This week we read “Labyrinths”, a collection of stories written by Jorge Luis Borge. Personally, I quite enjoyed these stories as they had a profound impact on me and really made me reflect and think about the realities we create within our world.  One story that stood out to me was The Library of Babel. I had heard of this story before starting this class however I had never read it before, so I was very intrigued to read it. When reading the story, I found it fascinating to see how the Borges tells the story in a way which amplifies the librarians’ need to desperately find meaning in the apparently “meaningless” pieces of writing. The story really made me reflect on how the society we have created values the need to understand how and why everything in the world is the way it is, despite this being an impossible milestone to accomplish due to the almost infinite amount of things to comprehend.

Another story I found especially interesting was Borge and I which I found to be a short but powerful concept. The story brings up the theme of detachment from one’s true self as a result of a powerful persona that is seen by most of the world. While this may be a silly connection, after reading this story I sat and thought about the disconnect from ones self in the eyes of the public and couldn’t help but relate it to one of my favourite shows growing up, Hannah Montana. To provide a short summary, the series follows Miley, a regular teenage girl who lives a double life with her secret superstar persona, Hannah Montana. As this was something I watched as a kid, I never really thought much about the conflict between her true self and the persona she showed to the world, however after reading “Borge and I”, I was able to think deeper into this presentation of oneself to others and whether it is true to who you really are. While this is a fun distinction, I believe it shows the powerful impact of Borge’s writing as it allowed me to reflect on the complicated feelings of self within the world around me, showing that his thoughts and concepts are still relevant (and will be relevant for a long time) even many years later. 

For my discussion question this week, I would love to hear more about all of your thoughts on how Borge’s writing connects to the world we live in today and the important themes that he proposes within his stories. Were there any stories that made you stop and reflect on how it may be relevant within your own life or feelings about the world we create? Can you make any personal connections to his writings that made you look at the memory or information in a different light?