Thursday, October 30, 2008

Eunoia

Eunoia, which means 'beautiful thinking', is the shortest word in the English language to contain all five vowels. Christian Bök's book also contains them all, but never in the same chapter. Each of the five is univocalic, using only one vowel.

I am dumbstruck by his eunoiac audacity and craft:
Westerners revere the Greek legends. Versemen retell the represented events, the resplendent scenes, where, hellbent, the Greek freemen seek revenge whenever Helen, the new-wed empress, weeps. Restless, she deserts her fleece bed where, detested, her wedded regent sleeps. When she remembers Greece, her seceded demesne, she feels wretched, left here, bereft, her needs never met. She needs rest; nevertheless, her demented fevers render her sleepless (her sleeplessness enfeebles her). She needs help; nevertheless her stressed nerves render her cheerless (her cheerlessness enfetters her).

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Nick you should take a look at Gadsby http://www.spinelessbooks.com/gadsby/
An entire novel without the letter E
The Profit Burglar

Nick Browne said...

But E's are good, E's are good. (He's Ebeneezer Goode.)