” is a jazzy celebration of Borges with Tlönian rhythms.
2019 September 30
The 1976 lineup of prog-rockers Genesis has been added to “Borges and Music.” Their song “Squonk” from A Trick of the Tail was inspired by a creature made famous by Borges’ The Book of Imaginary Beings.
2019 September 29
An section on the British electronic musician Lawrence Casserley has been added to “Borges and Music.” His 1999 album Labyrinths contains four electroacoustical pieces inspired by the many types of labyrinths found in Borges’ work, from the Cretan Labyrinth of the Minotaur to the labyrinths of time in the Garden of Forking Paths.
2019 September 28
The 1993 Spanish television series Los cuentos de Borges has been added to “Borges and Film.” It consists of six hour-long films based on Borges stories: El sur, La otra historia de Rosendo Juárez, Emma Zunz, La intrusa, El evangelio según Marcos, and Alex Cox’s Death and the Compass, which was later turned into a feature-length movie.
2019 September 25
The 1954 film Días de odio has been added to “Borges and Film.” Based on Borges’ story “Emma Zunz,” this piece of film noir is the first cinematic adaptation of a Borges story.
2019 September 24
The Borges and Film section opens with a review of Bernard Bertolucci’s 1970 film The Spider’s Stratagem. Based on Borges’ story “The Theme of the Traitor and the Hero,” this excellent movie is set in postwar Italy, and uses surreal cinematography to establish a nightmare atmosphere of paralysis and paranoia.
2019 September 19
A review of the three-volume set Conversations has been added to The Garden of Forking Paths. Recently translated into English, these dialogues between Jorge Luis Borges and Osvaldo Ferrari were recorded in 1984-1985.
2019 September 18
An section on the American composer Robert Parris has been added to “Borges and Music.” The Book of Imaginary Beings is a musical suite featuring seven of the creatures from Borges’ work.
2019 September 15
An section on the American composer William Neil has been added to “Borges and Music.” Neil set Borges’ poem “Límites” to music in 1978.
2019 September 8
An section on the Bulgarian minimalist composer Gheorghi Arnaoudov has been added to “Borges and Music.” Arnaoudov composed Ritual III, “Borges Fragment,” a dreamy meditation for solo cello.
2019 September 2
An Astor Piazzolla section has been added to “Borges and Music.”
2019 August 28
A full review of Jorge Luis Borges: The Last Interview has been added to the Garden of Forking Paths.
2019 August 26
The book Conversations with Jorge Luis Borges has been added to Borges’ “Lectures, Conversations, and Interviews.”
2019 August 19
The Borges Nonfiction section has been greatly expanded. Each book has been fully profiled and rounded off with translated excerpts.
2019 August 16
The Borges and Music section has been opened, and will be fleshed out over the next few weeks. We start—where else?—with tango!
2019 August 10
With the addition of Borges’ Late Poetry, the “Borges Works” section is now complete. (Although it will be subject to expansion over the next few weeks.)
2019 August 9
The Garden of Forking Paths continues to grow with a section on Borges Interviews and an updated FAQ file. Also, the “Borges Works” now has sections devoted to Borges’ Poetry Compilations, Early “ultraist” Poetry, and Mid-Career Poetry.
2019 August 2
The Borges Works page has been expanded by the addition of two more sections: Collaborations with Bioy Casares, and Collaborations with Others. These sections include notes on the “Bustos Domecq” stories, commentary on The Book of Imaginary Beings, and a reviews of Borges’ penultimate book, Atlas.
2019 July 30
The Borges Works page has been expanded by the addition of a section on Lectures, Interviews, and Conversations.
2019 July 29
A Borges Links page has been added to The Garden of Forking Paths.
2019 July 25
The Borges Works page has been added to The Garden of Forking Paths, and the Borges Fiction and Artifices page has been expanded and revised.
2019 July 24
The Jorge Luis Borges Biography page on The Garden of Forking Paths has been extensively revised.
2019 July 22
Inaugurating a year-long project to restore, revise, and refurbish The Modern Word, a.k.a. The Libyrinth, we begin with The Garden of Forking Paths. Dedicated to the works of Jorge Luis Borges, this site was established in 1996.
2019 July 4
What could be more patriotic than a Western stagecoach? Just in time for Independence Day, a new Travel section has been added to Deadlands 1876, inaugurated by a piece on the Deadwood Stage. Offering the history of the Cheyenne and Black Hills Stage and Express line, this document may be used for any Western stage line. It details Concord coaches and their teams, outlines the role of drivers and shotgun messengers, and discusses the perils of robbery. New game mechanics are suggested for conducting combat on a racing stagecoach, and NPC profiles are supplied for NPC drivers, shotgun messengers, and road agents.
2019 June 18
Legendary gunslinger Wild Bill Hickok has been added to the roster of Deadlands characters! This extensive profile offers a detailed biography of Hickok, provides notes on his favorite guns, and offers two new Unique Edges.
2019 May 13
In possibly the most anal-retentive, arcane, surely-never-to-be-read post I’ve ever made for a role-playing game, a page about Faro Rules now graces Deadlands 1876! Yes, all the history and mechanics of the Wild West’s most popular card game explained, with detailed notes on cheating, and guidelines for running an in-game version of faro during a campaign! Just what you wanted, right?
2019 March 22
Known as the “Queen of Deadwood,” Belle Siddons has been added to the roster of Deadlands characters. A former Confederate spy turned outlaw, the brilliant and beautiful Belle Siddons now goes by the name Lurline Monteverde, where she charms audiences upon the stage and robs them when off.
2019 March 17
Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day! Three new Deadlands relics taken from the charming Celtic ladies of the Five Points: the Claws of Hellcat Maggie, the Shillelagh of Gallus Mag, and the Wishbone of Gallus Mag.
2019 March 5
Currently dealing faro in Cheyenne, Doc Holliday has been added to the roster of Deadlands characters. A dangerous outlaw, this former dentist has an acid wit, a lethal temper, and a nasty cough. Depicted before his fateful meeting with Wyatt Earp, the Doc Holliday of Deadlands 1876 is a nasty piece of work, a fatalistic gambler who’s left a trail of dead bodies along his drive towards self-destruction.
2019 March 2
The Lösesegen talisman has been added to the Deadlands Reliquary. This relic from medieval Germany has the power to release its possessor from bondage; and in extreme circumstances, may even summon the ancient “idisi” themselves.
2019 March 1
The Deadlands Reliquary’s Wínyan Núpa’s Book of Faces has been expanded with new Powers and spells.
2019 February 26
Known to the Arapahoe as the “hecesiiteihii” and to the Cheyenne as the “vo’estanehesano,” the Cannibal Dwarves of Native American legend invade the Deadlands Bestiary. Also included are notes for recasting these monstrous little bastards as the Abominable Tcho-Tcho People from Call of Cthulhu, or reducing them to a degenerate bloodline of Gangrel in Vampire: The Masquerade.
2019 February 23
How does the Black Ghost Nation win all those skirmishes against the U.S. Cavalry? Well, it helps if they can neutralize the enemies’ gunpowder! The Shaman-only Power of Bad Powder Medicine has been added to the Deadlands Grimoire.
2019 February 23
Need to erase the mind of a nineteenth-century muggle? The Power of Oblivion has been added to the Deadlands Grimoire. The next few updates will focus on Deadlands 1876.