Jorge Luis Borges quiz

More questions about Jorge Luis Borges

These visible examples show the question style. LearnClash turns the full topic into ranked duels and spaced repetition.

1. 1 Easy

   What shape are the rooms of the Library of Babel?

   Answer: Hexagons

   Why: Each six-sided room opens through its floor and ceiling onto the rooms above and below, so the library stacks floor upon floor.

2. 2 Medium

   What kind of word do Tlön's southern languages lack?

   Answer: Nouns

   Why: Instead of the noun moon they use a verb, roughly to moon, with one-syllable add-ons that work like adverbs.

3. 3 Hard

   Who does Argos turn out to be in The Immortal?

   Answer: Homer

   Why: Rufus had named him Argos after the faithful dog of Odysseus, a character from Homer's own Odyssey.

4. 4 Easy

   What fills almost every book in the Library of Babel?

   Answer: Gibberish

   Why: Each book has 410 pages built from just 25 symbols: 22 letters, the comma, the period and the space.

5. 5 Medium

   What accident gives Ireneo Funes his perfect memory?

   Answer: Fall from a horse

   Why: Funes even gives each number its own made-up name, which the narrator points out is the opposite of a real counting system.

6. 6 Hard

   Which Old English poem is quoted on Borges's gravestone?

   Answer: The Battle of Maldon

   Why: That poem recounts a real battle fought in 991 at Maldon in Essex, where Viking raiders defeated the English defenders.