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Wed, Aug 24 2011 17:39:25

The Bookshop of Babel

The staff celebrate the birthday of one of the best writers the world's ever seen.

  1. WstonesOxfordSt
    For Jorge Luis Borges's birthday we've relaid the shop into an infinite series of connected hexagonal rooms that contains all possible books
    WstonesOxfordSt
    Wed, Aug 24 2011 07:13:57
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  2. WstonesOxfordSt
    It looks beautiful but it's proving to be very hard to find anything as there's no apparent order to the shelves.
    WstonesOxfordSt
    Wed, Aug 24 2011 07:15:16
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  3. WstonesOxfordSt
    'Excuse me,' customers say, 'do you have anything by Kafka?' We explain that we have everything by Kafka, we just don't know where.
    WstonesOxfordSt
    Wed, Aug 24 2011 07:16:15
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  4. WstonesOxfordSt
    A few staff members went to search for a stock catalogue that says where everything is. I haven't seen or heard anything from them for hours
    WstonesOxfordSt
    Wed, Aug 24 2011 07:18:28
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  5. WstonesOxfordSt
    This new layout may not be the most commercial idea we've ever had. We'll see how it goes.
    WstonesOxfordSt
    Wed, Aug 24 2011 07:19:29
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  6. WstonesOxfordSt
    I'm going to go looking for my missing colleagues. I'm not sure if the shop wi-fi is similarly infinite, I'll update when I can.
    WstonesOxfordSt
    Wed, Aug 24 2011 07:29:47
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  7. Two hours pass..
  8. WstonesOxfordSt
    I have been walking through the shop for two hours. I am quite lost. This is the first wi-fi point I've found since I started.
    WstonesOxfordSt
    Wed, Aug 24 2011 09:55:50
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  9. WstonesOxfordSt
    Some of the books I've stumbled upon are amazing. A Lonely Planet Guide to Tlon, a bizarre and barely complete copy of Menard's Quixote.
    WstonesOxfordSt
    Wed, Aug 24 2011 09:58:05
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  10. WstonesOxfordSt
    I found one that seemed to be an infinite labyrinth of symbols. A breathtaking work but sadly, no store catalogue to make sense of the shop.
    WstonesOxfordSt
    Wed, Aug 24 2011 09:59:20
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  11. WstonesOxfordSt
    But almost all of the books are nonsense. Letters and punctuation in no recognisable order. They'll have to be returned to the publishers.
    WstonesOxfordSt
    Wed, Aug 24 2011 10:00:25
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  12. WstonesOxfordSt
    I ran into my colleagues half an hour or so ago. They've been driven mad by the depth of the shop, burning huge piles of useless books.
    WstonesOxfordSt
    Wed, Aug 24 2011 10:02:26
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  13. WstonesOxfordSt
    I made an effort to stop them but they chased me away with flaming torches. I'll continue my search for the store catalogue alone.
    WstonesOxfordSt
    Wed, Aug 24 2011 10:03:36
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  14. WstonesOxfordSt
    I am about to leave this wi-fi zone. I will tweet when I'm able.
    WstonesOxfordSt
    Wed, Aug 24 2011 10:05:21
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  15. Three hours later..
  16. WstonesOxfordSt
    I'm exhausted. My idea of time destroyed. I don't know how long I've been amongst this endless array of shelves.
    WstonesOxfordSt
    Wed, Aug 24 2011 13:25:07
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  17. WstonesOxfordSt
    An hour ago I somehow found the catalogue. At first it didn't seem as big as I expected then I realised that, like the shop, it was endless.
    WstonesOxfordSt
    Wed, Aug 24 2011 13:26:37
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  18. WstonesOxfordSt
    The text was double-columned and listed the location of our stock but once I had turned a page I discovered I couldn't find that page again.
    WstonesOxfordSt
    Wed, Aug 24 2011 13:27:51
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  19. WstonesOxfordSt
    The numbers at the bottom of each page were confusing and out of order. The pages were infinitely thin. The catalogue was useless.
    WstonesOxfordSt
    Wed, Aug 24 2011 13:29:04
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  20. WstonesOxfordSt
    I kept the catalogue with me and went to find any colleagues of mine that were left. I followed the smell of smoke.
    WstonesOxfordSt
    Wed, Aug 24 2011 13:30:21
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  21. WstonesOxfordSt
    On the way I tried to phone the Head Office Problems With Time and Space help line but nobody answered.
    WstonesOxfordSt
    Wed, Aug 24 2011 13:31:33
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  22. WstonesOxfordSt
    I found my friends, showed them the catalogue. They fell at my feet and called me the 'Man of the Book. Insanity had grasped them entirely.
    WstonesOxfordSt
    Wed, Aug 24 2011 13:33:40
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  23. WstonesOxfordSt
    And then, without my realising what was happening, one of them grabbed the catalogue and hurled it into the fire.
    WstonesOxfordSt
    Wed, Aug 24 2011 13:34:50
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  24. WstonesOxfordSt
    As it landed in the flames I thought a single question. How long can an infinite book burn for?
    WstonesOxfordSt
    Wed, Aug 24 2011 13:35:38
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  25. WstonesOxfordSt
    The fire grew immediately, spreading to the shelves, adding anything it could to its ranks. I ran.
    WstonesOxfordSt
    Wed, Aug 24 2011 13:36:36
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