Principles of Uncertainty

 Joshua Singh

EN 346D

Dr. Ellis

20 March

Principles of Uncertainty

Maria Kalman’s Principles of Uncertainty presents an entirely new structure of narration that we can understand through a humor study lens. Kalman’s book is defined by its inability to be defined; every page has something vastly different than the previous but still has a loose connection through Kalman’s narration. For example, the book begins with her asking, “How can I tell you everything in my heart? Impossible to begin” with the next pages referencing philosopher Baruch Spinoza’s attempts to find the meaning of life (Kalman 2-4). The humor aspect of this book is presented through this pattern. She presents a facet of her life or one of her experiences and then relates it to something else in life that is so distant and random it works. 

Her narration style is also representative of the human consciousness. Her sentences are rather short and seem to cut off as the next idea emerges on the page. She tells the reader how she starts her day “With a cup of coffee. This is not morbid. Just epic” (Kalman 50). This style of narration feels similar to the thoughts that run through one’s heads when just reflecting on the day or on one’s life. This brings the reader closer to the speaker in that it feels as if the reader has access to the speaker’s thoughts or stream of consciousness. Also, the stagnated thoughts and abrupt introduction of ideas from one to the other add to the humor. The unexpected introduction of ideas can be seen through an incongruity theory of humor lens in that the reader does not expect the speaker’s thoughts to jump from unrelated topics to the other.

All in all, Kalman presents a book so random that it's humorous. This unpredictability is also representative of her outlook in life. In attempting to find the answer or meaning to life, she believes that there is “no answer. As usual” (Kalman 275). Life is so unpredictable like this book that one must enjoy it as it comes.

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