Combining history with fiction-the scientists Nicola Tesla and George Boole, for example, appear alongside the Voynich manuscript-Solenoid ruminates on the exchanges possible between the alternate dimensions of life and art, as various, monstrous dimensions erupt within the Communist present'-īook Synopsis NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF 2022 by the New Yorker, Publishers Weekly, The Financial Times, Words Without BordersĪ highly-acclaimed master work of fiction from Cărtărescu, author of Blinding: an existence (and eventually a cosmos) created by forking paths.īased on Cărtărescu'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. 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 minuscule world of dust mites living on a microscope slide. The novel is grounded in the reality of Communist Romania in the late 1970s and early 1980s, including long lines for groceries, the absurdities of the education system, and the misery of family life. On a broad scale, the novel's investigations of other universes, dimensions, and timelines reconcile the realms of life and art. Based on Cæartæarescu's own experience as a high school teacher, Solenoid begins with the mundane details of a diarist's life and quickly spirals into a philosophical account of existence, history, philosophy, and mathematics. About the Book 'From Mircea Cæartæarescu, author of Blinding: an existence (and eventually a cosmos) created by forking paths.

Solenoide de mircea cărtărescu