[Marginalia] Evergreen: Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges

Hello, bookworms and litbugs!

We will begin discussing Ficciones by Jorge Luis Borges on Tuesday, September 15th. Find the full schedule here.

Until then, here's a spot for everyone to hang out in the margins of these discussions.

What is a marginalia post for, exactly?

Marginalia refers to anything you might populate the margins of a book: observations, connections, rants, scribbles, questions, comments, glosses (annotations), critiques, doodles, complaints, illuminations, or links to related material that isn’t discussion-worthy (wouldn’t want to leave the read runners empty-handed). Anything you think is worth noticing in the moment lest the plot sweep you forward and you lose track of these thoughts. As such, this is likely to contain spoilers from other users reading further ahead in the novel. Therefore, we prefer that it is hidden by spoiler tags and paired with a general location if relevant. Something like this:

Ch. 3 ending - >!Can’t believe Jimothy ate the Sacred Lettuce of Destiny. Of course his pet rabbit was going to get envious and attempt to steal his identity in return. Let’s see if Jimothy redeems himself in the next chapter, what an absolute sharkfart.!<

Why marginalia when we have discussions?

• Everyone can post freely here, so it’s a convenient go-to place for questions around editions or to check on how everyone is finding the writing style, for example.
• Sometimes it’s nice to just make small observations that aren’t deep analyses.
• It helps track patterns and character arcs in more precise ways, especially if the plot advances fast.
• They are great to read back on after you have progressed further into the novel.
• Not everyone reads at the same pace and it’s nice to have somewhere to jot things down so you don't forget by the time the discussions come around.

You can also make comments about your book copy, edition, library hold, or anything else hovering at the edges of your reading experience.

Note: Spoilers from other books should always be under spoiler tags unless explicitly stated otherwise.

As always, any questions or constructive criticism is welcome and encouraged. The post will be flaired and linked in the schedule so you can find it easily, even later in the read. Have at it people!