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What? Are These the 20 Most Important Questions in Human History or Is This a Game of 20 Questions?
What is What? Could it be that noted author Mark Kurlansky has written a very short, terrifically witty, deeply thought-provoking book entirely in the form of questions? A book that draws on philosophy, religion, literature, policy-indeed, all of civilization-to ask what may well be the twenty most important questions in human history? Or has he given us a really smart, impossibly amusing game of twenty questions? Kurlansky considers the work of Confucius, Plato, Gertrude Stein, Shakespeare, Descartes, Nietzsche, Freud, Hemingway, Emily Dickinson, the Talmud, Charles de Gaulle, Virginia Woolf, and others, distilling the deep questions of life to their sparkling essence. What? supplies endless fodder for thoughtful conversation but also endless opportunity to ponder and be challenged by-and entertained by-these questions in refreshingly original ways. As Kurlansky says, In a world that seems devoid of absolute certainties, how can we make declarative statements? Without asking the questions, how will we ever get to the answers? "Why are we here? Why is all of this here? Why do we die? What is death? What does it mean that outer space is infinite and what is after infinity? What is the significance of birdflight, why does matter decay, and how is our life different from that of a mosquito? Is there an end to these questions or is questioning as infinite as space?" With his striking black-and-white woodcut illustrations throughout, this handsome volume is a tour de force that packs a tremendous wallop in a deliciously compact package.
96 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2011
12 people are currently reading
342 people want to read
About the author
Mark Kurlansky
69 books1,993 followersMark Kurlansky is an American journalist and author who has written a number of books of fiction and nonfiction. His 1997 book, Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World (1997), was an international bestseller and was translated into more than fifteen languages. His book Nonviolence: Twenty-five Lessons From the History of a Dangerous Idea (2006) was the nonfiction winner of the 2007 Dayton Literary Peace Prize.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews
May 18, 2011
At the first question, I thought "Huh. This is a little strange." By the third question, I thought "Wow, this is annoying." By about question 5, I thought "I just gotta push through this book. It's only 82 pages, and I can add it to my books read pile."
Around question 6, though, I got sucked in. A book that's entirely questions is an interesting conceit. Reading a book that's full of questions requires a subtle shift in the way I read a book: like reading Shakespeare or speech written in a dialect, it takes a while before the sentences flow.
Kurlansky is a great author, sometimes very funny. Once I got into this book, I thought it was great, and full of some really interesting questions. I'd like to read it again, a bit slower, and really think through some of what he presents.
Around question 6, though, I got sucked in. A book that's entirely questions is an interesting conceit. Reading a book that's full of questions requires a subtle shift in the way I read a book: like reading Shakespeare or speech written in a dialect, it takes a while before the sentences flow.
Kurlansky is a great author, sometimes very funny. Once I got into this book, I thought it was great, and full of some really interesting questions. I'd like to read it again, a bit slower, and really think through some of what he presents.
June 18, 2011
Is this a book review or just a list of questions? Is a list of questions a book review if the book being reviewed is composed entirely of questions?
Can this book be read in one sitting? Is that one of its best attributes? Is there something increasingly annoying about reading one question after another? Are there any answers in this book?
Does this book deserve three stars? Did I get anything from it besides a compulsion to make my own endless list of questions?
Can this book be read in one sitting? Is that one of its best attributes? Is there something increasingly annoying about reading one question after another? Are there any answers in this book?
Does this book deserve three stars? Did I get anything from it besides a compulsion to make my own endless list of questions?
July 4, 2011
Was I was initially amused by the conceit of this book? Did I smile when the author asked whether he was the author? When he questioned who to thank? Asked about the Index? Queried the title of the book? Was uncertain about whom to dedicate his book to? Is it significant that the information on the verso of the title page is not questioned?
Am I not an advocate of the Socratic admonition to question everything? How is it then that I eventually found this perpetual questioning irritating? Was it ultimately extremely irritating? Is it not true that any statement can be rewritten as a question? Is the author being witty when he states at the end of the book: "Are questions what we really want?" ? Is the immediately following question "Aren't questions just the vehicle, and answers ultimately the destination?" an answer to the previous question? And what does he mean by the final "And so sooner or later, in this case later, isn't a clear declarative sentence needed? Yes." ? Is "Yes." a clear declarative sentence? Wouldn't a "No." have been a wittier way to end the book? Does not perpetual question-asking imply we are perpetually ignorant? Is this a problem?
Would I be misleading if I were to declare this book pointless? Would others find it has a point? Could still others insist it has many points? Does having too many points dull the sharpness of a point? Are some points sharper than others? Are all questions equally valid? How do we distinguish? Isn't distinguishing itself a reason for questioning?
Would you be surprised if I suggest this book is a waste of time? Is that necessarily a bad thing? Can it be a good thing? How? Why? Why not? Does my rating this work only one star make you want to buy it to see for yourself if you agree? Do you think the answer will be in this book? Or do you realise that whatever answer you come up with will result in your merely asking another question? Really?
Am I not an advocate of the Socratic admonition to question everything? How is it then that I eventually found this perpetual questioning irritating? Was it ultimately extremely irritating? Is it not true that any statement can be rewritten as a question? Is the author being witty when he states at the end of the book: "Are questions what we really want?" ? Is the immediately following question "Aren't questions just the vehicle, and answers ultimately the destination?" an answer to the previous question? And what does he mean by the final "And so sooner or later, in this case later, isn't a clear declarative sentence needed? Yes." ? Is "Yes." a clear declarative sentence? Wouldn't a "No." have been a wittier way to end the book? Does not perpetual question-asking imply we are perpetually ignorant? Is this a problem?
Would I be misleading if I were to declare this book pointless? Would others find it has a point? Could still others insist it has many points? Does having too many points dull the sharpness of a point? Are some points sharper than others? Are all questions equally valid? How do we distinguish? Isn't distinguishing itself a reason for questioning?
Would you be surprised if I suggest this book is a waste of time? Is that necessarily a bad thing? Can it be a good thing? How? Why? Why not? Does my rating this work only one star make you want to buy it to see for yourself if you agree? Do you think the answer will be in this book? Or do you realise that whatever answer you come up with will result in your merely asking another question? Really?
February 12, 2016
I have been enlightened by some other books by Mark Kurlansky – “Salt” and “Cod” were interesting and informative. So I had high hopes for this book. I don’t know “Why”, but it was different than I expected. I suppose I thought the “20 Most Important Questions in Human History” might include specific questions like “Why am I here”, “What are my goals in life”, “How can I achieve happiness”. Instead, his questions are pretty generic, each short chapter about “Who”, “Why”, “What” and so on. And almost every sentence is in the form of a question – only the very last sentence was declarative. His questions could be a showcase of his knowledge of philosophy, history and literature. But I think this book is actually a writing “exercise” – can you express all your thoughts in the form of questions and string them together to make any kind of sense?
What if some of our favorite novels had been written entirely as questions?
Captain Ahab, in “Moby Dick; or The Whale” by Herman Melville might have said: “To the last to I grapple with thee? From hell's heart do I stab at thee? For hate's sake do I spit my last breath at thee?”
Rhett Butler, in Margaret Mitchell’s “Gone with the Wind” could have said “No? Don’t I think I will kiss you? Do you need kissing, badly? Is that what's wrong with you? Should you be kissed and often, and by someone who knows how?”
I don’t think that makes it better.
What if some of our favorite novels had been written entirely as questions?
Captain Ahab, in “Moby Dick; or The Whale” by Herman Melville might have said: “To the last to I grapple with thee? From hell's heart do I stab at thee? For hate's sake do I spit my last breath at thee?”
Rhett Butler, in Margaret Mitchell’s “Gone with the Wind” could have said “No? Don’t I think I will kiss you? Do you need kissing, badly? Is that what's wrong with you? Should you be kissed and often, and by someone who knows how?”
I don’t think that makes it better.
August 29, 2011
Does it appear that I rate every book I finish with five stars? How can we assign a rating to a book? Did it make us think? Did it provoke more questions than it answered? Did it leave me wanting more? If the answers to these questions is yes, then does this book deserve the highest rating?
May 3, 2011
this is a book about the historic and modern importance of questions and asks which questions are important those with answers or those without?
March 12, 2024
I am a big fan of Mark Kurlansky, and enjoy his histories and in depth looks at particular subjects.
This book seems like it was written on a dare. It is all questions.
Interesting questions, and comments written as questions, but all questions.
It is exhausting.
When the voice reading in your head is getting tired, you know there is a problem.
This is clever and might have made a fun essay.
I had to put it down and leave it alone, for both serious reasons and aggravation reasons.
This book seems like it was written on a dare. It is all questions.
Interesting questions, and comments written as questions, but all questions.
It is exhausting.
When the voice reading in your head is getting tired, you know there is a problem.
This is clever and might have made a fun essay.
I had to put it down and leave it alone, for both serious reasons and aggravation reasons.
September 5, 2020
So many great questions and interesting people to check out.
June 19, 2023
Well isn’t this nice? Wasn’t this short book a spry and delightful little engagement? What should I read next?
Why do we indeed keep searching the pages? Will we ever be satisfied?
Was Monroe likely to have wanted to also be thought a serious and talented actress beyond her breathless adorability and beauty?
Why do we indeed keep searching the pages? Will we ever be satisfied?
Was Monroe likely to have wanted to also be thought a serious and talented actress beyond her breathless adorability and beauty?
June 24, 2024
Is this a fascinating book to think about? Yes or No? Is this rereadable? Do you think so?
November 13, 2011
What is What? Has Mark Kurlansky drawn on philosophy, religion, literature, politics - indeed, all of civilization - to ask the twenty most important questions in human history, or has he given us a really smart, impossibly amusing game of twenty questions? In What?, Kurlansky considers the work of Confucius, Plato, Stein, Shakespeare, Descartes, Nietzsche, Freud, Hemingway, de Gaulle, Woolf, Dickinson, and others, distilling the deep questions of life to their sparkling essence. What? supplies endless fodder for thoughtful conversation, but also endless opportunity to ponder and be challenged - and entertained - by these questions in refreshingly original ways. As Kurlansky says: In a world that seems devoid of absolute certainties, how can we make declarative statements? Without asking the questions, how will we ever get to the answers? Why are we here? Why do we die? What is death? What does it mean the outer space is infinite, and what is after infinity? What is the significance of bird flight, why does matter decay, and how is our life different from that of a mosquito? Is there an end to these questions or is questioning as infinite as space? With Kurlansky's striking black-and-white woodcut illustrations throughout, this terrifically witty, deeply thought-provoking book is a tour de force that packs a tremendous wallop in a deliciously compact package.
This really is a most interesting, and yes, thought-provoking, little book. I'm not one for deep philosophical discussions (and I will admit that often attempting to read about said philosophers makes me feel....um....less than intelligent), but this book had me thinking about a lot of things. Perhaps the biggest question is this: how talented an author must you be to write an entire book in questions? Seriously. Every single sentence in this book is a question, meaning that Kurlansky starts with one question and answers all of the questions he asks with - you got it - more questions. The only time a question is not asked is when he writes his final word of the piece, and that is a one-word answer. I won't tell you what the answer is; you must read it for yourself.
Trust me, you'll enjoy it. I even found myself going back to reread parts of the book, it was that much fun. And it's only about 77 pages long, so you can digest it in one sitting, if you choose. I think it would work best to read each question, then set the book aside and really think about what he's written. I would love to get a copy of this and send it to my dad, who taught me in my youth "you never learn anything if you don't ask questions". It was a lesson he came to regret sometimes, as I asked lots of questions when I was a little girl. But as Kurlansky points out, we seem to stop asking those questions as we age; we just go along with what others tell us, or accept that things are what they are because we feel powerless to change them. Given all that the world has been through in the past few years, I think he's onto something; I think we should start asking a lot more questions, both of the outside world, and most importantly, of ourselves.
This really is a most interesting, and yes, thought-provoking, little book. I'm not one for deep philosophical discussions (and I will admit that often attempting to read about said philosophers makes me feel....um....less than intelligent), but this book had me thinking about a lot of things. Perhaps the biggest question is this: how talented an author must you be to write an entire book in questions? Seriously. Every single sentence in this book is a question, meaning that Kurlansky starts with one question and answers all of the questions he asks with - you got it - more questions. The only time a question is not asked is when he writes his final word of the piece, and that is a one-word answer. I won't tell you what the answer is; you must read it for yourself.
Trust me, you'll enjoy it. I even found myself going back to reread parts of the book, it was that much fun. And it's only about 77 pages long, so you can digest it in one sitting, if you choose. I think it would work best to read each question, then set the book aside and really think about what he's written. I would love to get a copy of this and send it to my dad, who taught me in my youth "you never learn anything if you don't ask questions". It was a lesson he came to regret sometimes, as I asked lots of questions when I was a little girl. But as Kurlansky points out, we seem to stop asking those questions as we age; we just go along with what others tell us, or accept that things are what they are because we feel powerless to change them. Given all that the world has been through in the past few years, I think he's onto something; I think we should start asking a lot more questions, both of the outside world, and most importantly, of ourselves.
November 27, 2011
There were three or four moments in reading this book where I found myself happily re-reading a sentence, or thinking that a particular insight was well presented. The rest of the time I was more or less annoyed by the all the questions. Clearly there is no denying the value of questions, particularly to philosophy. On or near the 20th page of this little book, I began to wonder if there was some correlation between the viceral annoyance I was experiencing reading a book which asks far to many questions and my general impatience with philosophy. I would consider the premise of this book almost an interesting idea, but not one worthy of publication. Indeed questions are important, but somehow Kurlansky goes too far -- to that place where questions become a tool for annoyance, like a younger sibling on a long car ride.
By the time I reached the final page, the only question on my mind "why did I just read that book?"
By the time I reached the final page, the only question on my mind "why did I just read that book?"
July 11, 2011
I like Mark Kurlansky’s work, I really do. This one failed to resonate though. In What? Are These the 20 Most Important Questions in Human History or is This a Game of 20 Questions? every single sentence is a question.
Yes, every single one.
As much as I like Kurlansky and as much as I like questions, it just didn’t work for me. Let me put it this way, do you like being asked random questions for hours on end? Do you like no narrative thread in the books you read? Do you like endless and disjointed references to significant people and concepts throughout history with very little points of connection? How many pages of straight questions do you think that you can read without going insane?
If you think your sanity would hold, this might be the book for you!
Yes, every single one.
As much as I like Kurlansky and as much as I like questions, it just didn’t work for me. Let me put it this way, do you like being asked random questions for hours on end? Do you like no narrative thread in the books you read? Do you like endless and disjointed references to significant people and concepts throughout history with very little points of connection? How many pages of straight questions do you think that you can read without going insane?
If you think your sanity would hold, this might be the book for you!
June 25, 2019
What was this book really? Who approved giving money to anyone for this? Was Mark on something when he wrote this? Was this supposed to be just a long bit of navel gazing? Who bought this book? Is anyone else glad it was free from the library? Does anyone else want the time it took to read this back? Who else was hood-winked by the "20 most important questions in human history" when you plucked it off the shelf? I would be angry if someone gave me this book as a gift..
March 27, 2017
Initially I found this book distracting and annoying, as 82 pages of them are filled with questions. However after few pages in, I started to find the questions intriguing and thought provoking. Quite a small book for all the big questions in life. Not Kurlansky's best book, but definitely worth reading.
November 27, 2018
Disappointing. This intrigued me when I saw it in the library and I thought it would be a brief romp thru some interesting philosophical territory, but I found the catch of using questions as a framework overly forced and overwrought by part-way through. The book was so riddled with questions that they piled on top of one another and began to all feel rhetorical and pointless rather than reflective and insightful.
January 14, 2022
This was a great book. Questioning questions, then doing it again. Does ‘what’ come before ‘where’? If so, why? Who says a question isn’t a statement? Who asked the first question? How did the question, even the idea of the question, come to be? Why is question spelled the way it is? So many, what? Questions? Not that any of these questions are or aren’t within the pages. But I guarantee, once you’ve read this book, you’ll have a lot of questions of you own.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 21, 2018
It's all about arising questions and creating kind of philosophical mysticism with the flavor of questions, but it could be more worthy if they could discuss from the scientific point of view. However its only my point of view. I can not say author is wrong or right.
February 27, 2018
Is it possible to write an entire book in questions?
July 13, 2018
quick read that makes you think - more so because it is primarily questions answering questions...
October 20, 2018
I normally like the books of Mark Kurlansky. Not this one.
December 29, 2018
A quick read but thought-provoking and has great illustrations.
February 15, 2022
A book with this contrived structure had to happen eventually. This might not even be the first of its kind. But it's still extremely irritating to read.
April 8, 2023
what a waste of money..
Read
July 8, 2023DNF
December 23, 2023
A lot of food for thought. Who knew you could write an enitre book with each sentence as a question only.
May 29, 2024
Average book.
March 14, 2025
An interesting book that reflects on twenty questions about life.
July 21, 2025
What would I say if I wrote a review of a gimmick book designed to fleece a reader into paying $20 or so for a beautifully designed 80 pages of pure BS? Would I call it terrible and contrived but still give it two stars for some interesting observations on Freud, Neizsche, and the Talmud?
Yes.
Yes.
March 26, 2017
Was this a good use of time while riding on a bus with a group of high school students? Yes? A few sentences were humorous or screamed to be read several times.
2.75?
2.75?
Displaying 1 - 30 of 61 reviews