Just like the characters in the “Fantastic Zoo Manual” written by Jorge Luis Borges and Marguerita Guerrero, Sorin Comorosan is a bizarre and incongruous mixture. Biochemist, physician, mathematician and philosopher, he recently published a novel that surely, will not pass unnoticed: “Un-breaking away from Borges”
Evasion is an important trait for Sorin Comorosan. He took the road to literature and abandoned biochemistry and more recently even his physics studies.
Is all your life an evasion?
-I’d rather say I am a vagabond.
Does associating science with the rover life really work? It does sound strange.
I am a vagabond. I guess it comes from my slightly schizoid structure. The interesting part is that my entire work is under the sign of insanity.
When did you take up literature?
I started with philosophy and I met Noica once. After a few talks, he asked me how come I don’t write. So I tried to write an essay he asked me to. It was called: “Science and Philosophy.” It was very rigorous and I was proud of it. I took it to Noica and he told me: “It stinks, you just beat around the bush… Try finding a concept…” This is how I entered the world of philosophy. Finally, after several attempts he told me that I could write. When I look behind now, at my first book, “Naivete Exercises,” I can say I find a lot of lyricism in it, although it tackles philosophical issues.
How was your meeting with Borges?
I described that in “Naivete Exercises.” I was invited to Buenos Aires, at a Mathematical Biology Latino-American Congress for a conference. At the time I was really ascending; I made good money – it was the Golden Age of molecular biology and I received dozens of invitations. This is how my romance with Latin America begun. I learned Spanish and one day I found myself mixing English and Spanish. Then I said to myself: “What the heck, I might as well visit Borges.” He totally despised the academic environment, he was a recluse. I called him, I told him that I was a scientist and that I wanted to pay him a visit. He received me and from the first moment he refused to let go of my hand… he kept calling me “Young man.” I was well past my prime but what did it matter?
Borges was already blind then?
Yes, those were his last years. He asked me what language I preferred and as English was my second birth tongue… as the conversation pressed on, I began shifting towards Spanish. I talked to him about the fantastic. This is how it started. When I left Borges I was so excited I immediately wrote a chapter in “Naivete Exercises.” The text was filled with adjectives but I kept it unchanged.
What other literary “landmarks” have you used?
You know, in Latin America they are all pretty much in the same line: miraculous realism and fantastic. I really like Mario Benedetti, a giant, misfortunately less known in Romania. He wrote this book – “La tregua” that I think is one of the greatest romances of the world. But let me return to Borges – my latest book – “Un-breaking away from Borges” is written on three levels. The first is falsification – the idea belongs to Borges. He prevaricated all the legends of the North and several others. To forge, in Borge’s philosophy means rebuilding. I rebuilt Borge’s stories over and over again. In the second part of the book I wrote my stories based on his ideas. The third part was reserved for my own stories. That is why the title says: “Un-breaking away from Borges.” Every parting has a bit of returning. The stories “How much for a man,” “Deutsches Requiem” and especially the love story are mine. This novel made of novels is postmodernist (I am a late “90s writer) and is a story within a story that tells a story.