{"product_id":"9781805333197","title":"Solenoid - Mircea Cartarescu","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eLONGLISTED FOR THE INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE 2025\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWINNER OF THE DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD AND THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE FOR FICTION\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'An instant classic' \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBased on Cartarescu's own experience as a teacher, \u003ci\u003eSolenoid\u003c\/i\u003e submerges us in the mundane details of a diarist's 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn 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, \u003ci\u003eSolenoid\u003c\/i\u003e searches for escape routes through the alternate dimensions of life and art, as various monstrous realities erupt within the present.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePRAISE FOR SOLENOID\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Cartarescu is no longer writing novels. He is officiating a cult' \u003ci\u003eTLS\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'A bravura performance' \u003ci\u003eThe Nation\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e'Surreal and viscerally political' \u003ci\u003eFT\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Nothing short of remarkable' \u003ci\u003eLos Angeles Review of Books\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'A masterpiece' \u003ci\u003eAstra Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Mircea Cartarescu","offers":[{"title":"640 pages \/ 06\/06\/2024 \/ Modern \u0026 contemporary fiction (post c 1945)","offer_id":56970983047543,"sku":"9781805333197","price":12.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0682\/9454\/1624\/files\/9781805333197.jpg?v=1781001606","url":"https:\/\/gulpfictionbooks.com\/products\/9781805333197","provider":"Gulp Fiction","version":"1.0","type":"link"}