Blog #5 - Labyrinths
After reading the collection of short stories by Jorge Luis Borges, I found the first few short stories to be quite difficult to read and to get into. The philosophical nature and complexity of them made me feel as though I was reading through a textbook. I can understand the appreciation that others may have for these stories, but my lack of experience and understanding in these fronts made the readings feel never-ending.
The first short story that I found myself to truly enjoy was "The Garden of Forking Paths". The idea that many realities can exist at once, through diverging and converging paths they separate and reconnect, and the rules that mitigate where these paths flow was thought-provoking. The twist at the end of the story, with Yu Tsun killing Albert after mentioning that he was there as a friend, caught me by surprised and really hammered the idea that and the possibilities that can occur when all time is occurring at once.
I also really enjoyed reading "The Circular Ruins", and once again, the twist caught me in the end! This story made me reflect on when I have dreamed and have woken up with a sort of longing for something or someone that never existed. At the end of the story, when the main character realized that he himself was only a thought, made me think about AI, and how we ponder the possibilities of intelligence forming a sort of conscious or ability to think and feel for itself. This story in particular I found quite haunting, are we merely just thoughts?
"The Library of Babel" was an interesting short story to read, and I found myself looking through the lens of religion while reading. The idea that there are many books, in many languages, differing sometimes by a single letter reminded me of the many religions that exist where at the core they are the same. I liked the parallels I found between idea that we don't know where the Library (existence? universe?) came from, and that maybe one person has gotten it right (after so many hypotheses someone has to have it right, right?).
I found Borges' writing to make me feel a sort of existentialism (thoughts and feelings I try to avoid most of the time), and made me think about the endless possibilities and the explanations of the world around me, which made me feel as though I am stuck in a labyrinth.
My question for discussion: Which story left the biggest impact on you?
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ReplyDelete(Your final question is somehow general, I think that for the following weeks you could ask them taking the texts more into account)
I agree that the order of the stories in this volume is not the most enjoyable to introduce readers to the work of Borges, if it is the first time they have had that experience. But there is a kind of "pedagogy" of reading, where the following stories are more assimilable. It is also true that many passages can be dry due to excessive scholarship. But, in your opinion, could they be part of a game in which we have to discover the rules?
ReplyDeleteHey Cadence! I actually feel the exact same way about the stories you mentioned, as I also found those the most interesting! Personally the story that sticks to me the most is the circular ruins. I think that story was told the most cohesively, and didn’t dabble in using a purposefully elaborate tone in the story, but still translates the themes well. If we were just to look at this specific story, it might even be my favorite out of all the books read so far!
ReplyDeleteHi Cadence! I also found the book a bit of a troubling read right from the start. However I like your perception of it having a "philosophical nature and complexity of them made me feel as though I was reading through a textbook", I find that describes it the experience well. The rules (and the games) of the flows is a perplexing idea as well!
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