Hypertext:The Garden of Forking Paths

The Garden of Forking Paths, by JL Borges, can be read in a regular text format at http://courses.essex.ac.uk/lt/lt204/forking_paths.htm, but the same story as been turned into a hypertext document at http://www.geocities.com/papanagnou/cover.htm and there, it takes on a new modern look and approach that goes along with the very definition of "hypertext". The prefix hyper means an overcoming of the normal and old linear contraints that written text has been stuck too since ancient times. To read the hypertext document, the reader must click on words/links that take them to another part of the story and hypertext itself is known as text on a computer that will lead users to other areas that contain related information. The use of the hypertext or hyperlinks in The garden of Forking paths is ironic because depending on which word you decide to click, it could take you down a path to a different part of the story. Once a reader realizes that the hypertext must be utilized to read the story and each of its sections, it becomes a very natural way to read through a story online and is almost easier than scrolling through a whole traditional text document online, where a reader can tend to get overwhelmed and continueously lose their place.