Grooks

Grooks #1

by Piet Hein

Text: English, Danish (translation)

Genres: Poetry, Humor, Philosophy, Danish, Nonfiction, Art

106 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1966

About the author

Danish mathematician, inventor, designer, author, and poet, often writing under the Old Norse pseudonym "Kumbel" meaning "tombstone". He has been called an universalist. In that way a spiritual affinity existed between him and the Renaissance ideal - a modern variant of Leonardo da Vinci. However, contrary to the historical ideals, in Piet Hein's works is found an easily recognizable element whether it is a matter of scientific publications, essays, poetry or architecture. The special Piet Hein touch is the supe-riority of the form in relation to the objectives, the medium and - for that matter - the contents.

http://www.piethein.com/piet_hein-en....

Reviews

[Fergus, Weaver of Autistic Webs · Rating 4 out of 5]

“You really can’t understand something - until you explain it to your GRANDMOTHER.”
- Albert Einstein

My maternal grandmother used to always sum up her six-word philosophy of life to us three grandchildren with these words:

“Just be good, and you’ll be happy...”

A philosophy that flies against the 'gimme' ways of society - right up into its grabby, crabbed little face!

My wonderful grandmother savoured the SIMPLE things of life.

When I used to come home from college every month or so - WELL! - ‘You’re much too thin!’ she’d invariably protest plaintively.

She’d have checked the ETA of my train, so she could have a big, piping hot, fresh gingerbread cake ready for me to dig into - right out of the oven!

Do you know - she did it for the joyful laughter that would come loudly from within me when I came through the front door into that thick, heavenly aroma!

That’s love for you.

Her simplicity was overwhelming in its saintliness!

Looking back now, I think she got it from her guardian, Aunt Stuart (both her parents had died in her childhood).

Aunt Stuart was a no-nonsense Utah pioneer woman of the 19th century, and you can bet your bottom dollar she practised what she preached...

At least in my grandmother's admiring eyes.

And did it without drawing attention to herself - it was NORMAL for her. She was a good person.

Just try it some time!

And so it is with Grooks.

And with its author, Piet Hein - a true Renaissance Man in every sense of the word WITHOUT a big Ego...

A simple, quiet, good man, who even supplied his own droll little cartoons to go with each grook-rhyme.

They'll surprise you. Disarm you. Put a grin on your face.

Some of them Mr. Hein wrote during the dark days when the Nazis had tiny Denmark under their iron boot heels, when Hein and his friends in the Resistance picked up their flagging spirits - by reading them aloud.

The Spirit of Goodness is alive, my grandmother must have thought during one of those troubled nights she surely had in later years.

For as she replaced Hein's treasured volumes back in their hallowed place on her bookshelf, switched off her bedside lamp and recommenced her dreamy slumbers...

She had a smile on her face once again!

[Wulf Krueger · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Grooks 1" by Piet Hein was both a thoroughly impressive as well as hilarious read. This book is a collection of short poems, each only a few lines long, but they pack a powerful punch. The poems are witty, clever, and often thought-provoking.

What I really enjoyed about these poems is that they are easy to read and understand, yet they convey deep meaning and insight - and some are just plain amazingly funny! They are the perfect blend of simplicity in form and complexity in style. Each poem can be read and appreciated on its own, but when read together, they form a larger picture of the human experience. The humour and playfulness are pretty much unmatched.

Overall, "Grooks" is a delightful and engaging book that I would highly recommend to anyone looking for a quick read that is both intellectually stimulating and entertaining. Whether you are a poetry lover or simply looking for some witty and insightful musings, this book is sure to satisfy.

Five stars out of five.


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Ceterum censeo Putin esse delendam

[Sarah B · Rating 3 out of 5]

What to say about this? I had this laying around so I read it for the popsugar challenge. I think I did look at it before...a quick glance...and had put it back down. Truthfully it doesn't really interest me at all. It's just a bunch of little sayings...like poems. But I don't really find these particular poems interesting. I mean there HAVE been poems that I have taken the time to memorize as I had really loved them (like "Sea Fever" or "The Night Song of the Jungle") but I found these to be rather flat and dull.

I suppose there is wisdom in some of these little sayings but I don't think that it holds true for all of them. And the little statements certainly won't be true for everyone either.

Each little saying has an illustration and I guess they are ok but they are not really funny or anything.

[Koeeoaddi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely loved these Grooks books when I was 16. Don't know what I'd think now, but I suspect I would still like them a lot. I'm giving this one a nostalgia 5 star rating.

Not sure which book it's from, but I loved:

OUT OF TIME

My old clock used to tell the time
and subdivide diurnity;
but now it's lost both hands and chime
and only tells eternity.

[Gijs Limonard · Rating 5 out of 5]

4,5 stars; what a pleasant surprise, stumbled on Piet Hein (yes, a distant relative of the 17th century Dutch admiral and privateer for the Dutch Republic) via a quote by Richard Dawkins in his River Out of Eden: A Darwinian View of Life;

"“Nature, it seems, is the popular name
for milliards and milliards and milliards
of particles playing their infinite game
of billiards and billiards and billiards.”

[Bird Barnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think any review I leave won’t match Piet Hein’s biography. These poems are translated to English. But they were written during the Nazi occupation of Denmark and some are clearly a jab at that, but in a way that got through censorship.

[Alejandro Teruel · Rating 3 out of 5]

A slim collection which covers a few of Piet Hein's aphoristic and witty grooks. For example, Problems:

Problems worthy
 of attack
prove their worth
 by hitting back.

or Consolation Grook:

Losing one glove
is certainly painful
but nothing
 compared to the pain
of losing one
throwing away the other
and finding
 the first one again.

or, as a final example, Mankind:

Men, said the Devil
are good to their brothers
they don't want to mend
their own ways but each other's.

[Joshua R. Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderfully beautiful little book of poems and little illustrations with each one. It doesn't sound like much, but many of these hold some quite interesting perspectives on life. Some that have made me question my held values.

I'll make sure to keep it in a place in my apartment where it can be easily accidentally found and idly flicked through. Since this is usually when floods of insight occur.

[KB · Rating 5 out of 5]

This delightful little illustrated book

Overflows with timeless amiable charm.

Perceptively clever to the final grook,

‘Twill even a world-weary cynic disarm.

[Liv · Rating 5 out of 5]

min mors bog. elsker at læse i den lidt hist og her. søde illustrationer

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really love these poems.

This book is hard to find, but you can find the content online pretty easily.

[Danielle Palmer · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very quick read! Pithy little rhyming quotes.

[Katharine Ott · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Grooks" - written and illustrated by Piet Hein, and published in 1969 by Doubleday. I encountered a brief mention of this book in another, Aitken's "The Marmalade Diaries." The pithy, philosophical poems were just as advertised on the back cover, "a minimum of words and with a minimum of lines some basic truth about the human condition." It appears that at least seven volumes were created and I was glad my library could track this one down to see what it was all about.

[eindra · Rating 4 out of 5]

i read this in maybe 15 minutes on a whim; it showed up as a recommended book and the word grook intrigued me. how lovely coincidental things like this happen! this was so fucking good! if you don't know, a grook is basically a very simple, short poem, with a simple rhyme scheme, accompanied by a simple little sketch. and how amazing language works in a way that allows someone to say so much in less that 30 words! seriously this is how all philosophy should be written. it's so easy to read, so fun, and you're still left to contemplate the ideas in which the author is telling you. it's seriously so great. objectively one of my favorite ones was "Majority Rule" which was UGH so good about modern democracy i highly highly recommend reading it. but from the heart, the poem "T. T. T." has to be my favorite:

"Put up in a place
where it's easy to see
the cryptic admonishment
T. T. T.

When you feel how depressingly
slowly you climb,
it's well to remember that
Things Take Time."

i'm writing that on a sticky note and putting it on my wall.

[Gusmenary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Piet Hien was one of the leaders of the Danish resistance during WWII. As part of their secret codes he invented these little poems called grooks. The poems are simple and perfect. My mom gave me a copy of this book and it's still one of my most treasured possessions.

I am a lowly artist
molding my earthly clod.
Doing my part, a little,
each day by simply assisting god.
Not that my effort is needed,
but somehow I understand
that the lord up above has willed it
that I should have unmolded clay in my hand.

[Emrys Csato · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found these old books on my dad’s bookshelf when I was a kid and immediately fell in love with them. They are just so simple and powerful and even the art inside influenced a bit of my earlier art style. Some Grooks are better than others but my five stars stand across all six books. Their history is fascinating and I always find something to ponder when I read them

“Coexistence, or no existence.”

[Matilde Gudrun · Rating 5 out of 5]

Piet🙏🏽🙏🏽vil have dine ord indgraveret i hud og gravsten!

[987643467881 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not really a big reader of poetry but I randomly came across a quote that I found amusing that is attributed to the Danish physicist Niels Bohr: “Prediction is very difficult, especially about the future”, and saw that it was also attributed to the Danish polymath Piet Heins (among others). This lead to me reading one of Hein's most well known “Grooks”/short poems, the Consolation Grook, which was written during the German occupation of Denmark during World War 2, and presumably was only able to make it past the censors because they didn't fully grasp its message (which was that even when freedom is temporarily lost, self-respect, dignity and humanity need not be):

Consolation Grook

Losing one glove
is certainly painful,
but nothing
compared to the pain
of losing one,
throwing away the other,
and finding
the first one again.

Needless to say, I found this Grook interesting enough to try out some more, which lead to me reading this book, which was a little bit of a disappointment. Unfortunately most of the Grooks were forgettable and a bit boring – but they weren't really bad either though, which is why I decided on the 3 star rating.

[Wyatt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfortunately, I think that this specific brand of quippy, straightforward poetry was more-or-less completely compromised by commercialism. A lot of these poems read as being the kind of "common sense" slogan that a brand like IKEA or REI would use to get you to buy their products. I’m sure it was awesome to read this before that shift happened, but I can never go back to that time and live that experience. Even with the above criticism, some of these pieces are thought-provoking and will likely stick with me for a bit, and the art direction fits it all perfectly.

[Galatea · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tiny, little gems of poetry with equally precious doodles
Each stroke, each word, absolutely essential,
Staving off the thought that all is futile.

One hell of a thing to think that these were written when Denmark was occupied by Nazis to help cope with the hell of the situation.

Equally appropriate for today, and I can't wait to forget these poems so that I can reread and rediscover them all over again.

[Georgia Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having a sister who was a painter, I grew up with the scent of fresh canvases and turpentine. Dave Brubeck played his jazz when Brazilian tunes weren't on. The air was enticing as a dare to break rules. Then, I found this book among my sister's paints.

I can still remember seeing the simple drawings. The words were easy, too. But the message was revolutionary. Resist! Resist! Resist!

This book showed me how not to feel bad even when times are not good.

[Teresa Weber-freeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still have this book, purchased when I was in junior high. It is ever relevant, regardless of when I pick it back up. Funny, clever and a very short read. You will want this and all of Piet Hein's "Grooks" series to live on your bookshelf.

I'D LIKE --
"I'd like to know
what this whole show
is all about
before it's out."
Piet Hein

[J. Nic Fisk · Rating 5 out of 5]

I adore this book. It covers a variety of topics, is charming in both content and illustration, and is still every bit as relevant today as it was when he wrote it. It is a wee bit short, but I know there are at least 4 other collections, so I don't really mind. I recommend it highly.

[Muskeen · Rating 3 out of 5]

sometimes cute, sometimes amusing, mostly enjoyable. the grooks' multiple meanings, from Nazi occupation of Denmark, are honestly hard to glean for a reader of today, so don't expect to get it entirely without other sources of reference.

[Henry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wisdom and truths, highly recommended!

[Zack]

fun book!

[Hubert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very clever, aphoristic poems on the meaning of life, God, and everything in between (and elsewhere).

[HGS · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute and at times thought provoking.

[J · Rating 4 out of 5]

Solid quick book of poetry. The poems were all short and fast but did carry aphorisms and lessons. I also enjoyed the cute little drawings.

[Sarah Swaid · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quirky take on poetry, was definitely a delight to read.