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The highly anticipated new novel from the critically acclaimed author of Tokyo Cancelled. Solo recounts the life and daydreams of a reclusive one hundred year-old man from Bulgaria. Before the man lost his sight, he read this story in a magazine: a group of explorers came upon a community of parrots speaking the language of a society that had been wiped out in a recent catastrophe. Astonished by their discovery, they put the parrots in cages and sent them home so that linguists could record what remained of the lost language. But the parrots, already traumatised by the devastation they had recently witnessed, died on the way. Wondering if, unlike the hapless parrots, he has any wisdom to leave to the world, Ulrich embarks on an epic armchair journey through a century of violent politics, forbidden music, lost love and failed chemistry, finding his way eventually to an astonishing epiphany of tenderness and enlightenment.
A reclusive centenarian named Ulrich reflects on his long life and the weight of history as he nears the end of his existence. Ulrich, a man who has lived through the turbulence of the twentieth century, attempts to reconcile his personal failures and lost loves with the broader, often violent, political shifts of his era. His narrative is framed by a reflective, internal monologue that blends his own memories with the allegorical story of parrots who carried the language of a lost civilization. He struggles against the encroaching darkness of his blindness and the isolation of his age, seeking to determine if his own experiences hold any lasting meaning or wisdom for the world he is about to leave behind.
This work is characterized by its ambitious scope and its focus on the internal landscape of a man who has witnessed a century of change. The narrative suggests a preoccupation with the fragility of human connection and the ways in which history leaves its mark on the individual psyche. Readers likely encounter a dense, meditative experience that prioritizes philosophical reflection over traditional plot progression. The text invites an analysis of how personal narratives can serve as repositories for lost cultural knowledge and individual truth.
Page Count:
357
Publication Date:
2009-01-01
Publisher:
Fourth Estate
ISBN-10:
0007182147
ISBN-13:
9780007182145
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