I have the Solenoid audiobook, does that count? 😅 Haven't listened, though. Backlog! Books can be magical, and you built up such high expectations, t'is dangerous! ;)
It’s funny because this seems to be the most commonly held opinion about Cărtărescu as a novelist. His short stories are constantly praised, but from what I’ve seen, his novels are not really that widely read. As for myself, I’ve never read any of his work except a poem, but he never seemed like my style. I’m not big on postmodernist writers.
I read that REM is very good. The whole Nostalgia collection, actually. But I’m not sure which of his books are actually available in English translation.
I've been averse to the idea of listening to books, so I'm late to the trend. I was strictly a short audio person, eg, Substack newsletters, short stories with The New Yorker (they have the best narrators, bar none).
Audio meant I finally did Middlemarch!
There are a lot of free audio books, including the classics, which are out of copyright, and even many books that are more contemporary. Eg. I recently listened to The Road (free book), which was sublime. Listening to McCormick is a whole different experience to reading him. Now I'm working my way through all of Cormac on audio, because his words are meant to be heard aloud.
Another tip - I've found that a speed of 1.15 is the sweet spot for my listening. 😁
I agree - fucking sensational. Something about the way you recommended it to me...I knew I had to read it. Didn't matter that no bookstores in London seemed to carry it. This made me more intrigued. Of course, this was remedied by an easy online order with a more difficult task of fitting the book in my carry-on from London back to Basel.
I devoured this book. I sat with this book. Sometimes I felt Cartarescu was seeing into my mind. Other times, I wondered at the creation of that strange mind through his life in Communist Bucharest. (I don't mean strange in a negative way.)
I'm leaving it there for now, because there will be something coming, though I/we don't know what yet. Thank you, my friend, for introducing it to me.
Phew. I was worried perhaps you didn't like it, even though I knew you would. But then of course when I read things like Borges in there, I figured it was all ok 😉
Ugh, like when you learn a new word, and suddenly it's everywhere!
It is a bit nice to feel like the centre of the universe sometimes, though. Like the author is leaving little treats for you. You're clearly not impartial, but on a scale from 1-10, how much is Solenoid worth the 700-page trek?
I'd rate it at least nine ultra-strong magnets! (Sample the Kindle version to get a flavour. That's what I did before making the leap to purchase the physical copy.)
This recommendation has the highest persuasion to information ratio I have ever seen. There is almost no explanation as to what the book is about, and yet, I find myself almost irresistibly compelled to read it AT ONCE. The moment you compared words to a current-filled wire, I could feel the kryptonite dissolving my engineering heart...How...what is happening...
Wait, first… you’re a magician?!!!! So many fabulous metaphors from that world you can draw upon in your writing. (My nephew was obsessed with magic for years and became quite good….though maybe I’m just a proud auntie.)
I love hearing you swoon over a book. I have a few of those and it is pure magic (there’s that word again) when they slip into our lives and never will we ever be the same. 🤍
Isn’t it amazing, thrilling even, when coincidences like that occur, when synchronicity ripples across your world. Chills indeed. The right book at the right time. Congratulations. And thanks for another engrossing post. Hugs dear fellow. All the best. 🤗🤗
So pleased you linked to this in your most recent post and so devastated at myself for not having read this when it went out, because I even remember you suggesting there may be little something something waiting here. I have it, now!
Oh Mr. Slake now you’re just showing off. What a delicious feast of words you’ve strung together in this homage. I see more and more of the scientist in you revealed. The footnotes alone!I do hope the author is deserving of such loving praise. I’ve added the book to my list!
I think I've said a few times in the comments that this book certainly isn't for everyone, but I definitely recommend at least sampling the free Kindle sample to see what you think. It's a wild, wild journey of a story.
You might just have a way of worming your thoughts into mine as now I am dead curious as to what this book is. Thanks for adding books to my ever growing list of to reads.
Also love the bit about being afraid to share it, as the novelty might wear off, I totally get you.
Isn't it the most exciting thing in the world when a bunch of synchronicities and strangenesses all gather around a particular thing..?! It's like entering into conversation with some languageless alien that's encouraging something without being able to speak to you, and what could be more fun than that! Obviously, I want to read the book now. Though I'm mindful of the fact that a part of me would be disappointed if / when I didn't get any wordless alien visitations, so...
Thank you for the footnote, I got a couple of paragraphs in assuming there was some kind of Terry tomfoolery afoot before scrolling down and seeing it in fact were true! You're an international man of mystery, Nathan...
I have the Solenoid audiobook, does that count? 😅 Haven't listened, though. Backlog! Books can be magical, and you built up such high expectations, t'is dangerous! ;)
Heh, yes, whoops. I should have put a disclaimer of "You may not like this book."
If I don't like it, I want my money back!! 😂
Does he narrate it?? It must be quite long...
read by Paul Boehmer, only 34hrs, half as long as the War and Peace audiobook! 🤣
That's a good chunk of hours!
Wooooah. You are undertaking something pretty wild.
Madness. Must record a chapter of W&P now. 15-minute warm-up as per Jo's recommendation! ;)
Why do we do these things to ourselves? 😆
PS I think you would like Solenoid...this comment clarifies it for me.
🤷♂️ one must suffer to gain! And... you know what's next. Trust in GAIN! 😂
I am sure I will like it.
Did you read Albert Camus?
Only The Stranger, a long time ago.
Are you a fan?
He's a more genuine Mircea Cărtărescu. Sorry, I'm Romanian and not a fan.
Aw no 😞
Just of his style? His content? What makes him disingenuous?
Maybe I'm too harsh. I just don't find anything interesting and innovative about his writing.
Totally fair. It's definitely not for everyone.
This is the only book I've read of his, so I can't speak for his oeuvre. I imagine it could be divisive.
Many people love his writing and he is widely praised and acclaimed. It's a personal thing for me.
It’s funny because this seems to be the most commonly held opinion about Cărtărescu as a novelist. His short stories are constantly praised, but from what I’ve seen, his novels are not really that widely read. As for myself, I’ve never read any of his work except a poem, but he never seemed like my style. I’m not big on postmodernist writers.
I remember you mentioning this before, Andrei. This is the first thing of his I've read, so I'd like to read some more of his work to compare.
I read that REM is very good. The whole Nostalgia collection, actually. But I’m not sure which of his books are actually available in English translation.
Yes, the opinions are quite split on his style. It's a matter of taste, I guess.
As anything else 😔
I think that when it comes to art it's ok.
Have you read this book or something else he wrote?
Was going to ask the same.
I started reading this book and stoped.
I read something else he wrote. I know that he's a big and very well known author. He's just not my style.
Understandable. It's quite specific, I feel.
Yes. There are other writers who use this style that I much prefer.
You need to read others. Surprised you didn't at least reach for The Plague during a lockdown, we had a few.
You have surely read his essays, or only The Myth of Sisyphus?
No, unfortunately. Uncultured me! (Unless we covered some of those back in high school, but I don't recall.)
There's always just been an unclimbable TBR pile, but I can toss these on there too :)
You should!
Also the option of shifting some of your readings to audio.
I don't know about this book you're recommending. Sounds daunting. 😁
Yeah that's a good idea to do that (audiobooks), actually. A very good idea!
Hehe, it's a bit of a beast of a tome.
I've been averse to the idea of listening to books, so I'm late to the trend. I was strictly a short audio person, eg, Substack newsletters, short stories with The New Yorker (they have the best narrators, bar none).
Audio meant I finally did Middlemarch!
There are a lot of free audio books, including the classics, which are out of copyright, and even many books that are more contemporary. Eg. I recently listened to The Road (free book), which was sublime. Listening to McCormick is a whole different experience to reading him. Now I'm working my way through all of Cormac on audio, because his words are meant to be heard aloud.
Another tip - I've found that a speed of 1.15 is the sweet spot for my listening. 😁
Did this comment spark Nathan to add the actual book title? 😆
Camus is great!! This book is a little longer...maybe why not so many people have read it. ;-)
Haha nah that image was always there, even though I split it up just to be weird and more cryptic haha.
He also reminded you of Albert Camus?
I'm curious now go do a comparison and read some Camus.
I agree - fucking sensational. Something about the way you recommended it to me...I knew I had to read it. Didn't matter that no bookstores in London seemed to carry it. This made me more intrigued. Of course, this was remedied by an easy online order with a more difficult task of fitting the book in my carry-on from London back to Basel.
I devoured this book. I sat with this book. Sometimes I felt Cartarescu was seeing into my mind. Other times, I wondered at the creation of that strange mind through his life in Communist Bucharest. (I don't mean strange in a negative way.)
I'm leaving it there for now, because there will be something coming, though I/we don't know what yet. Thank you, my friend, for introducing it to me.
Phew. I was worried perhaps you didn't like it, even though I knew you would. But then of course when I read things like Borges in there, I figured it was all ok 😉
Ha, I would have stopped after a hundred pages or so if I didn't like it! (or at least by 400...)
😆😆
PS wow your comments are exploding right now
"This book has infected me" Haha! I love this. It's a little creepy sometimes the way they follow us around echoing.
Yeah, and maybe it's always there but it's noticeable only when you're open to it and start noticing.
Ugh, like when you learn a new word, and suddenly it's everywhere!
It is a bit nice to feel like the centre of the universe sometimes, though. Like the author is leaving little treats for you. You're clearly not impartial, but on a scale from 1-10, how much is Solenoid worth the 700-page trek?
I'd rate it at least nine ultra-strong magnets! (Sample the Kindle version to get a flavour. That's what I did before making the leap to purchase the physical copy.)
The most magnets I've ever seen a book get! I'll have to cheapen its inherent value by giving it a go...
Haha. I hope you enjoy. Let me know!
This recommendation has the highest persuasion to information ratio I have ever seen. There is almost no explanation as to what the book is about, and yet, I find myself almost irresistibly compelled to read it AT ONCE. The moment you compared words to a current-filled wire, I could feel the kryptonite dissolving my engineering heart...How...what is happening...
Hehe, this comment makes me smile, Renee. I did think of you when writing this out, wondering whether it might appeal to the engineering side.
It's very much magical realism. It's very weird.
Wait, first… you’re a magician?!!!! So many fabulous metaphors from that world you can draw upon in your writing. (My nephew was obsessed with magic for years and became quite good….though maybe I’m just a proud auntie.)
I love hearing you swoon over a book. I have a few of those and it is pure magic (there’s that word again) when they slip into our lives and never will we ever be the same. 🤍
In a former life, yes. Helped pay my way through my PhD and keep me from going insane.
Thanks, Kimberly. A magical (!) thing indeed.
Serendipitous… perhaps the magic and melding happened?
“I clutched that book to my chest each day, hoping I could meld the principles with my skin.”
and of course now I have to track down this book!
Heh, well that initial one is a specific magic book whose title I omitted.
But as for Solenoid, the same words apply, for different reasons ;)
This one is on my to read list already…wondering if you had mentioned it in passing somewhere else?
I probably did, yeah, possibly in a Note at some point or a previous post mentioning what I was currently reading.
Isn’t it amazing, thrilling even, when coincidences like that occur, when synchronicity ripples across your world. Chills indeed. The right book at the right time. Congratulations. And thanks for another engrossing post. Hugs dear fellow. All the best. 🤗🤗
Yes, I love it. Synchronicity. The perfect word.
Thanks, Beth. Same to you! 🤗
Borges Book of Sand. Read a story and his words seep deep In subconscious to provide you with a dream world mover experienced previously.
I haven't read this one yet, but I look forward to it.
Also major lol for redaction
So pleased you linked to this in your most recent post and so devastated at myself for not having read this when it went out, because I even remember you suggesting there may be little something something waiting here. I have it, now!
FOUR MONTHS AGO ;)
Hehe. I have waited patiently.
Oh Mr. Slake now you’re just showing off. What a delicious feast of words you’ve strung together in this homage. I see more and more of the scientist in you revealed. The footnotes alone!I do hope the author is deserving of such loving praise. I’ve added the book to my list!
Hehe, thanks Ben ;)
I think I've said a few times in the comments that this book certainly isn't for everyone, but I definitely recommend at least sampling the free Kindle sample to see what you think. It's a wild, wild journey of a story.
You might just have a way of worming your thoughts into mine as now I am dead curious as to what this book is. Thanks for adding books to my ever growing list of to reads.
Also love the bit about being afraid to share it, as the novelty might wear off, I totally get you.
You're welcome ;)
Thanks so much for reading, Ika!
Isn't it the most exciting thing in the world when a bunch of synchronicities and strangenesses all gather around a particular thing..?! It's like entering into conversation with some languageless alien that's encouraging something without being able to speak to you, and what could be more fun than that! Obviously, I want to read the book now. Though I'm mindful of the fact that a part of me would be disappointed if / when I didn't get any wordless alien visitations, so...
Thank you for the footnote, I got a couple of paragraphs in assuming there was some kind of Terry tomfoolery afoot before scrolling down and seeing it in fact were true! You're an international man of mystery, Nathan...
So well said, Chloe. "Languageless alien" feels so correct. And there's a fair slew of alien-like moments within Solenoid's pages.
I did wonder whether those who never read my pieces on magic may begin this thinking I was speaking lies 😂
Well THAT is one hell of a recommendation, Mister Slake - Disclaimer noted ;)
🙌
I certainly feel trepidation in recommending it to anyone because it most certainly isn't going to be for everyone, but boy oh boy did I love it.
But then again, I loved The Shards, so ... 😉