The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows
Author: John Koenig
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
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Cover Description
A truly original book in every sense of the word, The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows poetically defines emotions that we all feel but don’t have the words to express, until now—from the creator of the popular online project of the same name.
Have you ever wondered about the lives of each person you pass on the street, realizing that everyone is the main character in their own story, each living a life as vivid and complex as your own? That feeling has a name: “sonder.” Or maybe you’ve watched a thunderstorm roll in and felt a primal hunger for disaster, hoping it would shake up your life. That’s called “lachesism.” Or you were looking through old photos and felt a pang of nostalgia for a time you’ve never actually experienced. That’s “anemoia.”
If you’ve never heard of these terms before, that’s because they didn’t exist until John Koenig began his epic quest to fill the gaps in the language of emotion. Born as a website in 2009, The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows has garnered widespread critical acclaim, inspired TED talks, album titles, cocktails, and even tattoos. The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows “creates beautiful new words that we need but do not yet have,” says John Green, bestselling author of The Fault in Our Stars.
By turns poignant, funny, and mind-bending, the definitions include whimsical etymologies drawn from languages around the world, interspersed with otherworldly collages and lyrical essays that explore forgotten corners of the human condition—from “astrophe,” the longing to explore beyond the planet Earth, to “zenosyne,” the sense that time keeps getting faster.
The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is for anyone who enjoys a shift in perspective, pondering the ineffable feelings that make up our lives, which have far more in common than we think. With a gorgeous package and beautifully illustrated throughout, this is the perfect gift for creatives, word nerds, and people everywhere.
TL;DR Review
The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows is a delightful, super-creative little book. I especially loved the etymology and linguistics included with each definition!
For you if: You love words.
Full Review
First, thank you to Simon & Schuster for sending me a review copy of this book. It was so totally right up my alley as a lover of words — not just of reading, but of language itself.
The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows grew out of John Koenig’s >10-year-old Tumblr blog and YouTube channel, where he creates words to describe feelings and emotions that are unnamed but common and connective. Each definition includes not only the word and its meaning, but also the etymology and/or linguistics behind how and why he arrived at that word, plus pronunciation. Some of the definitions also have longer passages in the style of his YouTube videos, more like contemplations than dictionary entries.
I read a handful of pages of this book a day, which is definitely the best way to experience it. You don’t want to fly through; you want each definition to have time to strike something inside you. And they absolutely do. I love the mission of this little dictionary to give us a shared vocabulary for what connects us as humans. Koenig has a real talent for this work, and the book is beautiful, occasionally funny, and truthful. And the nerdy, word-lover part of me loved the etymology, too.
This would make a great unique gift for the word-lover in your life, or even a white elephant gift. It would also be a worthy purchase for your coffee table, or just to flip through when the mood strikes.