Elisabeth Jeremko

I enjoyed “The Approach to Al-Mu’Tasim” from start to finish, but what I thought really enriched the story was the nod to Attar in the footnote at the end of the story. It is quite amazing how Borges could whiz through such a seemingly complex story and long journey for the main character, still managing to make a coherent and rather descriptive piece. Borges mentions much detail, such as rungs being missing on an iron ladder, but does not detail the trials and tribulations all along the way. The reader receives a small glimpse or almost summary of this hugely significant series of events for the law student. I wonder what the significance of the student being a law student would be. If he is a law student, one would think him to adhere to universal moral codes, understand the nature of criminals, and not want to find the woman of the caste of thieves. So, the student being a law student, is an interesting pick that Borges made. I loved the footnote about the “conference of the birds” because when I researched the work written long ago on the internet, I found the story really beautiful. So for Borges to use that as an inspiration and understanding how its message could tie to the story –that is, God being diffuse or as a total entity, not set apart from the universe, nature, or humanity -- I found the story to be much more telling and moving.

Michael Lampasona

This story was one of my favorites so far by Borges. The story is about a book which first appeared in 1932. The book is about a nameless protagonist who is searching for Al-Mu'tasim. Al-Mu'tasim is not clearly defined in the text, and it is left up to the reader to decide who this is, and who the main character is.

In the book, the main character is in the middle of a Muslim and Hindu conflict. He kills someone and does not know who, or which side they were on. He then proceeds to search for Al-Mu'tasim, and finally is successful. This is where the story abruptly ends.

I liked this story, and found Borges analysis interesting. Personally, I think that the protaganist was just an average man who was without faith. Throughout the story, regardless of what religion it was, he found Al-Mu'tasim, and this was the correct ending to his path in life. I believe the story was sending the message that faith has importance, and it is not necessary to say which religion the unnamed protagonist found.

Julie Morvitz

I found the Al-Mu’tasim story a bit strange. The story told of another story, which involved a law student trying to find Al-Mu’tasim. It seemed like a lot of disconnecting things were happening, and many events in the story didn’t relate to each other. The story ended with the readers not knowing what happens once the student finds Al-Mu’tasim.
I think the Pierre Menard story was written in a boring style. It was about how Pierre Menard’s version of Don Quixote was better than the original version by Miguel de Cervantes. It gave certain reasons to why Menard’s version was better, including its new technique. I just think the way the story was written was boring, and it could have been more interesting if it had been written a different way.

Carly Cooper

The first story was intersting but again I feel like I dont really understand the way Jorge Luis Borges writes fiction. I would expect his "stories" to be stories however they are usually analyzing some other story. However the story that he was talking about seemed really interesting and I think I would have enjoyed reading the book about the runaway law student and all his findings and plitical beleifes. since these writing are fictional my question is, do the stories he refers to (the 1932 version and the 1934 edition of this novel) actually exist or does he make them up for his writtings?
Pierre Menard, author of the Quixote is about Menard whote wrote a better version of someone else story it is intersting becuse while the story is written better than the origional I don'd know weather it is fair that he took someone elses story instead of writing his own. Jorge Luis Borges also wrote this fictional peice in a way that was somewhat boring and hard to understand again making me wonder why he writes in this way.

Robert Stevens

This story reminded me very much of Zampano in House of Leaves. Borges mounts a critical review of a story that does not exist, much like Zampano did regarding the Navidson Record. The story being analyzed is about a law student who becomes an outcast among the poor and destitute after killing a man in a riot. After seeing the good in these people, he comes to the belief that a mysterious (if not divine) man or being – Al-Mu’tasim – has impacted their lives in a positive way, so he sets out to find this mysterious person. As he searches, he is told by different people wildly different descriptions of Al-Mu’tasim. Eventually the law student catches up with Al-Mu’tasim, but the story ends just as he walks through the curtain into the room where he is. This is kind of an anticlimactic ending that leaves a lot open to speculation. When I read that part, I started to wonder if this story influenced the writers of the Sopranos for the final episode, as the endings were very similar.