In this first-person narrative, Borges describes the Library of Babel-an indefinitely large collection of books of uniform format—the universe. The books are the basis for life for every individual in the library: interpreting the seemingly meaningless books is the occupation of many. Contained in the books are strings of letters that only great linguists (and wise oracles) can interpret. Of course, finding the one book that would explain all of the rest would make one an omnipotent god. On the other hand, for every one copy of the god book, there would be millions of near-perfect facsimiles, with only one or two words changed, but the whole meaning of the work reversed. A myriad of ontological questions are raised by this intentionally ambiguous story.
Other Stories With Theme of Infinite Interpretation
Averroes'
Search (Summary)
The Garden of Forking Paths
(Summary)
The God's Script (Summary)
The Immortal (Summary)
The Library Of Babel (Full Text)
The Theologians (Summary)
Tlon, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius (Summary)
Other Stories With Theme of Undefined Reality
The Circular Ruins
(Full Text)
The Circular Ruins (Summary)
The Immortal (Summary)
The Library of Babel (Full Text)
The Lottery of Babylon (Summary)
The Secret Miracle
(Summary)
Theme of the Traitor and the
Hero (Summary)
The Waiting (Summary)
Criticism With Reference to this Story
Jonathan Meades
The Quest for
Borges
Michael Wood Borges’s
Surprise!
Carter Wheelock
Borges’ New
Prose