Solenoid

By: Mircea Cărtărescu, Sean Cotter - translator

Narrated by: Paul Boehmer

A highly acclaimed master work of fiction from Cartarescu, author of Blinding

Based on Cartarescu's own role as a high school teacher, Solenoid begins with the mundane details of a diarist's life and quickly spirals into a philosophical account of life, history, philosophy, and mathematics. One character asks another: when you rush into the burning building, will you save the newborn or the artwork? On a broad scale, the novel's investigations of other universes, dimensions, and timelines reconcile the realms of life and art.

The novel is grounded in the reality of late 1970s/early 1980s Communist Romania, including long lines for groceries, the absurdities of the education system, and the misery of family life. The text includes sequences in a tuberculosis sanatorium, an encounter with an anti-death protest movement, a society of dream investigators, and an extended visit to the miniscule world of dust mites living on a microscope slide.

Combining fiction with autobiography and history, Solenoid ruminates on the exchanges possible between the alternate dimensions of life and art, as various, monstrous dimensions erupt within the Communist present.

©2022 Sean Cotter (P)2023 Tantor

Moments of Brilliance

Dancing and lights. Beautiful and brilliant. Some of the brightest flashes of brilliance and introspection. A blending of dream, philosophy, existential and self awareness. Our beautiful irrelevance. How melancholic.

Our Universal Phantasmagoria

Quite simply the greatest reading (listening) experience of my life. Recommended for anyone who truly loves literature.

Best novel I’ve ever read.

This literally masterpiece is the first timeless classic the XXI century has given us. The audiobook version is flawless, great narrator.

Extraordinary

Highly original. I have never read anything like this before. Very visually creative and highly descriptive. Parts of this story were brilliant, and other worldly. Other parts dragged a bit and went on way too long. The book was definitely too long but it was worth sticking it out because the parts that were good, and there were many such parts, were incredibly thought provoking and interesting. The story was translated from Romanian and the descriptions of Bucharest made me want to see it so much! The genre is surrealism and magical realism. This book is not for everyone. You must be someone who likes to explore other dimensions as well as the underbelly of existence. You should like philosophy and art in particular to love this book.

Buyer beware

If you’re into endless paranoia about the human body, horror generally & absurdism a la Kafka going on forever— the books for you.
I was unaware & read reviews that just said Best! Masterpiece!
This book goes along with Romania’s serious history of same period. It is likely most relevant for students of that time/place. This is a gifted author & there are bursts of beautiful prose as well as nods to Gabriel Marquez without the magical, more the daemons.
I’m not squeamish but after 18 hrs am just bored by the body horror, constant referring back to childhood of protagonist & paranormal disquisition.
I hate to leave a bad review but reader deserves knowing what getiinto. I love long books- Underworld by deLillo, Infinite Jest, DFW. Etc. Have to bail in this with 10hrs to go