“Ode to Thought” by Emil P. Absurdian
Emil P. Absurdian
Zangak Publishing House (2021)
ISBN: 978-9939038469
Reviewed by Nico Neufeld for Reader Views (09/2025)
Thinking is both familiar and foreign. The act is essential to our existence, yet impossible for us to truly comprehend. You’re doing it right now, but what exactly are you doing? Like a snake eating its own tail, reflecting on thought always leads us back to where we began. Emil P. Absurdian confronts this paradox directly in his poetry collection, Ode to Thought. The book is precisely what its title promises – an ode. But not the expected sort. Instead of lofty praises or simple reflection, Absurdian weaves a complex tapestry of philosophy, poetry, and comedy that’s entrancing to behold.
Absurdian’s past as a neuroscientist adds another interesting layer to Ode to Thought. He weaves nods to neural pathways and synaptic leaps throughout the book, but not with the tone of a clinician. Instead, Absurdian uses his background in neuroscience as a metaphor, linking it to the older arts of philosophy and poetry. These disciplines all aim to express the inexpressible, striving to capture the action of perception itself. Ode to Thought seems to ask: What happens when a thought collides with the desire to dissect it? The result is a vibrant and unpredictable collection of poetry & prose that at times feels truly alive.
The collection makes a conscious nod to the classics. Fans of poetry will catch echoes of Pindar’s grandeur and Keats’ lush beauty. Yet, Absurdian takes clear delight in subverting these very influences. Where traditional odes elevate gods or ideals, his fractured stanzas circle “thought” itself: sometimes he mocks it, other times he honors it. This creates a chorus of contradictions, playfully depicted as a literal choir in Preface Two – an allusion to the muses of Greek epics, which highlights the musicality of Absurdian’s voice.
One of the biggest strengths of Ode to Thought is Absurdian’s reverence for his references, which, when not being directly cited, shimmers through the very mechanics of his writing. Absurdian’s cadence recalls Lucretius, who turned verse into a vehicle for atomist theory. His tone veers closer to Beckett, known for his lofty thoughts that arrive at a poem half-collapsed. Absurdian’s conviction throughout the collection that poetry and philosophy are two sides of the same coin unites these disparate touchstones. He depicts them as doomed twins; both born from wonder and cursed to incompletion.
This is, to be fair, not an easy book. Absurdian makes it clear from the very first page that he has no intention of playing the role of a poetry tour guide. He thinks little of narrative scaffolding and thus supplies even less. Disorientation is a hallmark of Ode to Thought. Many poems in the “Perception” chapter, for instance, require at least one re-read. While I think the majority are worth the extra time, it can hinder the momentum of the collection.
Yet I believe the discombobulating structure helps more than hinders the reader’s experience. The collection’s form mirrors the way actual thoughts work: lucid for a moment and then suddenly swallowed by fog. The author is clearly comfortable sacrificing overall accessibility in favor of intense immersion for those who choose to stay for the ride. (I promise, it is a memorable one.)
Absurdian’s distinct voice holds the collection together. He writes with sly reverence, worshipping and ridiculing the act of thinking in one breath. Humor bleeds into the denser passages —a wink that keeps the book from collapsing under its weight. This blend works its magic, a cheeky reminder that thinking can be playful and philosophy doesn’t need to be solemn to be serious.
Emil P. Absurdian’s Ode to Thought will not appeal to everyone. However, for readers willing to engage with unruly, academically complex texts, it offers something truly fascinating. The collection claims its space in the long history of odes without bowing to convention. It connects readers to a rich literary tradition through a contemporary experiment. What happens when neuroscience, philosophy, and poetry try to share a language—the unspeakable? Absurdian’s answer is both frustrating and thrilling: to think is to be forever undone. In his hands, the ode becomes the perfect way to celebrate that undoing.
