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السبت، 15 أغسطس 2026

Borges and Me review – a sweetly imagined literary odyssey through the Highlands https://ift.tt/qFuz1vU Peter Bradshaw

Edinburgh film festival
Luis Gnecco brings warmth, wit and quiet melancholy to Jorge Luis Borges in this gently enchanting adaptation of Jay Parini’s semi-fictional memoir

There is great sweetness and high-minded, unworldly charm in this adaptation of American author Jay Parini’s embellished memoir, a romantic account of his road trip through the Scottish Highlands that, as a young doctoral student at St Andrews in 1971, he really did take with Jorge Luis Borges, the great writer whose blindness had become part of his mystique. Author of poetry, enigmatic short stories and metaphysical vignettes untranslatably known as the “ficciones”, Borges is described here as “the father of magical realism” – although he is surely more unique and interesting than that.

Parini drives Borges around, describes everything to the maestro (who is rapt and beaming), and shields him when he uninhibitedly urinates in public; all the while he is almost entirely unaware of Borges’ reputation and the enormous honour that this therefore was. Fionn Whitehead plays the callow young Parini, in specs and duffle coat resembling a young Tom Courtenay, wretched that he may have inadvertently persuaded his brother Billy back home to volunteer for military service in Vietnam. He is ungratefully grumpy that he has to spend time away from his PhD for this babysitting task, assigned to him by his supervisor, poet and Borges translator Alastair Reid, played by Alan Cumming.

Borges himself is entertainingly played by the Chilean actor Luis Gnecco; priestly, childlike, mischievous and sly, a performance executed with theatrical panache – I can imagine him doing it on stage – but without hammily overdoing the milky-eyed upward gaze. His Borges is a man who like all charming people has cultivated a dependency on others, and we can see how he has had a lifetime to deploy the combination of his huge reputation and the poignant helplessness of the blind. He has come to Scotland without a nurse or amanuensis and has to rely on the (cowed) kindness of strangers.

Continue reading... https://ift.tt/lgTFejm August 15, 2026 at 11:36PM

أغسطس 15, 2026
Borges and Me review – a sweetly imagined literary odyssey through the Highlands https://ift.tt/qFuz1vU Peter Bradshaw <p><strong>Edinburgh film festival<br></strong>Luis Gnecco brings warmth, wit and quiet melancholy to Jorge Luis Borges in this gently enchanting adaptation of Jay Parini’s semi-fictional memoir</p><p>There is great sweetness and high-minded, unworldly charm in this adaptation of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/aug/05/borges-and-me-by-jay-parini-review-around-scotland-in-a-morris-minor">American author Jay Parini’s embellished memoir</a>, a romantic account of his road trip through the Scottish Highlands that, as a young doctoral student at St Andrews in 1971, he really did take with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/jorgeluisborges">Jorge Luis Borges</a>, the great writer whose blindness had become part of his mystique. Author of poetry, enigmatic short stories and metaphysical vignettes untranslatably known as the “ficciones”, Borges is described here as “the father of magical realism” – although he is surely more unique and interesting than that.</p><p>Parini drives Borges around, describes everything to the maestro (who is rapt and beaming), and shields him when he uninhibitedly urinates in public; all the while he is almost entirely unaware of Borges’ reputation and the enormous honour that this therefore was. Fionn Whitehead plays the callow young Parini, in specs and duffle coat resembling a young Tom Courtenay, wretched that he may have inadvertently persuaded his brother Billy back home to volunteer for military service in Vietnam. He is ungratefully grumpy that he has to spend time away from his PhD for this babysitting task, assigned to him by his supervisor, poet and Borges translator Alastair Reid, played by Alan Cumming.<br><br>
 Borges himself is entertainingly played by the Chilean actor Luis Gnecco; priestly, childlike, mischievous and sly, a performance executed with theatrical panache – I can imagine him doing it on stage – but without hammily overdoing the milky-eyed upward gaze. His Borges is a man who like all charming people has cultivated a dependency on others, and we can see how he has had a lifetime to deploy the combination of his huge reputation and the poignant helplessness of the blind. He has come to Scotland without a nurse or amanuensis and has to rely on the (cowed) kindness of strangers.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/film/2026/aug/15/borges-and-me-review-alan-cumming-fionn-whitehead">Continue reading...</a> https://ift.tt/lgTFejm August 15, 2026 at 11:36PM

Edinburgh film festival
Luis Gnecco brings warmth, wit and quiet melancholy to Jorge Luis Borges in this gently enchanting adaptation of Jay Parini’s semi-fictional memoir

There is great sweetness and high-minded, unworldly charm in this adaptation of American author Jay Parini’s embellished memoir, a romantic account of his road trip through the Scottish Highlands that, as a young doctoral student at St Andrews in 1971, he really did take with Jorge Luis Borges, the great writer whose blindness had become part of his mystique. Author of poetry, enigmatic short stories and metaphysical vignettes untranslatably known as the “ficciones”, Borges is described here as “the father of magical realism” – although he is surely more unique and interesting than that.

Parini drives Borges around, describes everything to the maestro (who is rapt and beaming), and shields him when he uninhibitedly urinates in public; all the while he is almost entirely unaware of Borges’ reputation and the enormous honour that this therefore was. Fionn Whitehead plays the callow young Parini, in specs and duffle coat resembling a young Tom Courtenay, wretched that he may have inadvertently persuaded his brother Billy back home to volunteer for military service in Vietnam. He is ungratefully grumpy that he has to spend time away from his PhD for this babysitting task, assigned to him by his supervisor, poet and Borges translator Alastair Reid, played by Alan Cumming.

Borges himself is entertainingly played by the Chilean actor Luis Gnecco; priestly, childlike, mischievous and sly, a performance executed with theatrical panache – I can imagine him doing it on stage – but without hammily overdoing the milky-eyed upward gaze. His Borges is a man who like all charming people has cultivated a dependency on others, and we can see how he has had a lifetime to deploy the combination of his huge reputation and the poignant helplessness of the blind. He has come to Scotland without a nurse or amanuensis and has to rely on the (cowed) kindness of strangers.

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from The Guardian https://ift.tt/qFuz1vU
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West Ham break EFL record to sign Engels for £22m https://ift.tt/kXWxrN9 West Ham United pay a £22m fee, a new EFL record, to sign Celtic's Belgium international midfielder Arne Engels. https://ift.tt/DwIAPlc August 15, 2026 at 11:19PM

أغسطس 15, 2026
West Ham break EFL record to sign Engels for £22m https://ift.tt/kXWxrN9  West Ham United pay a £22m fee, a new EFL record, to sign Celtic's Belgium international midfielder Arne Engels. https://ift.tt/DwIAPlc August 15, 2026 at 11:19PM

الجمعة، 14 أغسطس 2026

‘Not going to be an issue’: Mikel Arteta relaxed about Arsenal contract situation https://ift.tt/WV26hrq Ed Aarons
  • Manager’s deal expires at end of the new season

  • ‘They don’t have to worry … I want to be here’

Mikel Arteta has said he is relaxed about his Arsenal contract expiring at the end of the new season and believes his side will need to be better than last year to defend their title successfully.

The Premier League champions will face Enzo Maresca’s Manchester City in the Community Shield in Cardiff on Sunday and are heavy favourites to win back-to-back league titles for the first time since the 1930s. The departure of Pep Guardiola from their traditional rivals City means Arteta is now the Premier League’s longest-serving manager, with the Spaniard having joined in December 2019.

Continue reading... https://ift.tt/r5P8dQb August 15, 2026 at 12:30AM

أغسطس 14, 2026
‘Not going to be an issue’: Mikel Arteta relaxed about Arsenal contract situation https://ift.tt/WV26hrq Ed Aarons <ul><li><p>Manager’s deal expires at end of the new season</p></li><li><p>‘They don’t have to worry … I want to be here’</p></li></ul><p>Mikel Arteta has said he is relaxed about his Arsenal contract expiring at the end of the new season and believes his side will need to be better than last year to defend their title successfully.</p><p>The Premier League champions will face Enzo Maresca’s Manchester City in the Community Shield in Cardiff on Sunday and are heavy favourites to win back-to-back league titles for the first time since the 1930s. The departure of Pep Guardiola from their traditional rivals City means Arteta is now the Premier League’s longest-serving manager, with the Spaniard having joined in December 2019.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/football/2026/aug/14/mikel-arteta-arsenal-contract-manchester-city-community-shield-premier-league">Continue reading...</a> https://ift.tt/r5P8dQb August 15, 2026 at 12:30AM
  • Manager’s deal expires at end of the new season

  • ‘They don’t have to worry … I want to be here’

Mikel Arteta has said he is relaxed about his Arsenal contract expiring at the end of the new season and believes his side will need to be better than last year to defend their title successfully.

The Premier League champions will face Enzo Maresca’s Manchester City in the Community Shield in Cardiff on Sunday and are heavy favourites to win back-to-back league titles for the first time since the 1930s. The departure of Pep Guardiola from their traditional rivals City means Arteta is now the Premier League’s longest-serving manager, with the Spaniard having joined in December 2019.

Continue reading...

from The Guardian https://ift.tt/WV26hrq
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Walter puts dominant Super Giants in Hundred final https://ift.tt/WMsXQK0 All-rounder Paul Walter is the unlikely star with 80 off 46 balls as Manchester Super Giants comfortably beat Sunrisers Leeds to reach the men's Hundred final. https://ift.tt/p7UNVKR August 14, 2026 at 11:32PM

أغسطس 14, 2026
Walter puts dominant Super Giants in Hundred final https://ift.tt/WMsXQK0  All-rounder Paul Walter is the unlikely star with 80 off 46 balls as Manchester Super Giants comfortably beat Sunrisers Leeds to reach the men's Hundred final. https://ift.tt/p7UNVKR August 14, 2026 at 11:32PM
All-rounder Paul Walter is the unlikely star with 80 off 46 balls as Manchester Super Giants comfortably beat Sunrisers Leeds to reach the men's Hundred final.

from BBC News https://ift.tt/WMsXQK0
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