- Paperback: 112 pages
- Publisher: Coach House Books; 1 edition (Oct 16 2001)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1552450929
- ISBN-13: 978-1552450925
- Product Dimensions: 20.4 x 12.9 x 1 cm
- Shipping Weight: 172 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #197,976 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
Christian Bök embarks on an ambitious exercise in Eunoia, an avant-garde work in which each chapter uses only one vowel, creating a text that fluctuates between poetry and prose. To make things more difficult, Bök constrained himself further: all chapters must allude to the art of writing, and they must describe a culinary banquet, a bawdy episode, a pastoral tableau, and a nautical voyage. This aesthetic style pays tribute to French writer Georges Perec, whose novel A Void was written (and then translated) without the letter "e."
Ultimately, Eunoia--the shortest word in the English language to contain all five vowels, it literally means "beautiful thinking"--is a taxing reading experience rife with repetition, although the author's vocabulary is nothing short of extraordinary. Chapter "E" comes across the smoothest: "Whenever Helen enters Hell's deepest recesses, she sees Hell's meekest dwellers. She meets the repenters, never redeemed." "U" is entertaining: "Ubu fluffs Lulu's tutu. Ubu cups Lulu's dugs; Ubu rubs Lulu's buns; thus Lulu must pull Ubu's pud." Despite the feeling of constraint that permeates the work, there are episodes of perfectly manicured and musical prose sprinkled with endearing onomatopoeia. At the end, the author explains that the text makes a "Sisyphean spectacle of its labour, wilfully crippling its language in order to show that, even under such improbable conditions of duress, language can still express an uncanny, if not sublime, thought." His assertion is true: Bök's technique draws the reader's attention away from the narrative to the form and then back again, conveying real ideas with a mathematical beauty of language. --Leah Eichler
From Publishers Weekly
"Writing is inhibiting. Sighing, I sit, scribbling in ink this pidgin script. I sing with nihilistic witticism, disciplining signs with trifling gimmicks impish hijinks which highlight stick sigils. Isn't it glib? Isn't it chic?" Besides being glib and chic, Bok's new book strikes one with the force of being the most incredible literary curio: each of its chapters is allowed to use only one vowel outgunning even Georges Perec's famed La Disparition, which simply omits the letter "e." Apparently seven years in the making, Eunoia, the shortest word in the English language to employ all the vowels (it means "beautiful thinking"), also employs other, more mundane constraints on paragraph length (all are 12 lines long) and what must be mentioned (the act of writing, nautical travel, energetic eating). This hyper-mechanization of the writer's craft sets the stage for a welter of eccentric, yet universally appealing, tours-de-force, such as Chapter E's retelling of the Illiad from the viewpoint of Helen: "Whenever Helen seeks these perverse excesses, her regretted deeds depress her; hence, Helen beseeches Ceres (the blessed Demeter): `let sweet Lethe bless me, lest these recent events be rememberd' then the empress feeds herself fermented hempseed, her preferred nepenthe." In the "u" chapter, "Dutch smut churns up blushful succubus lusts," and Ubu and Lulu burp, hump and bump for five delirious pages, exhausting, in the meantime, the entire range of English words that only contain the vowel. Eunoia's reductorial neurosis as euphonically zestful contrivance turns formidable stunts to imp's play. That is, this terrific book makes sense on its own terms. (Nov.)Forecast: Bok's debut Crystallography was well reviewed in Canada (Bok lives and works in Toronto, whence Coach House publishes), and he has invented languages for two Gene Roddenberry TV series, Earth: Final Conflict and Amazon. This book will have to be sought out, but it is beautifully produced, and browsers will be hooked.
Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Just what I expected,
By
This review is from: Eunoia (Hardcover)
I had heard publisher and reviewer comments. The content is prose, but I think of it more as poetry. I plan to try reading it aloud - I believe it will sound great.
5.0 out of 5 stars
An instant favorite,
By Andrew Parker (Toronto, Canada) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Eunoia (Paperback)
I was prompted to buy a copy of Eunoia after hearing Christian Bok reading excerpts on the radio. I devoured the book in one sitting, turning each page with greater anticipation, relishing each example of verbal ingenuity. To me, that's what Eunoia is essentially about - sheer brilliance. This book is the result of a titanic cerebral initiative and it comes off flawlessly. I've lent this book to dozens of people, and to be honest, not everyone has appreciated it in the same way I have. Some people have read the first page and handed it back saying "I don't get it" or "it makes my head hurt". Clearly, this book is not for everyone. If you have a passion for language you will love this book. If you like word-play, you will love this book. If you appreciate "cleverness" you will love this book. I smiled the whole way through it out of sheer amazement and disbelief. By far the best thing I've read this year, and something that I will continue to revisit over the years to come.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant and very funny,
By
This review is from: Eunoia (Paperback)
Christian Bok's Eunoia is not only brilliant, but it's very funny and reads quickly. I just wanted to add to the previous review that Eunoia recently won the Griffin Poetry Prize. It's been a best-seller in Canada for awhile. More on the Griffin prize can be found [on the web]it's the most prestigious Canadian award for poetry. If you like other OULIPO authors, Dr. Seuss & othre funny crazy stuff (tho not for the kids), sound poetry, innovative poetry, etc. you'll like this book. Check out other things Coach House has to offer, too. They're a smallish press but they publish amazing stuff. Also if you like Eunoia you should try Christian's other book, Crystallography. It's more visually oriented than Eunoia but just as enjoyable.
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