Solenoid

LONGLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE 2025

WINNER OF THE DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD AND THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE FOR FICTION

An instant classicNew York Times

Based on Cărtărescus own experience as a teacher, Solenoid submerges us in the mundane details of a diarists life and spirals into an existential account of history, philosophy and mathematics. Grounded in the reality of communist Romania, it grapples with frightening health care, the absurdities of the education system and the struggles of family life, while investigating other universes and forking paths.

In a surreal journey like no other, we visit a tuberculosis preventorium, an anti-death protest movement, a society of dream investigators and a minuscule world of dust mites living on a microscope slide. Combining fiction with autobiography and history, Solenoid searches for escape routes through the alternate dimensions of life and art, as various monstrous realities erupt within the present.

PRAISE FOR SOLENOID

Cărtărescu is no longer writing novels. He is officiating a cultTLS

A bravura performanceThe Nation

Nothing short of remarkableLos Angeles Review of Books

A masterpieceAstra Magazine