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#IB2025
review
Graywacke
Solenoide | Mircea C?rt?rescu
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Pickpick

Phew. My 5th book from the International #Booker longlist took some time, and some perseverance. It flows, it‘s just keep going. A schoolteacher learns of the layout of electrical solenoids connecting through Bucharest, becomes a mite messiah, floats two feet over his bed loses his way in every building, and turns into something like a sperm. Dear reader, you're left to decide what to make of this.
#IB2025

Suet624 Haha. Love this review. 1w
See All 10 Comments
BarbaraBB I am not sure I‘m going to read it… 1w
Tamra Got this one for my husband because it sounds like it‘s right up his alley. 1w
Graywacke @BarbaraBB it‘s a commitment. But you‘re my imagined fearless reader. You might love it. (Although Im finding the biggest fans grew up in Eastern Europe. Seems many feel they can relate) 1w
Graywacke @Tamra just don‘t let him blame me! 😇 1w
BarbaraBB Thank you, that‘s a huge compliment coming from you! Yet I do have some fear for such a chunkster! 1w
sarahbarnes Great review! I just started this one and I‘m already tied in mental knots. It feels like a Pynchon novel. But I‘m strangely attracted to the story so we‘ll see how far I get…. 1w
Graywacke @sarahbarnes you‘re just beginning the adventure. There are highs and lows. You have so much stuff ahead of you! 1w
54 likes1 stack add10 comments
blurb
Graywacke
On a Woman's Madness | Astrid Roemer
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This book from a Suriname-Dutch author was originally published in Dutch in 1982. It was 1st translated to English in 2023, and this year made the 2025 International #Booker longlist. I just started. The language is rich.
#IB2025

sarahbarnes Will be interested in your review of this one. I didn‘t like it as much as I hoped to. 1w
Graywacke @sarahbarnes interesting. So far i‘m sold. I‘m enjoying the language and multiculturalism, and just being in Suriname and in the early 1980‘s literary world (she published this is 1982!) 1w
39 likes1 stack add2 comments
review
Graywacke
Hunchback: A Novel | Saou Ichikawa
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Pickpick

I read this today. Took 2 hours. My 6th from the International #Booker longlist. It‘s highly regarded.

A heavily disabled woman, with a muscular disorder, dependent on helpers and a ventilator, writes pornographic romances under a pen-name. This is about her looking at her life, and ableist biases, even on book reading, and at her own desires. Unsettling and provoking.
#IB2025

BarbaraBB I was very impressed by this book and am sorry it didn‘t make the shortlist 1w
sarahbarnes I liked this one too and read it quickly. Agree with @BarbaraBB that I wish it had made the shortlist. 1w
Graywacke @BarbaraBB @sarahbarnes i try not to get too worked up on the shortlist and winner. 🙂 But this book was worthy of the shortlist. So was Solenoid. 1w
49 likes3 stack adds4 comments
review
Graywacke
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Pickpick

Tough one for Jewish me to review. The premise is that all the Arabs in Israel disappear. So we follow a Jewish reporter who breaks into his disappeared Palestinian friend‘s apartment, and finds and starts reading his diary about the Palestinian history in Jaffa. Reading a Palestinian diary through an uninvited Israeli reader echoes the colonialist theme brought up throughout the novel.

BarbaraBB That sounds tough indeed, especially when you‘re Jewish. I am looking forward to it. 1mo
sarahbarnes I‘m just starting this one. Sounds like a tough read. 2w
Graywacke @sarahbarnes I‘m curious what you think. The reading itself was fast, but i was unable to say anything about it at first. There was a lot to process in my head. 2w
47 likes4 comments
blurb
Graywacke
Solenoide | Mircea C?rt?rescu
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Next international #booker book. I‘m about 20% in - it‘s long. #IB2025

review
Graywacke
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Pickpick

Dystopian feel, with pared down prose and a lot mystery. Eventually we figure out we're in some future with a much smaller population of humanity. And we're within an unnatural system where no one seems to understand the controls. [The Giver] was always on my mind. This is is a bit of a puzzle to put together.

I liked it. I liked the pared down prose and curiosity build-up.

#booker #IB2025 No. 3

51 likes2 comments
review
Graywacke
Eurotrash: Roman | Christian Kracht
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Pickpick

My second from the 2025 #IB2025 longlist.

It's that funny-not-funny-but-still-funny serious-not-serious-very-serious sort of satire - here on the dark history of Europe from the heirs.

But it becomes a bonding road trip, and a series of conversations and a character study of senile mom. This not only works but was thoroughly entertaining, especially because of mom‘s occasional sharpness. Comically heartwarming? Maybe. I enjoyed it. #booker

Suet624 I'm about to sit down and explore all the catalogs of the libraries in my area to see how many of these Booker and Women's Prize lists I can find. Glad you liked this one. (edited) 1mo
AnneCecilie I‘m reading this one now. Hasn‘t gotten to the road trip yet 1mo
Graywacke @Suet624 yay! Either i‘ve hit the good ones 1st or it‘s just a good year. 1mo
Graywacke @AnneCecilie i found the beginning a little overwhelming. If you‘re finding that too, hang in there a bit. 1mo
49 likes5 comments
blurb
Graywacke
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My next international booker read.
#booker #IB2025

review
Graywacke
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Pickpick

Tara Selter is stuck in November 18. That is every day when she wakes up its 11/18 (or 18/11 🇬🇧) , and everything repeats itself - the rainy weather near Lille, France, the sky, and people who wake fresh to their first 11/18, with no memory of the previous 11/18s.

It‘s a very curious book, with terrific atmosphere and yet many unanswered questions. It‘s the kind of book that makes me want to try writing.

#booker #IB2025

sarahbarnes Ooh, great review. I‘m on the hold list for this one and looking forward to it. 1mo
BarbaraBB Great review. I can‘t imagine it being a series! 1mo
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Graywacke @sarahbarnes 👍 I hope you get it soon. Also thanks 1mo
Graywacke @BarbaraBB well, it leaves a lot to answer for. 🙂 I‘m wondering how it might evolve. Book 2 is available in English and I have a library copy. 1mo
AnneCecilie @BarbaraBB As you read on it makes perfect sense. I‘m sitting here waiting for the 6th volume to be released. I think it‘s supposed to be 7 volumes 1mo
Graywacke @AnneCecilie ooh! You‘ve read them in Danish? I think seven are planned. Five released in original language. 1mo
AnneCecilie @Graywacke No, translated into Norwegian, but the Scandinavian countries usually translate each other‘s bestsellers pretty fast 1mo
BarbaraBB @AnneCecilie I hope I‘ll enjoy it I‘d love a good Danish series to look forward to! (edited) 1mo
Graywacke @AnneCecilie that makes sense. And cool 1mo
51 likes1 stack add10 comments
blurb
Graywacke
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Working ok this one. #booker #IB2025

BarbaraBB Very excited about this one. I have heard such good things! 2mo
Graywacke @BarbaraBB easy fast reading. And very curious. I‘m enjoying it. 1mo
sarahbarnes Glad to hear you‘re enjoying this one. It is a bit of a puzzle in places. 1mo
Graywacke @sarahbarnes yes! feels like it‘s all scattered puzzle pieces 1mo
sarahbarnes Yes! Great description. 1mo
47 likes5 comments