Traveller’s Comments (group member since Jan 14, 2015)

Traveller’s comments from the On Paths Unknown group.

Has anybody gone to see
Mr. Holmes yet? Looks like something worthwhile catching?

Matt wrote: "PS click here and search for my previous comment...
https://libraryofbabel.info/book.cgi?......"

Oh boy... and the mind-games are beginning....
On second thoughts, I can easily see why the denizens of the library might have gone stir-crazy! :D

Paul Martin wrote: "I have yet to be disappointed with a Nobel price winner, except maybe Gabriel García Márquez.

The only "problem" with it is that it's usually not given to celebrate a certain novel, but rather th..."

Very true, Paul! With the Nobel, it's the person who gets the prize (not one specific work), and of course, like with some of the other prizes, outstanding achievement/contributions in literature is only one of the areas for which laureates can be honored - one can be honored for your efforts in promoting peace, science and medicine as well.
So, I guess they look at a person's life contributions at large in their specific field.

PS, so don't you enjoy GGM?

Thanks, Kathy, indeed, I suppose at the very least, prizes like these helps one filter out the better literature out there, although not everyone always agrees with the judges' decision, of course, and I guess many good books go undetected under the radar with prizes like these.

Still, it's some sort of pointer which seems worthwhile investigating. :)

Hi Kathy, welcome! I hope you'll enjoy our group. :)

A few cases in point about how much Borges's LOB has fascinated people:

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015...

Another article about the same "library" : http://flavorwire.com/515783/brooklyn...

..and on this page you can view some interesting graphical depictions of the Library. http://www.johncoulthart.com/feuillet...

Btw, according to the second article I pointed to in this post, Borges cribbed the idea of the LOB off a story by this guy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurd_La...

Annelies wrote: "Hi all,
Until today I was a complete Borges virgin. My reading is primarily focussed on English and western European literature (Dutch/German/French). Because I recently moved to Belfast and tomorr..."

What an excellent, thought-provoking set of comments, some of which I'd like to comment on, but let me first mention that I feel very happy that Borges made a positive impression on you, Annelies! (Btw, I do hope you enjoy your new home!)

Annelies wrote: "Literary criticism/reviews: "This much is already known: for every sensible line of straightforward statement, there are leagues of senseless cacophonies, verbal jumbles and incoherences. (I know of an uncouth region whose librarians repudiate the vain and superstitious custom of finding a meaning in books and equate it with that of finding a meaning in dreams or in the chaotic lines of one's palm ..." (5th paragraph) Does language lose it's purity if we try to read too much into it? For me it is one of the pleasures of language that different readings give different meanings, but sometimes one might get carried away when close-reading."

Ah, yes, I see what you and Borges are saying there. Close reading, New Criticism, and especially, Reader-response criticism (being the school of thought that posits that it's not important what the intention of the author of a text was, but rather, it's important what the text means to the reader), is being criticized/scoffed at by Borges.

While I personally have New Historicist leanings and the author's intent is important to me, I can see how the text in itself and what the text means to the reader can all have value - I don't see why they should be mutually exclusive.

How do our other members feel about these approaches? Is the historical context of a text important? ...or should we ignore those and look at a text in isolation? Are all the things we read into a text important even if the author did not consciously put them there?
...and isn't using texts as inspiration exactly what many people have done with this very text of Borges here under discussion? This story alone has inspired an amazing amount of "spin-offs" and discussion and nods in other forms of art.

Just by the way, I've read/listened to interviews with author China Mieville, and he seems to be of the latter belief - he seems to feel that if others read into his books things that he didn't realize he put there, well, that's also cool. :)

Still working on the pulmonary disease puzzle, Annelies.

Annelies wrote: "The suicide makes sense, an infinitely repetitive world would easily drive people mad...."

Yeah, I don't think really the permutations so much as that a lot of it sadly appears to be nonsense - also, the sheer volume of the info - some meaningful, some meaningless, might drive them dilly; and this aspect points to the (sorry Derek) postmodern flavor of the story; or at least, we can apply it to our postmodern information age society where the individual is flooded with constant information coming in form all sides on various platforms, and one needs to filter the info and screen some of it out or one would be overwhelmed. (Spam, anyone?)

Thanks Ruth and Michele. Must grab it!

Ruth wrote: "You really do want to read that book, Traveller. I had to read it twice, once before and once after seeing the film. .."

I do! But I didn't know there was a film of it! Is it in English?

Cecily wrote: "If on a Winter's Night was my first Calvino, so I can't compare it with any of his others. It's hard to describe, and would be impossible to discuss without big spoilers. It's a strange book that d..."

I'd love to discuss it. We should campaign for people to join us for it! I wonder if I can convince people like my friend Dolores...

Cecily wrote: "Cecily wrote: "Count me as another who wants to try Calvino. I think I have a copy of If on a Winter's Night a Traveler, but could get something else if needs be"

I read it, and was ..."

I'd really like to try Calvino. (Ok, I have read and liked The Path to the Spiders' Nests, but apparently that's not really typical Calvino.)

I admit that I didn't feel very wowed by Invisible Cities, though I probably didn't give it a proper chance.

Do you think If on a W. Night might be a more engaging proposition, Cecily? have you tried Invisible Cities yet? Very dry...

I suppose we should start thinking about what to read next. I wonder if anyone would be interested in reading material for my "prizewinning" project, https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/... which is still a work in progress because I am so short on time currently...

In any case, since I have already reserved a post for the MAN Booker prizewinners, members are welcome to comment on it either here or there. (Ha, I did that on purpose! XD)

Andy wrote: "I was reminded how much I enjoyed
Miss Smilla's Feeling for Snow."

Ah, I have had that book for the longest time, but have STILL not read it. And I've been wanting to...

Also, this thread reminds me: I know someone put The Three-Body Problem on our list of books that we had supposedly read, but we have not discussed it yet. Maybe it should be included in a poll of what we should discuss soon?

Yeah, The Name of the Rose is not really confuzzelatory, but it helps if you like history. :P

Also less confuzzelatory, are his books History of Beauty - On Ugliness.

Matt wrote: "
Very interesting. I like Gödel, and if this story is true, and he r..."

Enjoy, Matt! Glad you found an alternate link for the thesis. :)

Cecily wrote: "As for Eco... gah: this is the third, separate instance just TODAY, where I've been pointed to him by friends on GR. I don't even like mysteries, and am not a big read of historical fiction either, but will surely have to submit - eventually.
."

Pity you didn't join us for our discussion of Foucault's Pendulum. It might just have driven you nuts! :O
He's good fun if you like semiotics, though. :) Or aesthetics theory.

Ha, are we playing good coplibrarian, bad librarian now, Cecily? <_<
Works for me. Happy to oblige, I've not been a stranger to stirring the pot! XD

Those of you who enjoy maths, logic puzzles and/or the American constitution, might enjoy GÖDEL’S LOOPHOLE

..and on a slightly different note, in the intro to the book mentioned above, Bloch makes a special little dedication to Umberto Eco, author of The Name of the Rose, which is a book which also revolves, in some respects, around a library.

In addition, Eco himself has a ginormous personal library


of apparently as many as 30 000 books.

Two interesting pieces about Eco, libraries, books and knowledge:
http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandsty...

and
http://www.brainpickings.org/2015/03/...

Matt wrote: "Cecily wrote: "Yet somehow, even those without detailed mathematical understanding can imagine it and be captivated by it. How does JLB manage that, or am I deluding myself with my own relative ign..."

You really need to get hold of , Matt. I have a feeling you'll enjoy it. If you search for it online, you might still be able to bags a free copy somewhere.

Ruth wrote: "Uh, I was a math major and consider myself half way decent in understanding such matters, but I felt totally lost. I think lack of plot or characters (there were characters?) didn't help."

Cecily wrote: " this is a very simple story; it certainly doesn't have much in the way of plot or characterisation. Yet somehow, even those without detailed mathematical understanding can imagine it and be captivated by it. How does JLB manage that, or am I deluding myself with my own relative ignorance? ..."

Yeah, it's not really a 'story' insomuch as rather a description of a scenario (à la Miéville!).

I have a suspicion that those who require strong plot and characterization, might not take to Borges too well, generally speaking.

But he does give things that are a nice change, such as things to think about and to play with! He gives scenarios that come across as so timeless and universal, that they seem able to be applied to a spectrum of real-world analogies.