Ongoing impressions on the Library of Babel
Right now it is Sunday night and after hours of football it's about time to settle down and read some Library of Babel. I did not know exactly what to expect out of this piece, and I was surprised to see that it consisted of just an image and some text. I was a little disappointed by this realization, but it made sense that our first assignment would not stray far from traditional literature. Other than the linked footnotes that take you directly to the notes and the fact that the user is reading the text from a computer, the text does not utilize technology in a way that makes the use of technology indispensable. But enough about the small stuff.
Right from the get-go The Library of Babel flat out says "The universe (which others call the Library)." To me that screams out "THE LIBRARY IS A METAPHOR FOR THE UNIVERSE!!!" so I treated everything that follows as such. As I read on, there seems to be a growing distinction between science and religion. For one, the title of the piece is called "Library of Babel." The word "library" relates to science while the word "babel" refers to the tower of babel which originates from the bible. The speaker likes to think of this library as infinite even if the evidence disputes it. The speaker talks about mystics claiming that "The Library is a sphere whose exact center is any one of its hexagons and whose circumference is inaccessible. " The line "whose circumference is inaccessible" popped out to me (maybe because I'm an engineering major and math terms strangely catch my interest). The circumference of a circle (2 times pi times the radius) is inaccessible due to the fact that pi's digits go on infinitely with no repeating series of numbers. The fact that one could calculate the digits of pi for an infinite amount of time and still never come to that last digit reaffirms this notion of infinity. It also ties in two seemingly unrelated topics: science and religion. Personally, I cannot simply state that the existence of pi is evidence of the existence of God, but thinking about it makes me wonder. Anyway, back to the library!
After reading the axioms, it became clear to me that the speaker wants to get the idea that language, in the form of books and "25 characters", made man able to communicate, evolve, and create order. But also for every coherent sentence, there seems to be a sentence of incoherence. The second axiom was a little hard for me to understand so if anyone wants to discuss what they thought it meant please do so.
After the axioms the speaker seemed to be retelling certain times in human history but under the metaphor that the universe is a library, of course. "In the vast Library there are no two identical books." This simple statement states a lot. Just repeat that in your head for a little. In my head, multitudes of ideas pop up. Thoughts like "No matter what or who you look at, he/she/it is unique in some sort of way," or "The universe is made up of primarily the same material, but everything in it is built uniquely." Lines that can make someone sit and think for half an hour before continuing to read, to me, are what makes a literary piece interesting. So anyway, back to the literature! It was really interesting to see how man's search for the answers to life can be retold as a metaphor for "inquisitors" trying to reach the intangible.
I have just finished reading The Library of Babel at this point and I just now realize the connection with the Tower of Babel (took me long enough, eh?). The librarians seem to be reaching for the intangible, but due to the differences in language it couldn't be done. The bible story had God punishing those trying to reach Him by creating the different languages so they could not communicate properly to finish building the tower to God. The speaker, however, does not see the intangibility of finding the "one book" depressing. The speaker in fact still hopes that the library is still infinite and that "if an eternal traveler were to cross it in any direction, after centuries he would see that the same volumes were repeated in the same disorder." The speaker, and maybe even I, am gladdened by this.
Wow, so I really liked this work and I will definitely be giving it another read or two. I am completely aware that I could have misinterpreted a lot of the meaning in this work and I am open to comments, criticisms (be gentle please :) ), or anything else anyone wants to add. The good/bad thing about this blogging business is that it allows ANYONE to see what I'm writing. This encourages me not to half-ass whatever it is I'm working on, but it also gives me great anxiety about what others are thinking about my thoughts. I am deathly afraid that I will be seen as ignorant, especially on the internet. But then again, I'm pretty sure that my post is a little bit more intelligent than any youtube video comment. Thanks for reading and expect my exciting thoughts on "my body."
-Jonny Allen
Right from the get-go The Library of Babel flat out says "The universe (which others call the Library)." To me that screams out "THE LIBRARY IS A METAPHOR FOR THE UNIVERSE!!!" so I treated everything that follows as such. As I read on, there seems to be a growing distinction between science and religion. For one, the title of the piece is called "Library of Babel." The word "library" relates to science while the word "babel" refers to the tower of babel which originates from the bible. The speaker likes to think of this library as infinite even if the evidence disputes it. The speaker talks about mystics claiming that "The Library is a sphere whose exact center is any one of its hexagons and whose circumference is inaccessible. " The line "whose circumference is inaccessible" popped out to me (maybe because I'm an engineering major and math terms strangely catch my interest). The circumference of a circle (2 times pi times the radius) is inaccessible due to the fact that pi's digits go on infinitely with no repeating series of numbers. The fact that one could calculate the digits of pi for an infinite amount of time and still never come to that last digit reaffirms this notion of infinity. It also ties in two seemingly unrelated topics: science and religion. Personally, I cannot simply state that the existence of pi is evidence of the existence of God, but thinking about it makes me wonder. Anyway, back to the library!
After reading the axioms, it became clear to me that the speaker wants to get the idea that language, in the form of books and "25 characters", made man able to communicate, evolve, and create order. But also for every coherent sentence, there seems to be a sentence of incoherence. The second axiom was a little hard for me to understand so if anyone wants to discuss what they thought it meant please do so.
After the axioms the speaker seemed to be retelling certain times in human history but under the metaphor that the universe is a library, of course. "In the vast Library there are no two identical books." This simple statement states a lot. Just repeat that in your head for a little. In my head, multitudes of ideas pop up. Thoughts like "No matter what or who you look at, he/she/it is unique in some sort of way," or "The universe is made up of primarily the same material, but everything in it is built uniquely." Lines that can make someone sit and think for half an hour before continuing to read, to me, are what makes a literary piece interesting. So anyway, back to the literature! It was really interesting to see how man's search for the answers to life can be retold as a metaphor for "inquisitors" trying to reach the intangible.
I have just finished reading The Library of Babel at this point and I just now realize the connection with the Tower of Babel (took me long enough, eh?). The librarians seem to be reaching for the intangible, but due to the differences in language it couldn't be done. The bible story had God punishing those trying to reach Him by creating the different languages so they could not communicate properly to finish building the tower to God. The speaker, however, does not see the intangibility of finding the "one book" depressing. The speaker in fact still hopes that the library is still infinite and that "if an eternal traveler were to cross it in any direction, after centuries he would see that the same volumes were repeated in the same disorder." The speaker, and maybe even I, am gladdened by this.
Wow, so I really liked this work and I will definitely be giving it another read or two. I am completely aware that I could have misinterpreted a lot of the meaning in this work and I am open to comments, criticisms (be gentle please :) ), or anything else anyone wants to add. The good/bad thing about this blogging business is that it allows ANYONE to see what I'm writing. This encourages me not to half-ass whatever it is I'm working on, but it also gives me great anxiety about what others are thinking about my thoughts. I am deathly afraid that I will be seen as ignorant, especially on the internet. But then again, I'm pretty sure that my post is a little bit more intelligent than any youtube video comment. Thanks for reading and expect my exciting thoughts on "my body."
-Jonny Allen
posted by Jonny at
11:44 PM
1 Comments:
My very thoughts were also on the Tower of Babel and the Library of Babel sort of being linked. Glad you also think so, or at least see somewhat of a relation.
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