{"product_id":"book-h19o","title":"Solenoid","description":"\u003cb\u003eA highly-acclaimed master work of fiction from Cartarescu, author of \u003ci\u003eBlinding\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBased on Cartarescu's own role as a high school teacher, \u003ci\u003eSolenoid\u003c\/i\u003e begins with the mundane details of a diarist's life and quickly spirals into a philosophical account of life, history, philosophy, and mathematics. One character asks another: when you rush into the burning building, will you save the newborn or the artwork? On a broad scale, the novel's investigations of other universes, dimensions, and timelines reconcile the realms of life and art.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe novel is grounded in the reality of late 1970s\/early 1980s Communist Romania, including long lines for groceries, the absurdities of the education system, and the misery of family life. The text includes sequences in a tuberculosis sanatorium, an encounter with an anti-death protest movement, a society of dream investigators, and an extended visit to the miniscule world of dust mites living on a microscope slide.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCombining fiction with autobiography and history, \u003ci\u003eSolenoid\u003c\/i\u003e ruminates on the exchanges possible between the alternate dimensions of life and art, as various, monstrous dimensions erupt within the Communist present.","brand":"Tantor","offers":[{"title":"Audiobook","offer_id":49357133152560,"sku":"BDh19o","price":35.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Audio CD","offer_id":49357133218096,"sku":"ZEh19o","price":85.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"Audio MP3-CD","offer_id":49357133250864,"sku":"ZMh19o","price":69.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0879\/2784\/9264\/files\/h19o-Square-cover.jpg?v=1780230480","url":"https:\/\/downpour.com\/products\/book-h19o","provider":"Downpour","version":"1.0","type":"link"}