The Library of Babel: Difference between revisions
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** Bonus points for Patchouli, since she's not just the librarian, but also the author of an unspecified proportion of the books in her library, and probably the overwhelming majority of the magic books in the library, given the esoteric rules for wizardry in the ''Touhou'' 'verse. |
** Bonus points for Patchouli, since she's not just the librarian, but also the author of an unspecified proportion of the books in her library, and probably the overwhelming majority of the magic books in the library, given the esoteric rules for wizardry in the ''Touhou'' 'verse. |
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** It is also worth noting, just to get a sense of its dimensions, that in the stage you fight in the Voile Library, it is possible for you have a roughly five-minute-long aerial battle over the bookshelves traveling in one direction without ever reaching the end. |
** It is also worth noting, just to get a sense of its dimensions, that in the stage you fight in the Voile Library, it is possible for you have a roughly five-minute-long aerial battle over the bookshelves traveling in one direction without ever reaching the end. |
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*** Fanon has run away with the notion of Voile as a repository for nearly every book every written. Case in point: the doujin anime ''Musou Kakyou: A Summer Day's Dream'' goes as far as to depict the library with a volume of ''[http://rainbowsphere.oniichannoecchi.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/snapshot20090108231943.jpg Wikipedia]{{Dead link}} |
*** Fanon has run away with the notion of Voile as a repository for nearly every book every written. Case in point: the doujin anime ''Musou Kakyou: A Summer Day's Dream'' goes as far as to depict the library with a volume of ''[http://rainbowsphere.oniichannoecchi.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/01/snapshot20090108231943.jpg Wikipedia]''{{Dead link}} in stock. |
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** Canonically, it's size is unspecified but large, it mostly has grimoires, many written by Patchouli, and there's a handful of random books from the outside world. Considering that grimoires are illegible to anyone that can't use them, the library is completely useless to the vast majority of characters. |
** Canonically, it's size is unspecified but large, it mostly has grimoires, many written by Patchouli, and there's a handful of random books from the outside world. Considering that grimoires are illegible to anyone that can't use them, the library is completely useless to the vast majority of characters. |
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* The Dark People from ''[[The Longest Journey]]'' seek to obtain every book ever written, which they store in their library, located on a moving island whose location is a secret for but a few. |
* The Dark People from ''[[The Longest Journey]]'' seek to obtain every book ever written, which they store in their library, located on a moving island whose location is a secret for but a few. |
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== Real Life == |
== Real Life == |
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* The Internet itself could probably be the closest thing to a Real Life example,even the part about most of it being nonsense or forbidden knowledge is there with the networks and web databases that can't be accessed normally. |
* The Internet itself could probably be the closest thing to a Real Life example, even the part about most of it being nonsense or forbidden knowledge is there with the networks and web databases that can't be accessed normally. |
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** Sites like Amazon and Google Books allow users to look inside select pages of millions upon millions of books, which could be thought of as a sort of immense library. |
** Sites like Amazon and Google Books allow users to look inside select pages of millions upon millions of books, which could be thought of as a sort of immense library. |
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* Pretty much all of the developed nations have national libraries: tremendous collections of books, articles, magazines, and other printed/recorded material. The libraries of large research universities also contain vast collections, often including priceless historical artifacts. |
* Pretty much all of the developed nations have national libraries: tremendous collections of books, articles, magazines, and other printed/recorded material. The libraries of large research universities also contain vast collections, often including priceless historical artifacts. |
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** Since the Library of Congress is used to store publications for the U.S. Copyright office, virtually every work copyrighted in the U.S. is sent there, with just under half being added to the permanent collection. That amounts to an additional 10,000 items ''per day.'' |
** Since the Library of Congress is used to store publications for the U.S. Copyright office, virtually every work copyrighted in the U.S. is sent there, with just under half being added to the permanent collection. That amounts to an additional 10,000 items ''per day.'' |
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* While nowhere near as well known as the library of Alexandria, the House of Wisdom, located in ancient Baghdad, was for its time the largest repository of knowledge in the world and actually held a great number of |
* While nowhere near as well known as the library of Alexandria, the House of Wisdom, located in ancient Baghdad, was for its time the largest repository of knowledge in the world and actually held a great number of Greek and Roman translated pieces that may have originated from Alexandria. Unfortunately, it too was destroyed, in their case when the Mongols sacked the city. |
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** It was said that when the Mongols sacked Baghdad, the Tigris River ran black with ink from the scrolls they dumped in it. |
** It was said that when the Mongols sacked Baghdad, the Tigris River ran black with ink from the scrolls they dumped in it. |
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* Einstein spoke of a "vast library, stacked from floor to ceiling with books in many different languages, arranged in an order we do not understand, but can dimly suspect". He called it the world. |
* Einstein spoke of a "vast library, stacked from floor to ceiling with books in many different languages, arranged in an order we do not understand, but can dimly suspect". He called it the world. |
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{{reflist}} |
{{reflist}} |
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[[Category:Settings]] |
[[Category:Settings]] |
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[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]] |
[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]] |
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[[Category:Bookish Tropes]] |
[[Category:Bookish Tropes]] |
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