SOLENOID by Mircea Cărtărescu; trans. by Sean Cotter

“A beguiling novel that plunges deep into subterranean conspiracy theories while questioning the nature of reality.”

solenoid

screeching halt when she overhears Simon’s daughter, Taylor, a famous model and influencer, plotting to kill her father so she can inherit his fortune before he marries his much-younger fiancee. Taylor is still reeling from her mother’s death and has developed various addictions she can’t refrain from long enough to pass a drug test and regain access to her trust fund. She also has eyes for Nate, whom she dated in high school and is still in love with. After she figures out, a little too easily, that Brandi overheard her plotting to kill her own father, she gets Brandi fired from her internship and goes about trying first to bribe her, then to destroy her life. This is where the plot becomes hard to believe; despite knowing that a stranger who dislikes her is now aware of the plan, Taylor plots her father’s murder anyway—and not very carefully, either. Switching the point of view between Brandi and Taylor destroys any remaining tension, because the reader is always steps ahead of the characters, most of whom are riddled with clichés. Simon, who only shows up to yell at Taylor, ignore her, or ogle his new fiancee, barely feels like a person. Taylor is shallow and greedy, and her decisions make her appear frustratingly stupid; at the same time, she thinks she’s outsmarting everyone merely by talking her way out of things. The fact that other characters often believe her makes them seem to lack intelligence, too. Though a bit too naïve, Brandi is the most interesting character, and her relationship with Nate is the best part of the book.

An easy read but lacking in depth.

SOLENOID

Cărtărescu, Mircea Trans. by Sean Cotter Deep Vellum (672 pp.) $22.00 paper | Oct. 25, 2022 978-1-646052-02-8

A beguiling novel that plunges deep into subterranean conspiracy theories while questioning the nature of reality.

“You can’t sow the world with dreams, because the world itself was a dream.” The