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
There Are More Things
Reading and video
Uploaded in 2016
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]
The Circular Ruins
The Circular Ruins
Reading
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]
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: 5 August 2024
Main Borges Page: The Garden of Forking Paths
Contact: quail(at)shipwrecklibrary(dot)com