Borges TV interview, 1980

Jan Kott tells a story of having seen a lecture by Borges on Shakespeare. Borges was underamplified, and Kott could barely hear him: about the only word he was able to make out was "Shakespeare," "Shakespeare," "Shakespeare." But, somehow, that was enough. I was a senior in college when I had almost the same experience, except in that case the speaker was Marguerite Yourcenar and the subject of the talk, and the only word I could make out, was "Borges."

And, by the way: no, I don't speak Spanish. But I wonder whether knowing it wouldn't in some way detract from my enjoyment of this clip.