Cyril Becker brings us a fascinating new look at society, the world, and the madness of it all through his poetry and philosophy collection World of Madness! The first half of World of Madness is presented through Senryu, a Japanese 17 syllable poetry style in the same vein as haiku. The book then dramatically shifts to a series of quotes and scattered thoughts. I really enjoyed the variety of Becker’s collection as it waxed sometimes philosophical, sometimes darkly humorous, and sometimes very dark. Everything centers around madness in this book, so the somewhat chaotic style makes sense, but Becker has purpose here and lays down numerous surprise thoughts that left me pondering for a while after finishing my read. We consider insanity to be a departure from regular society, but examining it as part of society was interesting. If you love poetry or philosophy, definitely come snuggle up with a straight jacket with Becker’s fascinating look at madness!
