"Welcome back," Jon said to the students. Despite having just come off holiday, he looked more tired than anything. The board read, The Eye: Fear of being watched, having secrets exposed. The drive to know, even if it destroys you.

"In Borges' story, the titular book is infinite, and can thus be inferred to hold all knowledge, all stories, everything known to man. It engenders in its owner the intense desire to understand it, and the fear of it being stolen. Fortunately, the narrator is able to let go of it, although..." Jon stopped, sighed, and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Look, I really hope this goes without saying, but should you ever find a cursed book, please don't put it in a library somewhere! Destroy it if you can, although at least the narrator has a reasonable fear of how to do that in this case, and if you can't, encase it in cement and drop it in the sea or a volcano or...or a deep hole, or something, so you don't simply pass on the curse!"

He stopped and took a deep breath. "So, a book that has everything in it, but you can never find the same page twice. Possibly cursed to make you need to understand it, or possibly just in the hands of an insatiably curious man. How does this reflect the Eye, how does it make you feel, and do you think the protagonist has actually escaped at the end?"


After their discussion, he wrote the next assignment on the board. "For next week, please read Swift's "A Modest Proposal".