The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows

By: John Koenig

Narrated by: John Koenig

Length: 4 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

New York Times best seller

“It’s undeniably thrilling to find words for our strangest feelings…Koenig casts light into lonely corners of human experience…. An enchanting book." (The Washington Post)

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.

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 set out to fill the gaps in our language of emotion. The Dictionary of Obscure Sorrows “creates beautiful new words that we need but do not yet have,” says John Green, best-selling author of The Fault in Our Stars. By turns poignant, relatable, 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. This is the perfect gift for creatives, word nerds, and human beings everywhere.

©2021 John Koenig. All rights reserved. From “The Separate Notebooks: A Mirrored Gallery” from The Separate Notebooks by Czeslaw Milosz. Copyright ©1984 by Czeslaw Milosz Inc. Used by permission of HarperCollins Publishers. From The Painted Drum by Louise Erdrich. Copyright ©2005 by Louise Erdrich. Used by permission of HarperCollins Publishers. From "The Unbearable Lightness of Being" by Milan Kundera. English translation copyright © 1984 by Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc. Translated from Nesnesitelná lehkost bytí, copyright ©1984 by Milan Kundera. Used by permission of HarperCollins Publishers. (P)2021 Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

Perfect tool for capturing an illusive word

I enjoyed both content and narration performance now I have to buy a hard copy too many perfect words to remember.

so good

love this book so much it makes you feel nostalgic in the weirdest way it was so good and relatable I love the word

5 stars plus!

I read and listen to so many books that I rarely want to reread a book. But this is one of them! A brilliant expression of things we feel and experience but have no idea how to express them. Koenig did this for me! I would give more than 5 stars if I could! A 10 in my humble opinion!⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

If you only have time to read one book, read this.

Brilliant performance by the author, and what an amazing read. I rarely take the time to re-read a book but I purchased the hardcopy and read along with the audible play back. This is one of my all time favorite books.

Saver in Small Listens

I have been waiting for this to be published for several years. It is an absolute joy to read and listen to.. For myself, I only listen in small bits. Four or five minutes at a time. I want stop and think about what I'm hearing. Sometimes I agree with the definitions and sometimes I don't. Such a treat either way. This book supports mindfulness in a way no other volume has for me.

Profound

Profoundly beautiful usage of language to express the most difficult of feelings. Too bad our language is so often used for commercial endeavors in everyday life rather than for this type of deep expression or words like the ones he invented for the book would be used regularly.

His Words are Obscure. His “Sorrows” not so much!

The concept behind this book is enticingly unique. In a way, the idea of reflecting on feelings we’ve all shared is not Original. It is what a lot of Books, Movies, Music, and Paintings have done for Centuries. But creating Neologisms and attaching them to brief descriptions is not something I’ve run into before. I’m very glad I did.

It’s interesting that I stumbled onto The Dictionary shortly after reading Alan Watts’ “The Book” and John O’Donohue’s “Walking in Wonder”. All three are “pick-a-passage, any passage” works that can get you through a good Moment, a sad Moment or a difficult Day. Do that and you’ll thank the Author for writing it and me for recommending the Practice. I don’t like or read self-help books but these are different. They speak to the Soul and remind us that we’re all part of a Humanity sharing Life in this World.

Koenig’s made-up Words are often fascinating in their way, and often educational too, but not really the important point. The point is the Passage he describes. But sometimes, just sometimes, the Word is so perfect you may internalize it for your own private use.

I heartily recommend this Dictionary. It’s full of useful words for feelings that we’ve all felt, whether we know it or not. Four Stars. ****

this is a new favorite of mine

in fact I've already recommended it to a few people! A cousin, an old professor and a coworker! I honestly think that anyone could read and enjoy this book. Putting words to universal feelings is validating and comforting. I feel like it's important.

Interesting listen

Not really what I expected but nonetheless I enjoyed it. The words he describes hits a lot of things that I could not. I may have to listen again. Narrator was excellent 😊

Inexplicable feelings

The books makes you smile and cry, often times simultaneously. The narration from John Koenig is what makes it even more absorbing. I wouldnt remember the words, but I will remember resonating with so many emotions the writes pens down so beautiful.