Book Review: Christian Bok's Eunoia
Univocalic Wordplay From 2002 Griffin Poetry Prize Winner
Dec 29, 2008
“Eunoia” – meaning “beautiful thinking” - is the shortest word in the English Language to contain all five vowels, and is an apt name for Christian Bok’s dazzlingly clever new book. Readers in Canada may well already be familiar with the book, which was a surprise bestseller and won the 2002 Griffin Poetry Prize. Eunoia has now been published for the first time in the UK, where it looks set to achieve similar success.
Each Chapter Uses Just One Vowel
So what is so special about this slim, unassuming tome? The book took seven years to write and proved a real labour of love for the author, because each chapter is univocalic – every one of the five sections uses just one vowel. As if that weren’t enough of a challenge, Bok set himself further stipulations in the production of his work: each chapter had to contain a voyage, a banquet and an orgy, and must allude to the art of writing. In addition, Bok has tried to avoid repetition, and by doing so has used around 98% of the words available to him.
Each Letter Has a Different Personality
Undoubtedly all very clever, but as well as being fascinating to anyone with an interest in words, the book is a surprisingly good read. Bok has given each vowel its own personality: “A” is courtly, “I” is egotistical and romantic; “O” is rude and jokey; “E” is elegaic and epic, and “U” is obscene, and he is remarkably successful at conveying this idea in each chapter. Thus we hear the story of “Helen, the new-wed empress… restless, she deserts her fleece bed where, detested, her wedded regent sleeps” (Chapter E), of Ubu, who “struts … snuffs up drugs… hugs Ruth” and does plenty more things unmentionable here (Chapter U), and of the first person narrator who finds “thinking within strict limits is stifling” (Chapter I).
Oiseau
The new UK edition is beautifully produced, using specially commissioned typography, and includes alongside Eunoia a collection of short pieces entitled Oiseau – the shortest word in French to contain all five vowels. Interested readers will be able to track down many more examples of words containing all the vowels: “eunoia” may be the shortest, but the English Language can also offer a number of seven letter words, including “sequoia” and “eulogia”, and the shortest word containing all the vowels in alphabetical order is “aerious”, meaning “airy”.
Eunoia by Christian Bok is published in the UK by Canongate (2008), 105 pages, ISBN 978-1-84767-239-1.
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