# Unexpected Moments of Intertextuality, or Synchronicity for Books **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 9, 2019, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-moments-of-intertextuality-or-synchronicity-for-books/829221 "2019-02-09T10:04:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bibliothecarius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b2d939/32.png) [@Bibliothecarius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bibliothecarius)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2019, 10:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-moments-of-intertextuality-or-synchronicity-for-books/829221/1 "2019-02-09T10:04:01Z")
So I began reading Jorge Luis Borges’ _Labyrinths_ a few weeks ago but took a break in the middle of it as I felt like a change. After my usual careful deliberation of what to read next, I felt drawn to Richard Kieckhefer’s _Magic in the Middle Ages_. So I read it. And what do I find on the very last page? The very last footnote makes a random reference to Borges’ _Labyrinths_! 😃 So now I feel I need to finish _Labyrinths_ before I start another book. Clearly the gods of the library are trying to tell me something! It also occurred to me just how intertextual my library actually is. So many of the books refer to each other, either directly or thematically. Many of these instances are intentional because I decided to research something so deliberately picked books because they included that topic or referenced a particular book I already had. But sometimes it’s completely random! I feel like my books are literally having that Great Conversation amongst themselves. 🙂 Ever get weird moments like this? ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2019, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-moments-of-intertextuality-or-synchronicity-for-books/829221/2 "2019-02-09T10:48:24Z")
Labyrinths is my favorite book — no kidding! A favorite uncle gave me this assortment of Borges short stories and essays when I was a teen, and I still treasure it. Many of the selections are also in the compendium Fictions, but I believe with a different translator. Be sure to check out the Library of Babel website, a 90s-era internet random-text generator (I’m pretty sure it’s still around). As for the OP’s question…nothing is coming to mind at the moment, but yesterday I had a similar feeling when I heard e e cummings reading from one of his prose-poem lectures…in a Volvo television commercial! I was familiar with the recording from cassettes I’d enjoyed back in college, circa 1990, yet recognized it immediately, in such a different context. ---
**Author:** ![Bibliothecarius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b2d939/32.png) [@Bibliothecarius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bibliothecarius)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2019, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-moments-of-intertextuality-or-synchronicity-for-books/829221/3 "2019-02-11T10:30:46Z")
So I finish the rest of _Labyrinths_ and go to select the next book to read. I feel drawn to Harry Mulisch’s _The Procedure_, grab it from its resident bookcase and settle in to begin reading. What do I find on page 20? “Only those who live here know the way through the labyrinth of twisting alleys, courtyards, and passageways.” :eek: Beginning to think I will spend this reading year inadvertently engulfed in an unexpected labyrinth of interrelated literature. Perhaps a good year to re-read _The Name of the Rose_? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2019, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/unexpected-moments-of-intertextuality-or-synchronicity-for-books/829221/4 "2019-02-11T19:03:59Z")
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