Garden of Forking Paths

The Garden of Forking Paths by Jorge Luis Borges
Buenos Aires 1941
This story is important to New Media because it introduces the idea of parallel universes, which is the precursor to hypertext.

Hopscotch by Julio Cortazar
Argentina 1963
Hopscotch is considered the first "hypertext" in that it allows the readers to decide in what order they would like to read his book.

I absolutely loved Borges' story of the Garden of Forking Paths. His writing is beautiful and intricate, and although the idea of the "forking paths" didn't come into the story until near the end, I enjoyed the entire piece. I've always thought about what an interesting concept it is that there may be an infinite universes in which each decision we make opens up new possible worlds with different outcomes. The Internet seems to be a great example of this ever-expanding universe as it continues to grow larger with every person who logs on, and every word I type.