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I read an op-ed piece in the local newspaper which made mention of this tale, and the description in the article made me curious...

See if you think it was justified:

"The Library of Babel" (http://www.analitica.com/bitblioteca/jjborges/library_babel.asp)

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Borges is considered one of the founders of the Magic Realism movement. And because the elements of the fantastic are a little stronger in his work than that of the other magic realists, the sci fi world doggedly claims him as one of their own. He's regarded as a celebrity by a diverse community.

I found this a difficult read, not because it was hard to understand (e.g. García Márquez) but because it didn't pique my interest.

I can't think of an alphabet offhand that has 22 letters, and that sort of thing is my specialty. The most conservative rendering of Spanish gives 24.

I can't conceive of Portuguese and Yiddish being confused for each other by anyone who knows enough to comtemplate the question. Like, completely different alphabets?

This kind of stuff drives me crazy. I just don't get it.

That story is strikingly beautiful, and it's funny that that story is in the library somewhere if you can travel long enough to find it.
And what I just wrote is in there too.
And what I just, just wrote.

I can't think of an alphabet offhand that has 22 letters, and that sort of thing is my specialty.

Biblical Hebrew has 22 letters.
http://biblescripture.net/Hebrew.html

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Thanks for pointing that out. I thought the author was just adding some surreal twist to the plot element of humanity's mad obsession with this library.

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Thanks for pointing that out. I thought the author was just adding some surreal twist to the plot element of humanity's mad obsession with this library.

Maybe that, too. :p