The Library of Babel (Masterplots II: Short Story Series, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Jorge Luis Borges
- First Published: 1942
- Type of Plot: Fantasy
- Time of Work: Unspecified
- Setting: An imaginary library
- Principal Characters: The narrator
- Genres: Short fiction, Fantasy
- Subjects: Superstition, Books, Libraries or librarians, Imagination
The Story
The setting of “The Library of Babel” is not only the story's most important characteristic, it is, in a way, everything. Much of the narrative consists of descriptions of an imaginary library that is so large that no one has seen the top, bottom, or end of it. It is so old that the recorded history of its librarians stretches back for many centuries and still one cannot account for the library itself or for its architects. It houses so many books that the most accepted explanation for its collection is that it contains all possible books; that is, it contains...
[The entire page is 1297 words long]
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