Yes!! So excited to finally hear your thoughts on Solenoid - I completely agree that it's such a difficult book, in the best way possible, to talk about.
Thank you, Sean, and I’m grateful to you for being one of the readers that heavily influenced me to read this sooner rather than later - since it’s a books I could easily have let languish on my shelves for years as it’s so long and difficult but SO worth the time.
Hi Eric, I just wanted to thank you for introducing me to “Solenoid”. I have become obsessed with this novel and think that Mircea Cartarescu is a genius. I would compare this book to Melville’s “Moby Dick” - one of my favorite books. As you said, it is wild and fantastical and also considers very deep questions on life. But even given its penchant for the cerebral and the arcane - there are chapter-length digressions on the fourth dimension, dream cults, the Voynich Manuscript, abstruse mathematics and much else besides - truly Melville like. I read “Solenoid” as a surrealist detective novel, albeit one of vast, existential dimension. The narrator seeks an escape from the riddle of life through “the illumination of certain subterranean connections.” He practices a sweeping solipsism that makes of paranoia a kind of totalizing faith. Every event, image or experience, whether common or outlandish, throbs with sinister meaning. Objects and memories from childhood bloom with late, apocalyptic significance in adulthood. Dreams contain legible clues for the arresting puzzles of waking life. This is the world as pure conspiracy, a web of impossibly esoteric interconnection. The book’s maximalism is no mere formalist tic, then, but a matter of necessity. Only a novel so sprawling, so unexpected, so incongruous could house such a sublime neurosis. A true tour de force. Thanks again.
I’m so glad you connected with it so strongly and surrealist detective novel seems an apt way to describe it. I hope it is one day considered a classic on a par with Moby Dick. All the arcane subject matter is so interesting and it’s recurrence and the way it adds to his compulsive search contributes to the larger meaning. Truly brilliant! Your description makes me want to recommend to you Joyce Carol Oates’ Mysteries of Winterthurn. It’s a gothic novel ostensibly about a few murder cases but becomes much more a search for the meaning of existence.
I read Solenoid several months ago and I too was swept away into this world. I’m glad you said it was a very quotable book, l never thought about it in those but your sharing of quotes brought me right back to that world. It was very a mysterious book that was surprisingly a page turner. After your review more people will discover this treasure
I am currently reading as well, based on your prior recommendation 😊. I had to laugh at one of your opening comments about keeping books pristine, that is so me as well. I worked in a library many decades ago and I remember when we received shipments of new books and I have tried to maintain that delicious experience with my own library.
That's great to hear and I hope you're finding it as powerful as I did. You know I really wish I didn't have this antipathy to underlining and writing in books myself. I loved getting a used book which includes lots of notations and underlining (as long as it doesn't obscure the original text) especially if it's from a friend or family member who has read the book. It's like reading it alongside them! 📚
@@EricKarlAnderson Thanks Eric. I just finished In Ascension which you reviewed several weeks ago. I loved the journey it takes you on. I live in America and could not get it on kindle so I had to order a hard copy from a London bookstore. ❤
this is a great review, I'm so happy that you enjoyed Solenoid! to me, Nostalgia is Cartarescu at his best, but I also love the Blinding trilogy. it's phenomenal, even better than Solenoid imo. i hope the other two books will be translated into English some day so more people can read them :)
Thank you! I've got a copy of Nostalgia so I'm looking forward to reading that. I'll need to get a copy of the first volume of Blinding as well. I wonder why the second two haven't been translated as well.
Thanks for sharing Eric - certainly sounds interesting. Although I can’t tell if I’d love this or it would be too much for me. Will have to have a flip through in a bookshop sometime and see what I make of it!
Yeah, I'm sure it's not a book for everyone. Very dense and you need to be in the right mood. I read it prior to the Int Booker list announcement and when I realised it wasn't eligible felt I ought to put it aside but the narrative sucked me in and I had to keep reading as it is so good. Hopefully they still have copies for sale at Foyles so you can have a look in person.
I picked this novel up because of you and it was beautiful, but it was also such a slog at times due to the dense descriptions. However, I came out of it loving the literature of it all. One of my favorite parts was towards the end where he describes his first wife and their relationship in detail. I thought it was one of the most beautiful depictions of mental health and relationships that I have ever read. Anyway, I love watching your reviews on books (that I've picked up because of you) after I've read them because you provide such a great insight into them.
That’s so great to hear and I know exactly what you mean. It did feel like a slog at times but ultimately so worth it. Thanks so much for commenting! 😊
Great to hear your thoughts on Solenoid! Thanks for the heads-up on the male gaziness at times, I'll go in prepared - but it sounds like it's still worth it. I'll have to try and figure out when to slot this chunkster in...
Yeah I think it's worth knowing about beforehand but it's really so much a part of his voice. And finding time for such big books is always tough but it's one that really warrants the space to read and savour it.
Pretty sure the phrase "soft machine" for a body was coined by William S. Burroughs, but I'm sure Cartarescu is interesting. Chris Via at "Leaf by Leaf" raves about this one as well
Hi Eric - I was delighted to find this book in foyles yesterday as I had been on the lookout for it since watching this video as it sounds like this book was written for me! Having read the first few pages, I can already see the magic - I have read and re-read a passage where he is describing purging lice in a hot bath. Yes it’s gross but also strangely beautiful in the way he uses words in unexpected ways as you mention in this video. I love how he describes his bath as a ‘limpid eye’ waiting for him! Daily mundane activities like having a bath are described in a way that feels like you’re viewing it through the perspective of someone who is on some sort of hallucinogenic trip - I guess that’s surrealism! How long did it take you to read though and did you read it alongside other books? I so want to read it in full but slightly intimidated by the density and length - I may need to take it slowly! 😊
Great, yeah Foyles have been good about stocking it. So glad you’re enjoying the creative use of language. It took me a little over 2 weeks to read and I think I stuck with it fairly faithfully as it requires dedication but definitely worth it!
I love your review. Thanks for reading. You will not believe what makes me want to read it. Human brain and perception When you say Solenoid, it sounds So Annoyed, which I have been for what seems like a year, which is weird b/c I'm known to be the most patient person. I don't know what COVID did. But, seriously, the book sounds meticulous and really interesting. Thank you again.
Very positive review, which I like - tho tbh I didn't 100% agree with your praise for The Birthday Party (which I read in the original French). While I did agree that it was brilliantly put together, there was that feeling of empty calories after finishing it. Certainly, the events on the farm that night are worthwhile for sharing as a story but as a novel was there any deeper meaning beyond the somewhat predictable end to the completely unpredictable beginning? Nonetheless, I find myself drawn to Solenoid because in general I believe you have good taste in books.
Thanks, I hope you enjoy it and it’s a shame to hear The Birthday Party wasn’t entirely effective for you. For me the style did resonate with a larger meaning than the plot.
I must find the time to read this. The question remains, do I read it in original or in English? I hope it gets published in the UK so it can go for the International Booker prize.
Finding time for such a big book is always tough but this definitely deserves it. If you can read it in the original language that'd be great. And I really hope it gets a proper publication in the UK too.
![กี่หมื่นฟ้า | Your Sky Series EP.1 [1/4]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/vLGjxFL6U_I/mqdefault.jpg)
Yes!! So excited to finally hear your thoughts on Solenoid - I completely agree that it's such a difficult book, in the best way possible, to talk about.
Thank you, Sean, and I’m grateful to you for being one of the readers that heavily influenced me to read this sooner rather than later - since it’s a books I could easily have let languish on my shelves for years as it’s so long and difficult but SO worth the time.
Your enthusiasm is contagious. I’m definitely reading this novel.
That's great to hear and I hope you find it as powerful as I did!
Hi Eric, I just wanted to thank you for introducing me to “Solenoid”. I have become obsessed with this novel and think that Mircea Cartarescu is a genius. I would compare this book to Melville’s “Moby Dick” - one of my favorite books. As you said, it is wild and fantastical and also considers very deep questions on life. But even given its penchant for the cerebral and the arcane - there are chapter-length digressions on the fourth dimension, dream cults, the Voynich Manuscript, abstruse mathematics and much else besides - truly Melville like. I read “Solenoid” as a surrealist detective novel, albeit one of vast, existential dimension. The narrator seeks an escape from the riddle of life through “the illumination of certain subterranean connections.” He practices a sweeping solipsism that makes of paranoia a kind of totalizing faith. Every event, image or experience, whether common or outlandish, throbs with sinister meaning. Objects and memories from childhood bloom with late, apocalyptic significance in adulthood. Dreams contain legible clues for the arresting puzzles of waking life. This is the world as pure conspiracy, a web of impossibly esoteric interconnection. The book’s maximalism is no mere formalist tic, then, but a matter of necessity. Only a novel so sprawling, so unexpected, so incongruous could house such a sublime neurosis. A true tour de force. Thanks again.
I’m so glad you connected with it so strongly and surrealist detective novel seems an apt way to describe it. I hope it is one day considered a classic on a par with Moby Dick. All the arcane subject matter is so interesting and it’s recurrence and the way it adds to his compulsive search contributes to the larger meaning. Truly brilliant! Your description makes me want to recommend to you Joyce Carol Oates’ Mysteries of Winterthurn. It’s a gothic novel ostensibly about a few murder cases but becomes much more a search for the meaning of existence.
Such a spectacular piece of writing.
Great discussion. 🙏🏽
Added to my never ending to-buy books 😅 thank you.
😊📚📚📚
As a Romanian and an English major, I have to say that the translator is also a genius. Great review
I read Solenoid several months ago and I too was swept away into this world. I’m glad you said it was a very quotable book, l never thought about it in those but your sharing of quotes brought me right back to that world. It was very a mysterious book that was surprisingly a page turner. After your review more people will discover this treasure
Yeah, so many lines in this book made me stop and think about them to consider their meaning and admire their beauty.
I’ve read Blinding, and I was blown away by it! Now I wanna read Solenoid.
I am currently reading as well, based on your prior recommendation 😊. I had to laugh at one of your opening comments about keeping books pristine, that is so me as well. I worked in a library many decades ago and I remember when we received shipments of new books and I have tried to maintain that delicious experience with my own library.
That's great to hear and I hope you're finding it as powerful as I did. You know I really wish I didn't have this antipathy to underlining and writing in books myself. I loved getting a used book which includes lots of notations and underlining (as long as it doesn't obscure the original text) especially if it's from a friend or family member who has read the book. It's like reading it alongside them! 📚
I just downloaded it on kindle. Now I am very excited to start it.😀
Great! That version should be much easier to hold up than the heavy physical version. 😅 Hope you enjoy the wild ride that is this novel!
@@EricKarlAnderson Thanks Eric. I just finished In Ascension which you reviewed several weeks ago. I loved the journey it takes you on. I live in America and could not get it on kindle so I had to order a hard copy from a London bookstore. ❤
@@stephenzane1247 that’s great to hear and I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
this is a great review, I'm so happy that you enjoyed Solenoid! to me, Nostalgia is Cartarescu at his best, but I also love the Blinding trilogy. it's phenomenal, even better than Solenoid imo. i hope the other two books will be translated into English some day so more people can read them :)
Thank you! I've got a copy of Nostalgia so I'm looking forward to reading that. I'll need to get a copy of the first volume of Blinding as well. I wonder why the second two haven't been translated as well.
After Solenoid it is impossible for me not to look for any other book from Cartarescu.
Loved your review. Will read this book soon. thanks. 🙂
Thank you! It’s such a powerful experience and hope you enjoy it.
thank you for bringing attention to this writer, I see he was published in my country so I will search for his books!
Thanks for sharing Eric - certainly sounds interesting. Although I can’t tell if I’d love this or it would be too much for me. Will have to have a flip through in a bookshop sometime and see what I make of it!
Yeah, I'm sure it's not a book for everyone. Very dense and you need to be in the right mood. I read it prior to the Int Booker list announcement and when I realised it wasn't eligible felt I ought to put it aside but the narrative sucked me in and I had to keep reading as it is so good. Hopefully they still have copies for sale at Foyles so you can have a look in person.
I picked this novel up because of you and it was beautiful, but it was also such a slog at times due to the dense descriptions. However, I came out of it loving the literature of it all. One of my favorite parts was towards the end where he describes his first wife and their relationship in detail. I thought it was one of the most beautiful depictions of mental health and relationships that I have ever read. Anyway, I love watching your reviews on books (that I've picked up because of you) after I've read them because you provide such a great insight into them.
That’s so great to hear and I know exactly what you mean. It did feel like a slog at times but ultimately so worth it. Thanks so much for commenting! 😊
I am reading through this now, it is amazing.
So glad you’re reading it!
The way you talk about the books you love..
I know I have to read this one.
I hope you find time. It's definitely worth it!
@@EricKarlAnderson 🙏😊
Great to hear your thoughts on Solenoid! Thanks for the heads-up on the male gaziness at times, I'll go in prepared - but it sounds like it's still worth it. I'll have to try and figure out when to slot this chunkster in...
Yeah I think it's worth knowing about beforehand but it's really so much a part of his voice. And finding time for such big books is always tough but it's one that really warrants the space to read and savour it.
Pretty sure the phrase "soft machine" for a body was coined by William S. Burroughs, but I'm sure Cartarescu is interesting. Chris Via at "Leaf by Leaf" raves about this one as well
Ah yes, that'd make sense. Yeah, I love Chris and Sean's videos about this novel too.
Hi Eric - I was delighted to find this book in foyles yesterday as I had been on the lookout for it since watching this video as it sounds like this book was written for me! Having read the first few pages, I can already see the magic - I have read and re-read a passage where he is describing purging lice in a hot bath. Yes it’s gross but also strangely beautiful in the way he uses words in unexpected ways as you mention in this video. I love how he describes his bath as a ‘limpid eye’ waiting for him! Daily mundane activities like having a bath are described in a way that feels like you’re viewing it through the perspective of someone who is on some sort of hallucinogenic trip - I guess that’s surrealism! How long did it take you to read though and did you read it alongside other books? I so want to read it in full but slightly intimidated by the density and length - I may need to take it slowly! 😊
Great, yeah Foyles have been good about stocking it. So glad you’re enjoying the creative use of language. It took me a little over 2 weeks to read and I think I stuck with it fairly faithfully as it requires dedication but definitely worth it!
I love your review. Thanks for reading. You will not believe what makes me want to read it. Human brain and perception When you say Solenoid, it sounds So Annoyed, which I have been for what seems like a year, which is weird b/c I'm known to be the most patient person. I don't know what COVID did. But, seriously, the book sounds meticulous and really interesting. Thank you again.
Thanks! I think you’ll find it absolutely fascinating.
You’ve sold me!
😊💫
Wow. I knew so little about this book before watching this video. Reality is wonderfully weird! Now I must read this book.
I hope you get a chance to read it and enjoy it as much as I did!
I feel like cheating. I do not need money to buy books anymore. You are a nice saint. Thanks
I want to read it! Chris Vai from Leaf by Leaf loves it a lot!
Yeah he has great taste.
Adding to my TBR ….
👍📚
Very positive review, which I like - tho tbh I didn't 100% agree with your praise for The Birthday Party (which I read in the original French). While I did agree that it was brilliantly put together, there was that feeling of empty calories after finishing it. Certainly, the events on the farm that night are worthwhile for sharing as a story but as a novel was there any deeper meaning beyond the somewhat predictable end to the completely unpredictable beginning? Nonetheless, I find myself drawn to Solenoid because in general I believe you have good taste in books.
Thanks, I hope you enjoy it and it’s a shame to hear The Birthday Party wasn’t entirely effective for you. For me the style did resonate with a larger meaning than the plot.
I must find the time to read this. The question remains, do I read it in original or in English? I hope it gets published in the UK so it can go for the International Booker prize.
Finding time for such a big book is always tough but this definitely deserves it. If you can read it in the original language that'd be great. And I really hope it gets a proper publication in the UK too.
i had to write an essay on solenoids two months back, it definitely wasn't this lol
haha. I'd be really interested to know what someone thinks about this novel who actually knows about solenoids.
“Masculine trappings “ ha
A bit of a belaboring slog in parts… nevertheless warrants a reread.