CUBED
Sandra: The book Cubed is a memoir written in an atypical way. Ernő writes in first person telling how he solved the puzzles others created, how he created (and solved) his own puzzles, and how he solved some of the puzzles of life itself. Ernő created many puzzles and cubes, being his most famous one the 3x3 colourful cube, and this is the one that gets more importance in his book. For me, and also for the author, the cube is a little object that has big insights about phenomena we experience in life, such as chaos, order, solutions, problems, different ways to find an answer... Ernő always invites the reader to look at the puzzles we encounter in life with curiosity and a playful attitude. I always highlight my favourite quotes of the books I read. These are my favourite ones from Cubed:
- “I believe contradictions are not opposites to be resolved, but counterpoints to be embraced. Rather than becoming frustrated by what seems irreconcilable in a contradiction, the better option is to appreciate that a contradiction helps us make connections we may never have considered.”
- “I’m aware that asking a true question is more difficult than answering one. In the end, revealing or interesting answers can be given only in response to good questions.”
- “If you are curious, you will find the puzzles around you. If you are determined, you will solve them.”
- “There are two ways to create change: Either find a new answer for an old question or find a new question that has never been asked before.”
- “Naturally, once one finds where one is supposed to be, one performs well.”
- “First, you have to understand the problem. After understanding, make a plan. Carry out the plan. Look back on your work. How could it be better? If this technique fails, then there is an easier problem you can solve: find it. Or: If you cannot solve the proposed problem, try to solve first some related problem. Could you imagine a more accessible related problem?”
- “I couldn’t make progress in one area without ruining my progress in another. Which is also a fundamental experience: Constructing something often starts with destroying something else.”
- “Success is the achievement of something you have been trying to do, which means that something works in a satisfactory way or has the intended result. This resonates more for me because it suggests a relationship between an individual and his work, rather than how an individual is regarded in society.”
The book for me is very inspiring, full of positivity and playfulness. The cube is also a fascinating object for me and I have various types at home although I only solved two of the four ones I have. I really connect with the idea that it is a metaphor of life of some sort, so reading about that in the book was insightful. It made me think a lot about how we approach a problem and how we try to solve it. He thinks there is always a way to solve a problem, no matter how complicated it looks, and that gives you hope.
Cubed, the puzzle of us all. The story of the world's most iconic puzzle and its creator.
Author: Ernő Rubik
First published in the United States in 2020 by Flatiron Books
First published in Great Britain in 2020 by Weidenfeld & Nicolson
189 pages