Borges Short Stories
Both The Form of the Sword and The Garden of Forking Paths managed to, in my opinion, convey much of the excitement and mystique that longer works such as The Valley of Fear take more time to introduce and incorporate into the text. Borges truly managed to write a complete mystery in a very short amount of time; an admirable characteristic of these stories. Of the two, I preferred The Garden of Forking Paths over The Form of the Sword, simply because it offered a more profound depth to the mystery than the latter, which seems more a story centered in pity and remorse than mystery to me.
Focusing on The Garden of Forking Paths, I was wondering what the main connection between the addition of the story of the Labyrinth and Ts'ui Pen's novel were to the actions that the narrator takes at the end of the novel by killing Albert. Just before making his final move and killing Albert, the narrator says "Once again I sensed the pullation of which I have already spoken. It seemed to me that the dew-damp garden surrounding the was infinitely saturated with invisible people. All were Albert and myself, secretive, busy and multiform in other dimensions of time "(pg. 100-101). It seems that the narrator is feeling a sense of a continuum here, one similar to the one described earlier which is inherent in a "Garden of Forking Paths". The concept of different dimensions, different times, and different results from an event in time effectively leaves the ending of this story open. Yes, in the literal sense, Borges closed the story by solidifying the death of both Albert and the narrator, and ensuring that the narrator completed his work as a spy. But who is to say that in another instance of the same events, that the events will hold the same? Each of those "invisible people" seen by the narrator are different instances of the same event occurring under different circumstances, and the story of the Garden of Forking Paths does not allow them all to have one definite conclusion at the end.
Focusing on The Garden of Forking Paths, I was wondering what the main connection between the addition of the story of the Labyrinth and Ts'ui Pen's novel were to the actions that the narrator takes at the end of the novel by killing Albert. Just before making his final move and killing Albert, the narrator says "Once again I sensed the pullation of which I have already spoken. It seemed to me that the dew-damp garden surrounding the was infinitely saturated with invisible people. All were Albert and myself, secretive, busy and multiform in other dimensions of time "(pg. 100-101). It seems that the narrator is feeling a sense of a continuum here, one similar to the one described earlier which is inherent in a "Garden of Forking Paths". The concept of different dimensions, different times, and different results from an event in time effectively leaves the ending of this story open. Yes, in the literal sense, Borges closed the story by solidifying the death of both Albert and the narrator, and ensuring that the narrator completed his work as a spy. But who is to say that in another instance of the same events, that the events will hold the same? Each of those "invisible people" seen by the narrator are different instances of the same event occurring under different circumstances, and the story of the Garden of Forking Paths does not allow them all to have one definite conclusion at the end.
I was also very impressed with Borges and his ability to create an incredible mystery within a few pages. I agree, the whole unfinished labyrinth and book business was distracting and seems to have no relation to how the book ends.
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