Brevity and Paradox

All of the short works that were assigned for the next course maintained the characteristic of not exceeding more than 10 pages. They also possessed the characteristic of at one point or another focusing on some point, event, or person that has no relevance or connection to the original topic at all. In “Mr. Palomar in His Garden” by Italo Calvino, it was the deviation from nature to the concept of language and communication, whereas in Jorge Louis Borges’ “The Garden of Forking Paths” the irrelevance was the invention of an ancestor, and in “Pierre Menard” again by Borges’ the abandonment took form in the listing of former work of Menard. This disregard for the possession of a common theme tends to lead the reader off track and confuse them, which should not be the intent of any author.