pynchon/borges

[jbor at bigpond.com]

'El Sur' in the original Spanish:
http://www.ciudadseva.com/textos/cuentos/esp/borges/sur.htm

'El Sur' in what looks like an amateur translation into English:
http://www.akirarabelais.com/borges/elsur.html

So, yes, that second sentence is incorrect, but there is that one 
direct quotation from the Borges story (so the journo's first sentence 
is accurate) and I can see at least some resonance between the story 
and Pynchon's scene which follows.

best

On 28/06/2006:

>> "When on page 263 of his now classic 1973 novel Gravity's Rainbow
>> Thomas Pynchon tells us that Rivadavia Street is ''where the true 
>> South
>> begins,'' the sly American is sampling Jorge Luis Borges'
>> personal-favorite story, El Sur. He continues for a few paragraphs,
>> word for word, before returning to his own text. [...]"
>>
>> Correct?
>
> Apart from the bit about Rivadavia Street and the true South (and a
> passing mention of Martin Fierro), I can see no correspondence between
> "El Sur" and Pynchon's text. I only have the German translation of "El
> Sur" available, but the suggestion that Pynchon was quoting verbatim
> from Borges' story is clearly wrong.