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. “ 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 dystopian reality of communist Romania finds its way in a unique way in Mircea Cărtărescu’s writing, who escapes it in an elevating form of imagination. When it comes to Eastern European literature, the long and often hopeless years of communism have been and still are a vivid subject for many writers, spanning generations, each of them remembering things in a different way. He wrote over 25 books of fiction, poetry, and critique. This is Cărtărescu’s third book published in English, after “ Blinding” and “ Nostalgia”. The book was originally published in 2015 in Romania, then translated in English by Sean Cotter and published by Deep Vellum in 2022. A fine night of Romanian literature and culture in San Francisco : the acclaimed, award winning writer Mircea Cărtărescu is currently completing a book tour in the US, and introduced his book, “ Solenoid” at City Lights Bookstore last night, in a conversation with another author, Mauro Javier Cardenas.
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