Solvej Balle: On the Calculation of Volume, Volume I

In Solvej Balle’s critically acclaimed work (planned as seven volumes, of which Volume VI is the most recently published), we meet the antiquarian bookseller Tara Selter, who, after a business trip, has slipped into a groove in time. She wakes up again and again on November 18. While she experiences one November 18 after another, her surroundings are reset each night and awaken convinced that they are living through the first November 18 of that year. They do not age as she does and cannot comprehend her new world.

We meet Tara after she has experienced 121 November 18s, and I can reveal that this is far from the last for her. What is Tara to do? Should she stay, or should she move elsewhere? Is she alone in her time loop? And what consequences do her actions have—both if she stays and if she leaves?

We will discuss the genre of speculative fiction, and whether time might also be “out of joint” in our own society. Even if we do not experience the same day repeating itself, can we relate Tara’s experiences to our everyday lives? Is this (also) activist literature? There is much to talk about—not least time, existence, movement, and love.

Solvej Balle won the Nordic Council Literature Prize in 2022 for Volumes I–III.

We will read and discuss Volume I, but participants are of course welcome to read all published volumes.

Salon host: Katrine