• iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK News
    • US News
    • Australia
    • Ireland
    • World News
    • Weird News
    • Viral News
    • Sport
    • Technology
    • Science
    • True Crime
    • Travel
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV & Film
    • Netflix
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • TikTok
  • LAD Originals
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • Lad Files
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Extinct
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube

LAD Entertainment

YouTube

LAD Stories

Submit Your Content
Book that was written entirely without the letter 'e' is leaving people mind-blown

Home> Community> Weird

Updated 09:12 29 Jul 2024 GMT+1Published 16:15 23 Jul 2024 GMT+1

Book that was written entirely without the letter 'e' is leaving people mind-blown

The French novel has left Redditors seriously irked

Joshua Nair

Joshua Nair

An entire book was written without using the most common letter of the alphabet, and people have been branding it 'crazy' after picking up on one specific detail.

It seems like a bizarre thing to do, but the 300-page French novel went the whole way through without using the letter through what is known as lipogrammatic style of writing, which some writers do to challenge themselves.

This essentially means that the writer has purposely chosen to constrain themselves by not allowing the use of a particular letter, with the word 'lipogram' originating from an Ancient Greek word that means 'leaving out a letter'.

Advert

The 300-page book will leave your brain fried. (Getty Stock Photo)
The 300-page book will leave your brain fried. (Getty Stock Photo)

The book was originally written in French in 1969 by George Perec and titled La Disparition where he avoided using the vowel 'e' in its entirety.

It was then translated fully into English (somehow) by Gilbert Adair, again avoiding the letter 'e' with the title A Void, which won him the Scott Moncrieff Prize in 1995.

It's a truly crazy story that has left people on social media scratching their heads, with one user taking to Reddit to vent about the book, who had attempted to tackle it during uni.

READ MORE:

Advert

‘WOMAN IN A BOAT' RIDDLE IS LEAVING PEOPLE SCRATCHING THEIR HEADS

PEOPLE SPOTTED QUESTIONABLE ARTWORK IN POPULAR CHILDREN'S BOOK

The user wrote in the DamnThatsInteresting subreddit: "This is a translation from the book La Disparition, in French. I tried to read it while I was in college, but somehow, it was difficult and so gave up."

They posted the caption alongside a snap of a page in the novel.

Bookworms in the comments firstly pointed out that the book wasn't La Disparition, it was a different novel called Gadsby, another piece written without the letter 'e' in 1939.

Advert

Yes, there's more than one and they're apparently fairly well-known in the book community - I can't believe it either.

You'd have me fooled if you said this was an early attempt at writing a book with AI. (Reddit)
You'd have me fooled if you said this was an early attempt at writing a book with AI. (Reddit)

One user pointed out: "You can't use the word 'the' one single time, that seems so absurdly challenging."

A second said: "Make your jokes about the author's name having three e's in it, but make no mistake...

"This 1939 book genuinely contains 50,000 words of story text, none of which contain the letter 'e'."

Advert

Another user posted: "A translation is so crazy to me. Like I actually can’t comprehend how you could convey the same meaning while sticking to the restraint."

On the other hand, some users criticised how difficult the book was to read, with one saying: "Horrific to read. Sounds like it was written by someone pretending to be human"

A fifth commented: "It was genuinely irritating to read the word 'so' that many times on one page."

A different user added: "I don't like this. Interesting? Yes. Uncomfortable? Also yes."

Featured Image Credit: Reddit / Getty Stock Photo

Topics: Books, Reddit, Social Media

Joshua Nair
Joshua Nair

Joshua Nair is a journalist at LADbible. Born in Malaysia and raised in Dubai, he has always been interested in writing about a range of subjects, from sports to trending pop culture news. After graduating from Oxford Brookes University with a BA in Media, Journalism and Publishing, he got a job freelance writing for SPORTbible while working in marketing before landing a full-time role at LADbible. Unfortunately, he's unhealthily obsessed with Manchester United, which takes its toll on his mental and physical health. Daily.

X

@joshnair10

Advert

Advert

Advert

  • Doctors issue warning for people using 'golden dose' of Mounjaro that could be deadly
  • People demand that 'house is burnt down' after spotting creepy thing in picture
  • A Danish school has 'cosplayed' as British schoolkids and people are shocked at the accuracy
  • People told they have 'vision of a sniper' if than can spot snake hidden in forest

Choose your content:

10 hours ago
14 hours ago
15 hours ago
a day ago
  • 10 hours ago

    Man who has spent years studying natural disasters reveals how likely an apocalyptic-level event really is

    The likelihood of a natural apocalyptic-level event wiping us all out has been revealed

    Community
  • 14 hours ago

    Man who visited all 197 countries in world says best he has been to has ‘everything you could want’

    The bloke has seen all sorts on his travels

    Community
  • 15 hours ago

    Images show inside of ‘Black Mirror style’ building that houses 20,000 people

    The place is like its own town

    Community
  • a day ago

    Real reason why Ancient Greek statues all have tiny penises

    Perhaps they're all growers, not showers

    Community