u/COOLKC690

Recientemente me topé con este video en el que Nobel de literatura es entrevistado por Gabriel García Márquez. Aunque el reportaje es conducido por Augusto Olivares, periodista chileno, que acabaría siendo el primero en suicidarse en los hechos del 11 de septiembre de 1973. 12 días después moriría Neruda.

En fin, sólo algunos datos interesantes. Espero que disfruten de esta entrevista, del año 1971.

Hello!

This upcoming September, there will be an extended re print of Bioy Casare’s Borges, where Bioy documents his daily conversations with his friend Jorge Luis Borges across decades. Whilst that comes out …

I’m looking for similar books.

I’m aware of Samuel Johnson’s biography, written by his friend James Boswell, which follows a similar logic.

I am also aware of Casanova’s memoirs, which extend up to 12 volumes in some editions, however, other than those 3:

What are other extremely detailed biographies or autobiographies? Preferably lengthy!

I made a question related to this in r/askspain , I’ll leave translated fragments of the important parts here:

“A bit of context: I’m 17, and [im about to enter my last year of high school*]. I was born in Texas, to Mexican parents, so I’ve been able to learn both languages at the same time — however, I am better in Spanish.”

Anywho, in school I’ve been able to do good in the English courses: [I got a 5 in AP Literature.**]. This upcoming year I’ll be taking AP Spanish literature, the equivalent class for Spanish … I’m done with all English courses and this’ll be my first and last Spanish course.

My dream has always been to work with literature, however I began to think that by going to Galveston I could study to be a merchant-mariner with A&M, or any of the other academies. [I thought I could make some money, and keep a literary pursue for later.] However, I’ve spoken to those who’ve taken such path and my dreams have shattered. Now I’d like to see if maybe I could have some luck with my original idea of perusing literature.

[I think, because my readings and interest are in the Spanish language, I’d have better luck following it in a Spanish speaking country, and what better than Spain?**]

* I wrote in Spanish that I was going to go out from my last year of high school by accident, corrected it here!

** Summary of what I said in Spanish, I mentioned other things too.

I’m aware that it is competitive in almost all places, it not all, however — if it is not already asked weekly, in such case, I apologize —, how competitive is the field in your different country or location?

If bad, do y’all see this getting worst in the future with the increasing presence of artificial intelligence?

¡Buenas!

Bueno, soy un poco de contexto: tengo 17, y estoy por salir del último año de preparatoria (High School) en Tejas. Nací en Tejas, de padres mexicanos, así que he logrado cosechar ambas lenguas a la perfección — aunque domino mucho más la lengua española.

En fin, aquí en la escuela he logrado desempeñarme mucho en cuanto a los cursos de inglés: tomé lo que es un curso AP — no sé si allá lo tengan —, pero básicamente de da créditos de colegio si pasas si examen. En el de literatura, el más reciente, que es inglés 4, adquirí la nota más alta para el examen. Este año que entra entraré a lo equivalente curso de español, literatura hispánica. También se me ha dado el rol de secretario para la sociedad hispánica, que no es muy prestigioso, pero quería dar un poco de contexto en cuanto mi empeño a esto. Ya acabé todos los cursos de inglés, y este sería mi primero y último de español — que es la clase más alta que hay de español aquí.

Mi sueño siempre había sido estudiar letras, sin embargo luego creí que yendo a Galveston podría estudiar para ser marino-mercante (sea merchant) mediante los programas de A&M u con alguno de los otros en el país. Sin embargo, he hablado con gente que ha tomado esta senda, se me roto el sueño con eso. Ahora quiero volver a ver si *tal vez* podría tener suerte en España.

¿Por qué España?

Porque sobre todo me interesa la literatura hispánica — y la francesa, pero francés no hablo —, y aquí no creo que pudiera ejercerlo, u al menos no bien, si lo escribo en inglés. En fin, el lenguaje.

He hablado con un amigo que me dice que es más o menos difícil, pero el empeño sirve y que, además, generalmente es más barato que aquí—aunque mi sueldo no pasaría de los €2000. En todo caso, creo que serviría de maestro en inglés en un futuro …

Para quienes han estado o conocen gente en estos estudios, ¿es MUY competitiva la carrera ahí? ¿Como van en cuanto a trabajo?

Me temo que he sonado muy ñoño, jaja, disculpen la fantochería.

¡Buenas!

Bueno, soy un poco de contexto: tengo 17, y estoy por salir del último año de preparatoria (High School) en Tejas. Nací en Tejas, de padres mexicanos, así que he logrado cosechar ambas lenguas a la perfección — aunque domino mucho más la lengua española.

En fin, aquí en la escuela he logrado desempeñarme mucho en cuanto a los cursos de inglés: tomé lo que es un curso AP — no sé si allá lo tengan —, pero básicamente de da créditos de colegio si pasas si examen. En el de literatura, el más reciente, que es inglés 4, adquirí la nota más alta para el examen. Este año que entra entraré a lo equivalente curso de español, literatura hispánica. También se me ha dado el rol de secretario para la sociedad hispánica, que no es muy prestigioso, pero quería dar un poco de contexto en cuanto mi empeño a esto. Ya acabé todos los cursos de inglés, y este sería mi primero y último de español — que es la clase más alta que hay de español aquí.

Mi sueño siempre había sido estudiar letras, sin embargo luego creí que yendo a Galveston podría estudiar para ser marino-mercante (sea merchant) mediante los programas de A&M u con alguno de los otros en el país. Sin embargo, he hablado con gente que ha tomado esta senda, se me ha roto el sueño con eso. Ahora quiero volver a ver si tal vez podría tener suerte en España.

¿Por qué España?

Porque sobre todo me interesa la literatura hispánica — y la francesa, pero francés no hablo —, y aquí no creo que pudiera ejercerlo, u al menos no bien, si lo escribo en inglés. En fin, el lenguaje.

He hablado con un amigo que me dice que es más o menos difícil, pero el empeño sirve y que, además, generalmente es más barato que aquí—aunque mi sueldo no pasaría de los €2000. En todo caso, creo que serviría de maestro en inglés en un futuro …

Para quienes han estado o conocen gente en estos estudios, ¿es MUY competitiva la carrera ahí? ¿Como van en cuanto a trabajo?

Me temo que he sonado muy ñoño, jaja, disculpen la fantochería.

Greetings! I suppose I should make a brief introduction of my situation, and my interest; I’m 17, about to enter my senior year. I really love literature, I speak both English and Spanish, I read in both, but mainly write in Spanish. I like to write, and read too, of course, poetry and short stories. I also love music, I play the guitar and began to sing this last school year—I’ve stood before an audience twice! I wasn’t very good, however. I’ve completed all my English and math courses, and I’m getting a leadership in the Spanish clubs at my school this upcoming year. Spanish is my first language, and I’d say I have an interest for the language itself: the etymologies, the different synonyms, the syntax, the play of words, etc… Those would be my three interests.

My main problem is, I kind of feel a bit stupid about … not really knowing what I want to do. This might be slightly stupid, but as I read books I realized I really had a fascination with the sea, despite only being near it twice, once somewhere in Florida and once in Corpus Christi. I feel like Don Quixote saying this, because of how idiotized by the books I became,  but I began to consider that the best thing for me would be to try to become a Merchant Mariner/Marine. The reasons are:

I. All my interests, for a college,  are in the humanities/arts and I wouldn’t be as stable with those, maybe as a teacher, but I feel like being a teacher is a compromise that never ends, they’re horribly underpaid too!

II. From what I’ve gathered, whilst the time periods in which they leave home are … pretty extensive, but when they’re not at work they aren’t working at all, hence I thought it’d be a good experience for me to gain life experiences around the world, whilst getting paid for it, and then come home, mix those experiences with my readings, and hopefully be able to write an oeuvre that I can be proud of, whilst having time to do so when I’m not at sea.

III. As said before, I thought those life experiences could enrich my writing.

IV. Coming out of a 4 year academy, I could make 100k+, I could buy a home! That’d be a dream. I told myself I’d do this in my early twenties, maybe up till late twenties—27-29—, or early thirties. And then I’d go take a degree in English, philosophy or in library sciences. I could dedicate myself to something calmer, with what I love most, the books, for the rest of my life. Whilst maybe having a home already, so I wouldn’t worry as much about that, I could live moderately and write if I saved my money.

Anywho, as it gets closer … I’m not sure if I want that lifestyle. On one hand, I’m scared of never being able to make a life with someone, I love love! I couldn’t imagine being alone, or what it would be like for someone to wait for a father or boyfriend, or husband, for so long. However, at the same time, I feel like this is the only non-military way I could “get off” from home; I’m not in an emergency situation with that, but I always feel like my extended family has their eye on my actions, in how I live! I have not experienced a family wedding where there isn’t some for of complain—oh, she didn’t wear the white for the wedding; oh, she wore white, but she isn’t actually pure; oh, they married vía state and not the Church! My dad is also very ambitious in starting his business, he’s a carpenter, but still, and tells me he’s going to make me his assistant or whatever, he’s telling me I should buy myself some houses and rent them, or buying houses, fixing them and putting them back for sale, but … being a landlord, and setting the prices higher for houses, is kind of an asshole move in my book. I think my dad sees that in the TikTok’s that he watches, or he told me one of his uncles does that and just lives alone in his home! My mom tells me I should be a doctor since she cleans homes for many of them … and they live well! And they travel a lot, so I’ll still get to travel! But, my main concern is that … I don’t see myself as smart. Surely creative, but never smart enough to have a human life in my hands! The only interest I’ve shown for the medical field is medical librarian, I’ve even emailed a few! Most told me it’s a pretty fast running bubble, in the sense that once you think you’ve gotten something about it, something new has come out.

My dad’s family is blue collar, they’ve all told me I should work for my dad. My mom’s side … we’ve only had 2 cousins get to this age, and one is a manager at a fast food restaurant, the other assists my uncle who is also a carpenter. But I feel like I want to get away from ending up always working with my family. I want to get my own wings as soon as possible. I want something else. I’m looking for a path that allows me to:

I. Have time to write and read.

II. Gives me a lot of experiences! I don’t even have to travel to the other side of the world, just meet people or see places.

III. Be able to live modestly. With a family.

IV. Gives me the freedom to move out as quick as possible’

Maybe the Merchant things are the best, and that’s what I’m considering now, but I’d love to hear alternatives. And sorry for the personal rant, but I feel like I’m just hitting walls! 

_____

Edit for this sub/TLDR:

I. I originally posted this in find a path. I hope the format is broken up well enough …

II. Because the question isn’t explicitly stated here, I’ll put it as a TLDR: I’m looking for a path that allows me to make good money to get independence, live modestly, have time to read and write, and start a family in the future, what are your suggestions?
_____
Postdata: sorry, I just wrote this at midnight. There’s parts where I sound like a whiner, or very pretentious, excuse that, and excuse the rant, but I’m in my last high school summer … and it’s very overweight for me, I think of it every day, and now I know it’s the real deal, I’m going to take action before May of 2027.

I wanted to know if anyone knows who the figure in this story is, I recall hearing about it, however, I can not recall if it was a cult leader or a political leader. The way I’ll tell it might be slightly vague or off:

The story went on about some important leader, who had some form of messiah-image of himself, paying one of his followers/workers to dress up as Santa Claus for a group of kids; the kids are then taken to a river where they spot Santa Claus coming in a small boat through the river. The leader then gets a gun out and shoots Santa Claus in front of the kids.

This was to show them Santa was death and that Christmas was no longer about Santa. I can’t recall what the origin of this is, or who the leader in the story was.

I’ve been enjoying reading Borges’ short stories a lot as of lately, I loved his poetry, but this is the first time I’m reading his short stories as a whole. One of my favorite thing of his is when he reviews or quotes fake books by fake authors.

I’m aware of Nabokov’s Pale Fire, despite not reading it. I guess Don Quixote at times follows a similar logic, but anywho, is there any other work of fiction that plays with similar concepts?