The Physics of Sorrow

"In this brilliant book, Georgi Gospodinov considers the concept of “weight” in physics. He writes, “The past, sorrow, literature – only these three weightless whales interest me.” This book raises vexing questions about the human condition, traveling down labyrinthine digressions about topics that consume us – life, death, social woes, war, peace, old age, youth. And, above all, the creation of literature. For Gospodinov, time is an artifice and present, past and future slide around like pieces on a chessboard. This fragmented novel coheres into a remarkable whole, a winding maze through Bulgarian communism, art, literature, history, the personal past, love, sorrow and so much more."