The Unknown Unknown

This one came in the mail today and it set me back on my heels a bit: I bought it on the strength of Mark Forsyth's other work and didn't pay a whole lot of attention to the physical details, so I was rather surprised to pull out this little booklet from the packaging. It's only about 6 inches tall, maybe?, and 31 pages long.

But oh is it wonderful; an ode to the joys of physical books and the brick and mortar bookshop. Now, that sounds like he's slamming ebooks, and he's not; this is about the one limitation of the internet and ebooks: the unknown unknown. What's the unknown unknown? Well, the known are the books you've read and the known unknown are the books out there that you know exist but you haven't yet read (he uses War and show more Peace as a fitting example). But the unknown unknown are those books you don't know even exist, just waiting for you to stumble across them in some obscure and perfect bookshop.

I have so many books I've found this way; books I'd never have discovered no matter how great Amazon's recommendation algorithm because they were so completely off the beaten path, so I really connected with this perfect little gem. The writing is perfect and Forsyth has that dry British humour and wit I adore.

I have two of his other books waiting in my TBR and I can't wait to rip into them and I'm definitely going to be checking out his blog, The Inky Fool. show less

A very nice little essay/article by the author of The Etymologicon and The Horologicon. Any bibliophile like myself enjoys reading about reading, but it's even better when it's as charming as Mark Forsyth's 'The Unknown Unknown'. Starting as a riff on a quote from Donald Rumsfeld, of all people, this brief little piece has some neat stuff to say about how it is often the unexpected things in our lives which most satisfy us. Without being curmudgeonly or Luddite or even disagreeable, Forsyth notes how modern life – particularly because of the internet – is one of instant gratification and satisfied needs. But in this essay, he argues that it is those things we didn't know about – the unknown unknowns – which show more are the most spiritually enriching:

"… you can find what you never knew you wanted, where your desires can be perpetually expanded. Not satisfied, because what point is there in satisfying a desire you already have? You are no better, no larger, at the end of it. A desire satisfied is a meagre and measly thing. But a new desire!"

Of course, Forsyth takes us on one of his characteristically and entertainingly peculiar journeys, which encompasses some thoughts on Pride and Prejudice – Elizabeth Bennett and Mr. Darcy would never have hooked up in the internet age – and introduces the reader to the concept of bibliomancy. Forsyth's writing has always been about introducing readers to new words and ideas, and 'The Unknown Unknown' codifies this aim in a nice little package. show less

This cute tiny book was a reread for me. It was the Independent Booksellers Week essay a few years ago and I really gelled with it! It explores the idea that bookshops can lead you to books you never even knew you wanted (or needed) to read, and that such serendipitous discoveries can be fun, important and even life-changing. Forsyth's style is amusing and littered with pop culture references, and at under 25 pages it's a quick little read. I didn't enjoy it quite as much the second time around, but I think that was more me than the book. Still a keeper!

Forsyth touts the advantages of getting lost in a bookshop, of serendipity, of finding things you didn’t know existed when you walked in. He contrasts this with online algorithms and their recommendations for things that are likely to interest you. A bit of a grumpy old-media attitude, but I’m in full agreement with his paean to bookshops.

Clever and funny. This brings up the question I've been asking for as long as I can remember....namely, when a teacher says, "Be sure to ask questions when you don't understand something", what do you do when you don't know that you don't understand something. How do I know when I don't know something? Over the years I've asked teachers that very thing and I've never gotten a response that was worth the effort they put into it. There are several reasons why I did not get into teaching even though I did return to school and get a teaching certificate some years later. This is one of them....Teachers do not, for the most part, understand that they don't understand everything. I did not want to become part of that culture. Yet this booklet show more does a marvelous job of unmasking this little anomaly in the way so many people think. Tis worth the few minutes of anyone's time to read it....Picked this up at the Islamic bookshop, Wardah Books, in Singapore. show less

Minuscola "chicca" non solo da amanti del libro ma più in generale da amanti dell'inatteso, fra improbabili elogi di Rumsfeld e appuntite critiche della mancanza di senso dell'avventura indotta dall'uso di internet. Molto piacevole.

Although it might say nothing new and is preaching to the converted, this is a nice short essay on the benefits of browsing in bookshops to help broaden your reading horizons.
However for such a short essay, Mark Forsyth does self-depreciate himself over drinking too much for my taste.