Solenoid - Mircea Cărtărescu

Please join us for Solenoid by Mircea Cărtărescu .

Book descriptions (take care, may contain spoilers): Goodreads; Wikipedia.

Published in 2015, and drawing 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. On a broad scale, the novel investigates other universes, dimensions, and the realms of life and art. 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 minuscule world of dust mites living on a microscope slide.

Combining fiction with autobiography and history Solenoid explores life and art, as various, monstrous dimensions erupt within the Communist present.

Cărtărescu is a Romanian novellist, author, essayist and literary critic, born in Bucharest in 1956. His works blend autobiography, history, and surrealism, often exploring themes of memory, identity, and the human condition. Cărtărescu's works, translated into numerous languages, have garnered him international recognition and prestigious awards. He's also a prominent literary figure in Romania, serving as a professor at the University of Bucharest and a member of various literary organizations.

Cărtărescu's literary career began with poetry in the 1970s, with his first book, Faruri, vitrine, fotografii, published in 1980. He gained wider recognition with "Nostalgia" (1989), a collection of five novellas. His later works, including Solenoid, have solidified his reputation as an international literary figure. Cărtărescu's writing style is characterized by its vivid imagery, intricate narratives, and exploration of the human condition through both the mundane and the fantastic. He remains a prolific writer, translator, and literary critic, contributing significantly to the cultural landscape of Romania and beyond.

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