OLE KAUERT Reviews
Eunoia by Christian Bök
(Coach House Books, 2001 /
2005)
You do not need a lot, to reach a lot
The world, the
nature, love, family, friends and life; you can think beautiful about those
words. You can think beautiful about almost everything that exists in the world
or that you can imagine. It is up to you and up to the reader if s/he likes to
see things positive and beautiful. Is it not beautiful to live on a planet that
has seven continents with over 200 countries, where it is possible to
make new friends from all over the world and to have the opportunity to live
the life you want to live? The Canadian author Christian Bök published
five years ago one of the most famous experimental books called Eunoia,
which is the shortest word in English containing all five main vowel graphemes.
It comes from the Greek and stands for "well mind" or "beautiful
thinking". Actually the project behind Eunoia is simple. Each of
the five main prose poems is restricted to one and only one of the five vowels
of the English language. Chapter A for an example is describing a man called
Hassan and his interests in culture and travelling; Bök is just using the vowel
A in his words ("Hassan asks that a vassal grant a man what manna a man
wants: …"). Chapter I is especially hard to read because I is the
most important vowel because it is the first person and it might be confusing
for the reader. Although it might be a little confusing, it is still possible
to get the sense of that chapter. Chapter I deals with the protagonist I and it
tells about the activities of I ("Writing is inhibiting. Sighing, I sit,
scribbling in ink this pidgin script. ..."). This chapter starts as if it
is metafictional watching at and judging itself from the beginning, downplayed
this massive undertaking.
Those concepts of the parameters were made because of a group, called Oulipo, that is quite famous for using constrained techniques in poems or other literature. Members of Oulip are the French puzzler Georges Perec and Italo Calvino from Italy. Reading Euonia feels on the one hand that the poet could narrate these stories and poems forever, even with such rigid restraints. Besides that, it is very impressive for its innate sense of rhythm and genuine delight with playing with words.
Those concepts of the parameters were made because of a group, called Oulipo, that is quite famous for using constrained techniques in poems or other literature. Members of Oulip are the French puzzler Georges Perec and Italo Calvino from Italy. Reading Euonia feels on the one hand that the poet could narrate these stories and poems forever, even with such rigid restraints. Besides that, it is very impressive for its innate sense of rhythm and genuine delight with playing with words.
*****
Ole Kauert is a
student at Indian Springs School and an exchange student from Germany.
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