I’m new to Jorge Luis Borges. The Library of Babel was my first time reading him, and so, my mind was a blank canvas. I still don’t comprehend the picture he painted there. It’ll take time to understand and appreciate its various brush strokes. For now, I only see certain shapes and colour combinations, and I make my own interpretation. My reading of this short story may not be in line with Borges’s vision, yet it’s the kind of story that could be looked at through different lenses. So, for me, The Library of Babel is an allegory for the universe, its creation, the meaning of life, as well as the human condition.
The Library has existed ab æternitate. Man, the imperfect librarian, may be the work of chance or of malevolent demiurges; the universe, with its elegant appointments, can only be the handiwork of a god.
This is how Borges viewed the creation. Borges’s views of the universe are complex. He saw the universe as one fixed entity. Whatever change the nature wrought in any other, the universe lived forever. The universe is vast and formidable. No human action can pose a threat to it. It is unique and consists of many mysteries that the limited human mind cannot fathom.
The Library is so huge that any reduction by human hands must be infinitesimal. Each book is unique and irreplaceable…
The nature of the universe is such that “if an eternal traveler should journey in any direction, he would find after untold centuries that the same volumes are repeated in the same order.”
When it was announced that the Library contained all books, the first reaction was unbounded joy. All men felt themselves possessors of an intact and secret treasure. There was no personal problem, no world problem, whose eloquent solution did not exist…there was much talk of The Vindications (books of apology and prophecies) that would vindicate for all time the actions of every person in the universe. Thousands of greedy individuals rushed downstairs, upstairs, spurred by the vain desire to find their Vindication. These pilgrims squabbled in the narrow corridors, muttered dark imprecations, strangled one another on the divine staircases, threw deceiving volumes, were themselves hurled to their deaths. Others went insane.
For ages, Man has searched for the truth of life without success, and Borges describes the struggle wonderfully.
It was argued, there must exist a book that is the cipher and perfect compendium of all the books, and some librarian must have examined that book; this librarian is analogous to a god. Many have gone in search of Him. For a hundred years, men beat every possible path, and every path in vain.
Borges compares human frailty with the eternity of the universe and shows the permanent nature of the existence of the universe.
Epidemics, heretical discords, and pilgrimages that inevitably degenerate into brigandage have decimated the population. I mentioned the suicides, which are more and more frequent every year. I suspect that the human species teeters at the verge of extinction, yet that the Library – enlightened, solitary, infinite, perfectly unmoving, armed with precious volumes, pointless, incorruptible, and secret – will endure.
And finally, he shows how death ends all for humans.
When I am dead, compassionate hands will throw me over the railing; my tomb will be the unfathomable air, my body will sink for ages, and will decay and dissolve in the wind engendered by my fall.
Having said all, for the question Borges asks, “You who read me – are you certain you understand my language?” my answer is NO. 🙂
A word must be said about this Penguin edition. It consists of ten short stories by Jorge Luis Borges, including The Library of Babel. Some of them appear in his Ficciones. This review is only of The Library of Babel. The rest will be reviewed as part of Ficciones when I read that.
Rating: 4/5
