Reading
It is quite strange how we develop different styles of reading. You can read fast, slow, word by word, or all at once. You can read and analyze, or just let the words flow right out of your brain. From young on we learn our own specific style of reading. True, it may change as we grow up and dive into more subjects and different forms of writing, but our general style is somehow embedded in us...or at least this was the recent thought that came to me while reading, "The Library of Babel." From the beginning of the story, I read it with the intent of analyzing the words and making connections to other topics. This intent was amplified when I read, "The universe (which others call the Library)..." Of course! The universe is represented by the Library, and therefore the hexagonal galleries must be different dimensions, or planets, or places in the universe, and so, the different books that are uniquely their own and all made up of the same elements must be human beings, and that must mean the Man of the Book must be God, or Jesus...and I realized I was completely wrong and read what I wanted to see or hear (I mean it's both right?). I realized just how accustomed I am to reading literature in books, and how basic my mind really is. I didn't think to believe that the Library could be a real place, that a place could have all the books and could tell your past, present, and future...or maybe I didn't want to. It's unnerving to think all the information of the universe could be in some place where, if anyone found it, they'd have all the knowledge equivalent of God. But in reality, the Internet is becoming the Library. With so much information from all around the world, who knows what it'll know in the future. Who knows what we'll know in the future. Maybe we'll become like the librarians-in continuous search for answers and meaning...or maybe we'll wither away before that happens, if we're only lucky.
