Eunoia
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Review
'Christian Bok's dazzling word games are the literary sensation of the year.' The Times
Product Description
'Eunoia', which means 'beautiful thinking', is the shortest word in the English language to contain all five vowels. This book also contains them all, but never at the same time. Each of Eunoia's five chapters is univocalic: that is, each chapter uses only one vowel. A triumphant feat, seven years in the making, this uncanny work of avant-garde literature is one of the most surprising and awe-inspiring books of the year. A challenging feat of composition and technical skill, Bok has worked this into a series of compelling narratives and rhythms.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 24 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Christian Bok is certainly a genius. There is simply no doubting his incredible patience and skill in putting together a technically, structurally sound piece of poetic prose.
But good grief! Was this ever a difficult book to read! Initially anyway. And then you get used to the sheer brilliance of the man and you feel compelled to read it all the way through because perversely (or maybe that's just me) you want to see for yourself that he really has done it. He really has created a poetic piece of art.
Yes there is a story and yes there are mirthful moments but really, at the end of it, you are really just shell-shocked with the literature.
Each chapter is a dedication (for want of a better word) to a specific vowel (in alphabetical order of course) and within that chapter, every single word used has the vowel in it. Yes. Every Single Word. There are slightly more random thoughts towards the end but only after all the vowels have been done.
It took Mr. Bok seven years to complete it. I am surprised it only took him seven years...
However, I feel that emotion was sacrificed for the sake of technical structure and whilst I enjoyed reading it - for the art and engineering of the language - it probably isn't going to be one of those "must read again" books.
I would definitely recommend a first read - or at least a look - at this technical marvel. But please do not expect to find anything close to metaphysical emotion or mythical metaphor.
It does not touch your soul but it certainly makes you smile!
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
This is a quirky book - a good present for anyone with an interest in Language, because each chapter concentrates on using one vowel only. It's quite some achievement to find words which hang together, all containing only the letter A, for example. It's also extraordinary how each vowel gives its own flavour and character to a word, some being geared up for action and others for more lyrical prose. It's also a very pleasingly presented book, something that book lovers would enjoy receiving. (A must for teachers wanting to show something interesting to A Level Language and Literature students!)
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Eunoia is an amazing book - it is, to my mind, a book of poems in that the beauty of language is the focus more than the story.
The first five chapters are each dedicated to a vowel (in alphabetical order), and each chapter only contains words containing that voewl and no other. What is more, the author has constrained the stories in other ways and used the majority of all words that he could use in the writing.
After these five chapters there are other random experiments in language, such as the poem written only with the letters in the word "vowels".
I am very glad I read this book. It was an amazing feat of language that took the author 7 years to write (and the only surprise was that he could complete it at all). On the downside it is not an easy read! The constraints of the book make the language hard going. There were words there I had to look up (and I generally don't have that problem).
The mixture of words that in other works would be clearly pretentious with occasional gutter language also felt odd. Particularly in the "u" chapter, I was both impressed and dissapointed that the writer could describe sexual intercourse using just words with the "u" vowel - but imaginations will not run far as to which words he used. That rather sullied the beauty of the book in my opinion.
Hard going it might be, but this was not a long book and it was very much worth the read. Anyone who loves language cannot help but be impressed by what is achieved here.
The first five chapters are each dedicated to a vowel (in alphabetical order), and each chapter only contains words containing that voewl and no other. What is more, the author has constrained the stories in other ways and used the majority of all words that he could use in the writing.
After these five chapters there are other random experiments in language, such as the poem written only with the letters in the word "vowels".
I am very glad I read this book. It was an amazing feat of language that took the author 7 years to write (and the only surprise was that he could complete it at all). On the downside it is not an easy read! The constraints of the book make the language hard going. There were words there I had to look up (and I generally don't have that problem).
The mixture of words that in other works would be clearly pretentious with occasional gutter language also felt odd. Particularly in the "u" chapter, I was both impressed and dissapointed that the writer could describe sexual intercourse using just words with the "u" vowel - but imaginations will not run far as to which words he used. That rather sullied the beauty of the book in my opinion.
Hard going it might be, but this was not a long book and it was very much worth the read. Anyone who loves language cannot help but be impressed by what is achieved here.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Manna
It's been done before (just google lipogram) but it's always worth rediscovering, and even within his self-imposed restriction Bok mines treasure on every page, viz from the 1st... Read more
Published 1 month ago by Simon G. Barrett
A Fabulous gift to anyone with a flare for the unique!
I bought this gift for my step dad, thinking it might be something, y'know he looked at said "oh thanks" and put it on his book shelf, maybe to get out once or twice! .. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Ms. Katie S. Ryan
Worth it.
At first, I found this book really hard to get into, purely due to the structure making it harder to read and absorb overall, meaning that I had to go back over early paragraphs a... Read more
Published 22 months ago by lissymay.
Delighted
Eunoia by Christian Bok
Accurate, clear description.
Good packaging.
Prompt delivery. Thanks.
Accurate, clear description.
Good packaging.
Prompt delivery. Thanks.
Published on 28 Dec 2009 by Mrs. V. Sturgess
Impressive
An impressive book that took years for Bok to complete, Eunoia uses only 1 vowel in each of the 5 chapters. Read more
Published on 13 Sep 2009 by Rubbah
Interesting idea
Love the idea of this - hard going to actually read it, but certainly fascinating.
Published on 9 Feb 2009 by A. Rowlands
Christmas Present
Euonia :Purchased as a present for a reader who I felt would appreciate the rather special nature of the book. Arrived promptly and was well recieved. Read more
Published on 3 Feb 2009 by Antresor
Bök's Book
Words, words, words - lots of words to wow, or shock, folk from Profs to Goths. Words from bottommost to zoomorph. Toronto-born Bök's book works!
Published on 1 Feb 2009 by Austenfan
An amazing feat - but it needs a content warning
I bought this book for my elderly Mum after hearing about it on the morning radio. She is fascinated with language and when she isn't reading a book she is always doing crosswords... Read more
Published on 1 Feb 2009 by David P
So clean you can see yourself!
I moved toward the rubbish & filth of burroughs’ naked lunch because I knew I could never be so clean as Christian’s Crystallography … that book of ice that... Read more
Published on 14 Dec 2005 by Ken Fox
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