The Library of Babel by Jorge Luis Borges

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7 жыл бұрын

The Library of Babel by Jorge Luis Borges Translated by Anthony Kerrigan Narrated by Joseph Voelbel. Fictions: Jorge Luis Borges Jupiter Books. Educational use.
"The universe, which others call the library, is composed of an indefinite perhaps infinite number of hexagonal galleries, with enormous ventilation shafts in the middle, encircled by very low railings." - Borges
This short story is my most popular narration to date. It is fabulous for many reasons, least of which is my narration of it. I’ve been told I read too quickly, and the tenor was supposed to be that of an aged and dying man. Alas, a ghastly oversight. None-the-less the story holds up in its pursuit of eternity.
This is perhaps the main trope of this short, The Tower of Babel, was once built to try and reach the heavens, in a time when everyone spoke the same language. Borges lifts this trope and supplants it with a Library, “which others call the universe.”
The narrator roams the endless circles of knowledge, and alleges that it contains everything, and is somehow limitless.
Blog post on AgedQuill.com: agedquill.com/2020/08/29/the-...
Digital Facsimile of Library: www.libraryofbabel.info/
VSauce Breakdown of Website: • Messages For The Future
Simpler breakdown: • The Library of Babel
If you enjoy this type of work consider subscribing: / @josephvoelbel

Пікірлер: 132

@bizzaaach 4 жыл бұрын

Proposed sequel: The Audio Library of Babel. It'd be about an audio library containing the audiobooks of all of the books in the Library of Babel.

@JosephVoelbel 4 жыл бұрын

Spiral.

@delmiroschmidt2999 3 жыл бұрын

Omg.

@B58-Minecraft 3 жыл бұрын

Proposed sequel: The Visual Library of Babel. It's a library with books containing images from the combinations of letters and words in every single book in the Library of Babel.

@kingsempire4270 5 жыл бұрын

This feels like an SCP reading

@mrpumperknuckles1631 5 жыл бұрын

King's Empire this is a story existing before SCP ever existed...

@ApollyonZKX 4 жыл бұрын

Crazy how there could be a Hexagon full of SCP stories.

@The_Caledonian 3 жыл бұрын

more of an insult than a compliment/observatory statement

@sentientglitch 3 жыл бұрын

@@mrpumperknuckles1631 Oh no shit

@jimbooskiman8249 3 жыл бұрын

There is a SCP that is a library. The books inside the library are people's lives and it is constantly writing them and once a book closes that marks that person's death.

@alexkaschock6820 3 жыл бұрын

Many, many thanks. I have, in the span of three days, listened no less than ten times. Having not yet read it for myself, I was curious as to the tempo you chose... With no previous knowledge of the story I knew i would need a second listen for details I was missing, and wasted no time in an immediate second go. Obviously not put off by your reading or i would have just found the text and read it my own self. And I found more details of course, but as of yet have refrained from a personal reading due to my appreciation of your voice, and what I suspect were your choices in cadence. I am inspired. Borges, yes.... but your reading and collected urgency beg for choreography. But of nothing prescribed. Let's not be ridiculous. Filmed but bleeding onto a stage.... I will continue to listen and refrain from setting my eyes to the words. I feel somehow this brings me deeper into the hexagon.... Call me a tetrahedonist, but I'd submit to the echo of a whispered shush from such a librarian.

@JosephVoelbel 3 жыл бұрын

Alex! Of course, my pleasure. I just read it how I read it. On some stories, I may have found the pulse, on others, I missed it. Surely, there is some version where I missed everyone, however unprobabalistically, and yet, on other versions (possibly such as this version), where a type of chord has been struck. Your "tetrahedonist" comment is affable; obviously I appreciate the ears of such an attentive listener. With that said the words themselves read by a reader with their own peak intuition - and not the whim of my own misreadings -, may bring them closer to the story itself. But also, to hear is a different feeling than to read. In the spirit of sound, I've endeavored to render these words honorably, with both courage and clarity, and may have been close on a few occasions.

@JosephVoelbel 3 жыл бұрын

Also, critiques have come in (on one account) of the voice not meeting the narrators. As told to me the narrator is in the end of their life: reminiscient, nostalgic, a titche remorseful. My reading is a bold march through this fall season, and worthy of critique for that cadence. However, I stand by it, I've read most of the authors work and trusted the way I felt about what I read. Good note on your part. Clearly a literary scholar. I do encourage you to read the text in its own fidelity if you ever wish.

@alexkaschock6820 3 жыл бұрын

@@JosephVoelbel Thank you or your reply. I've had a travelsome few days and am just now returning to the library. And in regards to the critique taking of taking license with the general tone of the narrator, it brings to mind a quote I've loved over half of my life now; "I can’t stand to sing the same song the same way two nights in succession, let alone two years or ten years. If you can, then it ain’t music, it’s close-order drill or exercise or yodeling or something, not music." Billie Holiday

@JosephVoelbel 3 жыл бұрын

That's just marvelous.

@zeyface6366 2 жыл бұрын

I've listened to this story multiple times. Something about it just speaks to me. I don't know why, I love it

@JosephVoelbel 2 жыл бұрын

It's a high-water mark indeed. Glad you enjoy it!

@BoWeava Жыл бұрын

❤️.....🖍👌🤓

@briankimble7827 4 жыл бұрын

Everything you say or can say or will say has already been said.

@joemarz2264 4 жыл бұрын

...written.

@JosephVoelbel 4 жыл бұрын

Who said that?

@jwilson544 3 жыл бұрын

Shit, I was gonna say that!

@stevearmstrong7023 3 жыл бұрын

Unless I say “Juliet, don’t Jump!”

@davidkonevky7372 3 жыл бұрын

If heaven exists, I want the library of babel to be one of the locations inside of it

@JosephVoelbel 3 жыл бұрын

Hear hear!

@JohnSmith-fs8bu 2 жыл бұрын

Ironically the library sounds like hell

@chessplayer6632 3 ай бұрын

In fact, I believe there is actually a work called “A Short Stay in Hell” about the Library of Babel, not too familiar with it though

@BobbyCharlz 3 жыл бұрын

Completely arresting! Thank you for re-introducing me to this author and for making me aware of such a great work. Excellent reading, I may add.

@JosephVoelbel 3 жыл бұрын

Most welcome. Very glad to hear you enjoyed the work of Borges, and my narration as well.

@coldasice7x Жыл бұрын

Thank you for reading this and making it available to us.

@JosephVoelbel Жыл бұрын

You’re welcome.

@wick2005 4 жыл бұрын

Absolutely fascinating

@JosephVoelbel 4 жыл бұрын

Clearly.

@creaturesamongcreatures 5 жыл бұрын

I love your readings!

@JosephVoelbel 4 жыл бұрын

Thank you.

@ThomasSaliou 5 жыл бұрын

Needed this for an essay Thanks! Definitely more practice needed though keep it up!

@JosephVoelbel 4 жыл бұрын

Certainly.

@LittleOrla 6 жыл бұрын

Excellent reading . Thank you.

@JosephVoelbel 4 жыл бұрын

No problem.

@obligatoryplaceholdername7747 3 жыл бұрын

I enjoyed this very much thank you

@JosephVoelbel 3 жыл бұрын

Most welcome Ryan. Appreciate you subscribing, it really helps! - J

@giant3dorangutanmodel89 2 жыл бұрын

Terrifyingly beautiful

@invernessfan3017 2 жыл бұрын

Good story. Enjoyed it. Thanks.

@JosephVoelbel 2 жыл бұрын

Most welcome!

@casbox9156 3 жыл бұрын

I really enjoyed this

@JosephVoelbel 3 жыл бұрын

So glad!

@Luigi051 3 жыл бұрын

The Library of Babel is weirdsterious. Weird+mysterious

@JosephVoelbel 3 жыл бұрын

Nice portmanteau!

@Pentapus1024 5 жыл бұрын

Narration needs practice but I'm just pleased that SOME of Borges work is audioized on the internet. Whys it so hard to find his stuff in audiobook format online?!

@marcaskew61 4 жыл бұрын

It’s not that hard to find Borges on audio book, only on KZfaq : Selected Fictions is available from Penguin audiobooks, though it’s an abridged version of the Penguin/Random House book edition of Borges’ complete works. Borges fiction is sophisticated and requires concentration, so maybe that’s why it doesn’t find its way onto KZfaq editions, if you get my point...

@JosephVoelbel 4 жыл бұрын

I did the whole book.

@mrpumperknuckles1631 5 жыл бұрын

The library of Babel could be referenced to many things. 1.after life 2. The legendary library of alexandria 3. The library of Atlantis. 4. Etc. There is a lot of different references . 5. Some say could be reference to the Vatican archives...

@Rubenxx322 5 жыл бұрын

I believe the Library of Babel is a reference to the infinite size of the Universe. Thanks for the reading Joseph.

@TwsWithSai247 5 жыл бұрын

Mr PumperKnuckles i think its about some kind of dystopia where the smart people made world a giant library

@jaydenmcdonald4558 5 жыл бұрын

@Charles the story was published in 1941

@seansmith5468 4 жыл бұрын

The Akash

@sebastianGunnarson71 4 жыл бұрын

Mr PumperKnuckles I thought it was a metaphor for the entire universe

@the20thDoctor 7 жыл бұрын

The Black Iron Prison never ended. (This guy, along with PKD, really got IT) ((Read VALIS by PKD))

@JosephVoelbel 3 жыл бұрын

Thanks for dialing in. PKD is an interesting felllow. Really enjoyed 'Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep'.

@conordrake2986 4 жыл бұрын

Amazing reading, it encapsulated the tone of the story perfectly. A couple flubbed words here and there, a bit of editing would fix that. But otherwise it was wonderful :)

@JosephVoelbel 4 жыл бұрын

Always room for improvment!

@daddyb60 2 жыл бұрын

Agreed. Hard to ignore the mispronunciations but the narrator has the perfect timbre for reading Borges.

@Rubenxx322 5 жыл бұрын

Really enjoyed the reading, any info on who did the drawing

@JosephVoelbel 4 жыл бұрын

Glad you liked it! The 'Library of Babel' drawing was by Erik Desmazieres.

@marcnadeau2367 4 жыл бұрын

Seems like it would be impossible to find anything without knowing exactly what to search for before hand. Seems the odds of the randomizer making actual words is very low. It be cool if there was a way to randomize based on actual words in the English language, it would still likely be a mess but there’d be a much higher chance of the output being coherent. Has anyone ever heard of William s. Burroughs cut-up method? He developed it with that guy Brion Gysin (Canadian guy who made the Dream Machine). It’s cool too cause you could take a text already written and jumble it, then go through and edit the mess into interesting sentences that possibly reveal hidden meanings inside the text by breaking up the linear flow of the words. It’s still really random but easier to decipher, I think the problem with this Babel thing is that it jumbles all possibly combos of letters. It would potentially work better if it was limited to using words found in the dictionary.

@JosephVoelbel 4 жыл бұрын

Interesting thoughts. 26! is certainly less probable than only English words!

@veeg3959 4 жыл бұрын

22 Hebrew, such greatness, yeah it was destroyed? is there something we're not being told?

@thegardenmuse2398 3 жыл бұрын

It's a real place, I saw it

@JosephVoelbel 3 жыл бұрын

Awesome!

@noxvok4832 2 жыл бұрын

I mean but really these guys could just write their own damn books. Like, you'd become so popular in this setting by making something for all these sad librarians something to read and enjoy in a way that's meaningful.

@JosephVoelbel 2 жыл бұрын

They have the time.

@trentonmclean6573 2 жыл бұрын

It is the back rooms

@BoWeava 10 ай бұрын

*T.A.R.D.I.S.?!* Is that You!?!

@JosephVoelbel 7 ай бұрын

Who is that?

@yoobeepbeep8010 3 жыл бұрын

What if 7 billion people in the world browse the books in the library of babel, 10 books per person. We might find the answer for everything

@JosephVoelbel 3 жыл бұрын

Great notion! Dream big and reality catches up :)

@ThatsNotEnglish 3 жыл бұрын

that would only be a tiny drop in the bucket i'm afraid, and there is no way of knowing if what is written is nonsense (if it is even coherent in the first place).

@JohnSmith-fs8bu 2 жыл бұрын

If every human being browsed 10 books that would be around 25^7 books. There are 25^1,312,000 books in the library. Assuming it takes everyone 1 day to go through 1 book, it would take around 5,135 years to completely study the library.

@justinbaley5938 3 жыл бұрын

This proves that our lives have been written by mathematics

@JosephVoelbel 3 жыл бұрын

Wonderful notion!

@carjockey2135 3 жыл бұрын

didn't you have music playing in the background?

@JosephVoelbel 3 жыл бұрын

I think your thinking of The Babylonian Lottery, which does have music in the background.

@carjockey2135 3 жыл бұрын

@@JosephVoelbel thank you for the reply, I tried to find it but I guess its been taken down. I appreciate the reply and I did enjoy your reading

@Balanced69 7 жыл бұрын

@alexbristow2485 2 жыл бұрын

If my math is correct there would be 36.9 million copies of every book that varies by a single letter in the entire book, I.E destroy all the books you want there are near infinite replacements for said book

@dojawdwajdowa Жыл бұрын

If you expand the concept into Factory / engineering, you could produce a bomb by accident and blow the place up. Im high btw

@onuscronus984 5 жыл бұрын

The Libary of Babal is the past future.

@JosephVoelbel 4 жыл бұрын

Nice term.

@LuigiCotocea 4 жыл бұрын

Library of babel reminds me of backrooms, like in the backrooms you cant exit the library since the library is infinite :/

@JosephVoelbel 4 жыл бұрын

Interesting and poetic sentiment. Thanks for commenting. Please do consider subscribing too!

@sosotik 3 жыл бұрын

@@JosephVoelbel do you know what the back rooms are?

@ianbowden2524 5 жыл бұрын

This is a website really right.

@fabiosilva9637 5 жыл бұрын

Harlock Aznable actually there is a website inspired by this short story, libraryofbabel.info/

@JosephVoelbel 4 жыл бұрын

Originally a story, presupposed.

@AY-gg4ef 3 жыл бұрын

6:25

@JosephVoelbel 3 жыл бұрын

Gr8 spot. Ancient argot.

@benthomason3307 2 жыл бұрын

I wonder what sort of god would create a universe like this (for, a the narrator points out, a universe like this could _only_ exist as a direct creation of some sort of deity.)

@JosephVoelbel 2 жыл бұрын

A poet, perhaps

@timmy18135 2 жыл бұрын

8:40

@JosephVoelbel 2 жыл бұрын

summative

@icedcoffee8561 3 жыл бұрын

the library of babel is a nice idea, infinite monkeys on keyboards and all, but it brakes thermodynamics.... psychohistory is superior. but the occult meaning of this story is lost on me

@JosephVoelbel 3 жыл бұрын

I guess... but Borges didn't really pose "infinite monkey typing shakespeare", (in my understanding) but was rather an abstract idea that everything was already written. That infinite possibilities weren't "capture-able" but that a book had been written that they were. What is psychohistory? Sounds interesting.

@icedcoffee8561 3 жыл бұрын

@@JosephVoelbel lol one of the best scifi books ever, Issac Asimov's foundation and empire 1952, it's available on archives and audio books.... I've recently realized that it possibly is the future and maybe something like blockchain could make it possible.... but basically psychology will never be a science, but sociology is, so you could effect future events using sociology... far out man

@JosephVoelbel 3 жыл бұрын

Wow, far out indeed. Thanks for the follow up and listening!