It’s not a common mix! I’ve read other authors deliberately channeling Borges but never anyone else like him on their own terms. I’ve just subscribed btw and am excited to hear about your wanderings!
The first Borges collection I read (Labyrinths) was rought two-thirds fiction and a third essays, and it was fascinating how difficult they were to tell apart! And some of the short essays were actually perfect.
Totally, his fiction would be better described as fictional essays than stories, and something about that is so compelling to me. And the brevity of his writing, fiction and nonfiction, is another aspect that is worth thinking about, especially today and on a platform like this.
I do think it is quite reasonable to call 2005-15 a golden age of the essay (though it often was packaged in a blog style that lacked some of the classical attributes of essays). I do read fairly widely in history, and there are few decades that pack so many thoughtful pieces (though many of them are all but forgotten now, living on only in obscure blogs archived by the internet archive etc). I've also been positively surprised at how many interested readers there are still and how many writers there are attempting to do something good, something personal and well crafted and intelligent. I'm not sure we, as a collective, have produced anything lasting yet - but many of the best writers are very fresh and it will be interesting to see how the craft evolves over the next five years. I think we can pull it off.
You forced me to reconsider my thinking and looking back it seems naive to limit the possibility for the “golden age of the essay” to something in the most recent twenty-thirty years.
I’d love to see a selection of some of the thoughtful pieces you have found throughout history, if you have a couple that come to mind or are ever so inclined as to compile a list to share on your own publication, I think that would be fascinating.
Loved this! I love the essay form, and am encouraged to read this. The fact that the literary establishment is not controlling access and fashion on that front is a blessing. Funnily, I surprised myself when I found every post of mine, purportedly to publish a new poem, ended up offering an essay as well -- and my readers engaged much more with that exploration than with the poem. The plan is to dig deeper...
Really loved this piece, not least because it has a hopeful but not disengaged from reality view of where we go from here. I do hope it is toward the golden age of the essay, or at least, toward better writing and more engaged, thoughtful, intellectual discourse on the internet. Thanks for this :)
I also think that free-ranging essays do not have to be disconnected from the journalistic premise, per se. In fact, the two together often make for a deeper “thinking together” on an issue or a topic--the work of someone like Joan Didion comes to mind.
Interesting essay on essays. Like many at the moment, I’ve been considering how AI will change the way humans compose their thoughts into words.
The comparison of an essay to a river is thought provoking, as is the etymology of the word—“to try.”
The direction of an essay is flowing to the next most interesting place. It is an exploration, and in that exploration, the writer is sculpting a shape of their ideas. (I have always felt my thoughts manifest as shapes before I find words that best fit the shape.)
As I think about AI generated writing, the process feels external. I maybe have a few ideas about the topic I want to write about, and I ask the tool to write it. Then I ask myself “Is this what I meant?” Sure, I guess so. It’s good enough. On to the next thing. Or maybe I edit it. But somehow it all feels like standing outside of the idea, assessing it, rather than going inside and feeling it.
I grew up in the analog era, so I have experience with analog writing (if that’s the right way to refer to it) and I think going through the process of exploring a topic in my own mind is a habit that is worth cultivating. Sometimes it can make me uneasy. There are triumphs and getting caught in eddies. It does feel like traveling a path. So the word "exploration" fits.
I wonder whether future generations who grow up with AI tools from a young age will see the value in sculpting words to fit around their ideas. I hope so. But I’m also open to the idea that this technology could bring about new and fantastic paradigms that I can’t imagine.
I read this essay a few days ago and then came back and re-read it again now because it had been floating in the rivers of my mind. What I keep returning to, which you've put your finger on well, is the way in which the ability to measure (digital) life in increasingly finer grains or precision has engendered an impulse to atomize ourselves, often with a resulting decrease in happiness and diminution of creativity. I optimistic that, as you wrote, "The world is desperate and ripe for thoughtful, sincere, free-ranging writing."
Also, thanks for inspiring me to revisit Borges' essays. I was mesmerized by Borges from the moment that I encountered his writing, so much so that I moved to Argentina--a move that incidentally made it into a free-ranging essay that I published a few months back here.
Feel free to post a link to your essay. I’m intrigued. I would love to visit Argentina (mostly as a fly fishing destination), but it’s fascinating you moved there. Where are you from originally?
Here's a link to the essay https://thebrownbarge.substack.com/p/how-long-can-you-live-in-isolation. Ostensibly it is a review of a play, but it is really about language--how the languages we speak shape our self-conception and connection to loved ones. I don't get to the part about living in Argentina until what I titled Act II of the essay.
I grew up in Florida and after the brief stint in Argentina moved to DC, where I've been for the last 13 years. I must say that I didn't know Argentina was known as a fly fishing destination.
After reading this essay or yours I'd like to set aside some time to read and sit with some of your writing. Do you have recommendations on where I should start or anything you've written that you're particularly proud of?
Thanks for making that connection... I’ve never really understood it either but if this sentence from Wikipedia is an appropriate summary:
“McLuhan proposes that a communication medium itself, not the messages it carries, should be the primary focus of study.”
Then I buy it. It doesn’t really matter what people are reading/writing essays about--it’s significant that people are reading/writing essays at all, because they’re engaging in a deeper intellectual process than that of social media etc.
Would highly recommend Borges' Selected Non-Fictions.
It’s not a common mix! I’ve read other authors deliberately channeling Borges but never anyone else like him on their own terms. I’ve just subscribed btw and am excited to hear about your wanderings!
Thanks! I definitely agree. I just discovered Justin Smith-Huiu's Substack, which gives me some of the same feelings as Borges:
https://www.the-hinternet.com?r=5clxo
Cool, thanks for the tip!
The first Borges collection I read (Labyrinths) was rought two-thirds fiction and a third essays, and it was fascinating how difficult they were to tell apart! And some of the short essays were actually perfect.
Totally, his fiction would be better described as fictional essays than stories, and something about that is so compelling to me. And the brevity of his writing, fiction and nonfiction, is another aspect that is worth thinking about, especially today and on a platform like this.
I enjoyed this Dawson!
I do think it is quite reasonable to call 2005-15 a golden age of the essay (though it often was packaged in a blog style that lacked some of the classical attributes of essays). I do read fairly widely in history, and there are few decades that pack so many thoughtful pieces (though many of them are all but forgotten now, living on only in obscure blogs archived by the internet archive etc). I've also been positively surprised at how many interested readers there are still and how many writers there are attempting to do something good, something personal and well crafted and intelligent. I'm not sure we, as a collective, have produced anything lasting yet - but many of the best writers are very fresh and it will be interesting to see how the craft evolves over the next five years. I think we can pull it off.
Thank you for your thoughts Henrik :)
You forced me to reconsider my thinking and looking back it seems naive to limit the possibility for the “golden age of the essay” to something in the most recent twenty-thirty years.
I’d love to see a selection of some of the thoughtful pieces you have found throughout history, if you have a couple that come to mind or are ever so inclined as to compile a list to share on your own publication, I think that would be fascinating.
Loved this! I love the essay form, and am encouraged to read this. The fact that the literary establishment is not controlling access and fashion on that front is a blessing. Funnily, I surprised myself when I found every post of mine, purportedly to publish a new poem, ended up offering an essay as well -- and my readers engaged much more with that exploration than with the poem. The plan is to dig deeper...
Really loved this piece, not least because it has a hopeful but not disengaged from reality view of where we go from here. I do hope it is toward the golden age of the essay, or at least, toward better writing and more engaged, thoughtful, intellectual discourse on the internet. Thanks for this :)
I also think that free-ranging essays do not have to be disconnected from the journalistic premise, per se. In fact, the two together often make for a deeper “thinking together” on an issue or a topic--the work of someone like Joan Didion comes to mind.
Interesting essay on essays. Like many at the moment, I’ve been considering how AI will change the way humans compose their thoughts into words.
The comparison of an essay to a river is thought provoking, as is the etymology of the word—“to try.”
The direction of an essay is flowing to the next most interesting place. It is an exploration, and in that exploration, the writer is sculpting a shape of their ideas. (I have always felt my thoughts manifest as shapes before I find words that best fit the shape.)
As I think about AI generated writing, the process feels external. I maybe have a few ideas about the topic I want to write about, and I ask the tool to write it. Then I ask myself “Is this what I meant?” Sure, I guess so. It’s good enough. On to the next thing. Or maybe I edit it. But somehow it all feels like standing outside of the idea, assessing it, rather than going inside and feeling it.
I grew up in the analog era, so I have experience with analog writing (if that’s the right way to refer to it) and I think going through the process of exploring a topic in my own mind is a habit that is worth cultivating. Sometimes it can make me uneasy. There are triumphs and getting caught in eddies. It does feel like traveling a path. So the word "exploration" fits.
I wonder whether future generations who grow up with AI tools from a young age will see the value in sculpting words to fit around their ideas. I hope so. But I’m also open to the idea that this technology could bring about new and fantastic paradigms that I can’t imagine.
I read this essay a few days ago and then came back and re-read it again now because it had been floating in the rivers of my mind. What I keep returning to, which you've put your finger on well, is the way in which the ability to measure (digital) life in increasingly finer grains or precision has engendered an impulse to atomize ourselves, often with a resulting decrease in happiness and diminution of creativity. I optimistic that, as you wrote, "The world is desperate and ripe for thoughtful, sincere, free-ranging writing."
Also, thanks for inspiring me to revisit Borges' essays. I was mesmerized by Borges from the moment that I encountered his writing, so much so that I moved to Argentina--a move that incidentally made it into a free-ranging essay that I published a few months back here.
Thanks Spencer.
Feel free to post a link to your essay. I’m intrigued. I would love to visit Argentina (mostly as a fly fishing destination), but it’s fascinating you moved there. Where are you from originally?
Here's a link to the essay https://thebrownbarge.substack.com/p/how-long-can-you-live-in-isolation. Ostensibly it is a review of a play, but it is really about language--how the languages we speak shape our self-conception and connection to loved ones. I don't get to the part about living in Argentina until what I titled Act II of the essay.
I grew up in Florida and after the brief stint in Argentina moved to DC, where I've been for the last 13 years. I must say that I didn't know Argentina was known as a fly fishing destination.
After reading this essay or yours I'd like to set aside some time to read and sit with some of your writing. Do you have recommendations on where I should start or anything you've written that you're particularly proud of?
Great, I'll check it out :)
That's very kind of you. I'll leave a couple suggestions--
This one is my most personal one, and it was received very well:
https://orbistertius.substack.com/p/when-it-rains-in-colorado
For some reason, I'm particularly fond of this one, about Dostoevsky's Underground Man and the Ego:
https://orbistertius.substack.com/p/this-caprice-of-ours
I've saved them both!
I'm excited to hear Borges wrote non-fiction--I only recently read Labyrinths and loved it.
I'm also reminded of McLuhan's theory (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_medium_is_the_message) though TBH I've never felt like I fully grokked it
Thanks for making that connection... I’ve never really understood it either but if this sentence from Wikipedia is an appropriate summary:
“McLuhan proposes that a communication medium itself, not the messages it carries, should be the primary focus of study.”
Then I buy it. It doesn’t really matter what people are reading/writing essays about--it’s significant that people are reading/writing essays at all, because they’re engaging in a deeper intellectual process than that of social media etc.