This week’s reading was something I have never once experienced. Never before have I read a book, held the pages in my hands, and been so utterly annoyed, angered, and bewildered by the words in front of my eyes. I went into Borges’ collection of short stories knowing, from the title, that his fictions would contain trickery, they would be dense and confusing. I also was aware, as per the back of the book, that Borges was a very esteemed writer who compiled many themes and genres into his work. None of these factors, sadly, could save my brain from the headache that was reading (and thereby attempting to decipher) these stories.
I initially tried to piece together the shards of reality Borges threw at me. I saw pieces of historical fiction pretending to be nonfiction, utterances of Latin, religious texts, public figures I’m sure are famous but of whom I have never heard. I attempted to approach each new story with fresh eyes, understanding that, beneath all the impenetrable vocabulary and pretentious references, there was going to be a story. In my case, I was never able to remotely enjoy, much less comprehend, any of Borges’ observations, and was left utterly puzzled and irate at the thought of picking the book up again and reading another story. (By some miracle, I did read all the fictions).
This week’s lecture brought up a lot of points that I thought were interesting, but completely missed me; I was so caught up in perplexity of Borges’ characters and incongruous ‘plots’ that any enjoyment of themes, or discovery of through-lines used in multiple stories was lost on me. In this way, perhaps it can be said that Borges succeeded in leading me through a labyrinth of stories, one that I unfortunately got very lost in.
As far as the fictions go, I suppose the one I was the least confused by/angered at was The Library of Babel. I enjoyed it visualizations of the hexagonal library that is the universe; however, a little further into this story I completely fell off track and lost sight of any semblance of comprehensible story/fiction/theme/anything.
It disappoints me that my blog this week is so negative and without reflection, but I suppose I can only write about my experience with the weekly text, and I believe that’s what I’ve done. Reading Borges’ Labyrinths was like having a long conversation with a very well-educated, though unfortunately self-important and arrogant, intellectual; the entire time I have no idea what is going on, and I leave feeling stupid yet simultaneously relieved I never have to do that again.
My question for readers: what emotions did you feel while reading Borges’ stories? Did these stories intrigue you or confuse you?
Jon
February 4, 2023 — 3:50 pm
“It disappoints me that my blog this week is so negative and without reflection, but I suppose I can only write about my experience with the weekly text, and I believe that’s what I’ve done.”
Negativity is also reflection! You have struggled with Borges, though it sounds as though you feel you have lost the struggle. In class, I hope you’ll find that at least some of the struggle was worth it. (But even if not, that’s OK… there’s always another week, another book.)
Yes, it can be frustrating to feel lost in a labyrinth. (And yet people build and enter labyrinths for fun… why is that?) But I will assure you 1) that it’s not just you and 2) that you are not a worse (more “stupid”) person for not liking Borges.
Meanwhile, however, do you have a question for the rest of us? And perhaps a couple more tags to indicate concepts or themes (“frustration,” “anger”?!) that your blog deals with?
Julia Tatham
February 4, 2023 — 4:13 pm
Hi Jon,
Thank you for pointing out that I forgot to add a question! That has now been added, along with new tags.
Curtis
February 4, 2023 — 9:51 pm
Hi Julia,
I definitely went through a panoply of emotions during reading Borges… But mostly I felt I was perplexed and overall disoriented throughout. I guess the theme of Labyrinths really does go quite deep, haha.
What I was drawn to was the story of Tlon. Mainly I was preoccupied with how, actually, does the human mind work. Does the mind see independent objects, or simply a unified whole? If the latter, should our language match the psychic reality?
Later on, in Pierre Menard, I ask “does existence precede essence”? Essentially, can you create yourself into an entirely different person, or is there something innate about you that cannot be duplicated?
So much philosophy, too little time…
Hope to discuss this with you on Tuesday if you’re there.
Curtis HR
Julia Moniz-Lecce
February 5, 2023 — 11:13 am
Hi Julia,
Reading the blog posts, I’m sensing a common theme. 😀 I was also very frustrated with this book and had a hard time keeping everything straight. I also agree that it was hard to sense common themes with the confusing plots. What I find super interesting though is how everyone says they were least confused by a different story. For me, I was least confused by the Lottery of Babylon, but I agree that the hexagonal library was a really cool image.
Looking forward to discussing and airing out frustrations in class!
neko smart
February 5, 2023 — 3:57 pm
Hey Julia! I think we may have talked about Borges last Tuesday? Unless that was a different Julia. Either way: “Reading Borges’ Labyrinths was like having a long conversation with a very well-educated, though unfortunately self-important and arrogant, intellectual; the entire time I have no idea what is going on, and I leave feeling stupid yet simultaneously relieved I never have to do that again.” …..YES. You put my feelings into words, with extra emphasis on ‘self-important and arrogant’. I have never in my life been more angered by a novel. What an uncomfortable reading experience. I also left feeling stupid and for sure worse off… Let’s chat about this Tuesday if you plan on attending that day!
katherine
February 5, 2023 — 8:40 pm
I think “Labyrinths” really is quite a ride to read. I think my most reoccurring emotions (in order) were: 1) confusion, 2) terror, 3) philosophical crisis? I don’t know, it just was very strange experience. As other people have pointed out, I definitely agree that Borges is very pretentious at times but I definitely not expecting this controversial reaction from the class. I think people feel passionately about this novel, while I’m not sure the same could be said of other books we’ve read *cough Mama Blanca’s Memoirs cough*.
Chiko Yamamoto
February 6, 2023 — 7:33 pm
Hi Julia!
I appreciate Borges’ imagination and his work! I believe that Borges’ reference to the labyrinth was an attempt to convey how complex and incomprehensible the world is.
This makes reading his novels stressful. I like a novel where the content is straightforward to understand, but Labyrinth is quite the opposite. (haha) I had to read it repeatedly to comprehend the details and to be honest, I still don’t get half of it….
I would recommend this novel to anyone taking first-year English classes, anyone who wants to think about reality and fiction, anyone who wants to analyze the boundaries between text and interpreter, and anyone who wants to contemplate the nature of the infinite.
KenwardTran
February 8, 2023 — 11:12 pm
Hi Julia! I enjoyed reading your blog post, and to answer your question, it was a rollercoaster full of emotions for me. At times I was frustrated but pushed through because it was a required reading. If only I had taken Borge’s advice earlier about if you don’t enjoy the book, leave it and move on! After our discussion class I was able to have more positive thoughts on his work, and came to a better understanding of how he loves to play games with the reader and it did take a while, but I started to understand what was going on in the stories! So that made me happy.