Maria Popova - Figuring (Canongate, 2019) ****½

There are still surprises in the world of books. One of them was Olga Tocarczuk, who redefined the concept of literature with "Flights", and there's Maria Popova, who redefines the concept of non-fiction with "Figuring".

This majestic and voluminous book (over 500 pages) describes the lives of significant figures that shaped one part of our common history over the last three centuries. It is hard to describe what the book is about, as it meanders through the lives of significant people in history, starting with Johannes Keppler (1570-1630) (and his mother), the astronomer Maria Mitchell (1818-1889), journalist Margaret Fuller (1810-1850), sculptor Harriet Hosmer (1830-1908), the poet Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) and the biologist Rachel Carson (1907-1964).

By focusing on the somewhat connected lives of these six individuals, Popova gives a sweeping overview of intellectual history and emancipation in the past centuries. The book is not about science, it is not about literature, it is not about philosophy, it is not about sociology or religion, but it's about all of this, about the fight of these people to pursue their own personal insights and convictions, no matter what. Popova illustrates their own struggles, doubts and passions with letters, poems and other texts. It's about the human struggle for truth and meaning in the challenge of the established thoughts and morals of the day. Around these characters, all the other influential figures orbit: Goethe, Einstein, Beethoven, Whitman, Tennyson, Hawthorne, Kant, Milton, ... not just for purposes of name-dropping but with little facts that support her story.

It is possibly the human, emotional aspect that makes the book exceptional, because it tells about the aspirations, the frustrations, the victories and the recognition, not only of highly gifted women with strong ideas against the establishment of the day, but also about their love life, which for most women in the book is about lesbian love.

The six individuals in the book fought against all odds to emancipate themselves, to invest themselves and to change the way society operates and perceive.

It is not clear whether the book has a real thesis to defend, except from illustrating how powerful some individuals can be in their endeavours, and how their fights for love, tolerance, truth, knowledge, democracy and environmentalism find each other in society and manage to make a difference. "Figuring" is very detailed, and maybe often too detailed, but I guess that's the price to pay for a book that is well-researched and thorough.

Popova's very high bird's eye view on the intellectual history of the past decades, and paradoxically seen by the eyes and minds of six remarkable people from totally different backgrounds, is unprecedented.

Highly recommended.