Solenoid

Solenoid by Mircea Cartarescu tells of a life that seems plain. Yet strange things happen, and the narrator tries to record them. These events have long stayed private. They are hard to grasp or prove. Small odd things seem to form a pattern when seen together. That pattern brings unease.

The novel asks how to tell of things that defy belief. The narrator does not trust fiction. It might blur what took place. Yet verse does not seem to fit. Nor does a study based on facts. The search for a form joins the story itself.

The book won the 2024 International Dublin Literary Award. It also won the 2023 Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction. It earned a nomination for the 2025 International Booker Prize.