The Library of Babel
I didn't like this as much as The Garden of Forking Paths or The Shape of the Sword. There isn't much action, it's more philosophical than the other two. There also isn't really a plot, it's kind of just a very long, detailed description of a library. It was also kind of difficult to understand. Also, why is there a room for sleeping while standing up? That's a little bizarre.
The narrator discusses the idea that the universe is doomed to repeat itself, since there are a finite number of books: "if an eternal traveler were to cross it in any direction , after centuries he would see that the same volumes were repeated in the same disorder" (Borges 58). This is reasonable, but what is strange is that the narrator finds it comforting that the universe is doomed to repeat itself. I do not understand why the narrator finds comfort and hope in the fact that the universe is "cyclical," in that it will repeat itself over and over again once all the events in each of the volumes of books occur. That seems kind of depressing, because it would mean that all the same mistakes would be made and that nothing that anybody does would matter anyway. I guess maybe it's comforting to him that no matter what he does, it won't really have any effect, either negative or positive, on the larger universe, so he can basically do whatever he wants. Or maybe he finds comfort in the fact that no matter how lonely he is, someone in the future will feel exactly the same way and someone in the past has felt the same way, which is kind of messed up to be honest.
My question is what is the significance of the numbers? Borges is very specific in detailing that "there are five shelves for each of the hexagon's walls; each shelf contains thirty-five books of uniform format; each book is of four hundred and ten pages; each page, of forty lines, each line, of some eighty letters which are black in color" and (Borges 51-52). What do these numbers mean? 410, 40, 80, 5, and 35 seem to be very random numbers with no easily discernible pattern. Another question I have is do the people live in the library? Borges says that everyone has their own assigned room in the library and when someone dies, they get flung off the railing into the abyss, so does that mean that they live there? But if people do live there, why is there only a restroom and only one room to sleep in in each library room? Also, why are the sleep rooms so small that you can only stand in them? Who stands while sleeping?
Overall, I wasn't a fan of The Library of Babel, but it was alright.
The narrator discusses the idea that the universe is doomed to repeat itself, since there are a finite number of books: "if an eternal traveler were to cross it in any direction , after centuries he would see that the same volumes were repeated in the same disorder" (Borges 58). This is reasonable, but what is strange is that the narrator finds it comforting that the universe is doomed to repeat itself. I do not understand why the narrator finds comfort and hope in the fact that the universe is "cyclical," in that it will repeat itself over and over again once all the events in each of the volumes of books occur. That seems kind of depressing, because it would mean that all the same mistakes would be made and that nothing that anybody does would matter anyway. I guess maybe it's comforting to him that no matter what he does, it won't really have any effect, either negative or positive, on the larger universe, so he can basically do whatever he wants. Or maybe he finds comfort in the fact that no matter how lonely he is, someone in the future will feel exactly the same way and someone in the past has felt the same way, which is kind of messed up to be honest.
My question is what is the significance of the numbers? Borges is very specific in detailing that "there are five shelves for each of the hexagon's walls; each shelf contains thirty-five books of uniform format; each book is of four hundred and ten pages; each page, of forty lines, each line, of some eighty letters which are black in color" and (Borges 51-52). What do these numbers mean? 410, 40, 80, 5, and 35 seem to be very random numbers with no easily discernible pattern. Another question I have is do the people live in the library? Borges says that everyone has their own assigned room in the library and when someone dies, they get flung off the railing into the abyss, so does that mean that they live there? But if people do live there, why is there only a restroom and only one room to sleep in in each library room? Also, why are the sleep rooms so small that you can only stand in them? Who stands while sleeping?
Overall, I wasn't a fan of The Library of Babel, but it was alright.
I totally agree with you. I was expecting more action after reading the first two short stories. This was to philosophical for my liking...I was having trouble following it for majority of the story. I was wondering, because the library is symbolic of the universe, are we (humans) supposed to be the librarians he mentions or the books? I'm too confused about the significance of the numbers. I'm hoping we'll further discuss this in class.
ReplyDeleteI also didn't like this story as much because I wanted an actual plot instead of a long description. I like your analysis about ways that might make the narrator feel comforted by the repeat of the universe, even though I did not originally think that it felt depressing. I also wonder why he put so much detail into putting the numbers. In regards to Angoori's question, I think the humans are supposed to be the librarians because he mentions "Man, the imperfect librarian" on page 80, though I'm not quite sure how this picture fits together as a whole.
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