ON THE CALCULATION OF VOLUME (BOOK 1) by Solvej Balle

Translated by Barbara Haveland

There’s a long-running gag in film world about the 1993 Bill Murray romcom, Groundhog Day. Fans have been eager for a sequel so, the gag goes, the studio should just release the film again. No changes. Just… Groundhog Day. Think what you will of the film (or the gag), it’s hard not to be fascinated by the premise. What would happen if someone experienced the same day ad nauseam? In On the Calculation of Volume, the first book in her acclaimed septology, Solvej Balle hits everything Groundhog Day was forced to gloss over for the sake of fuzzy warmth.

Antiquarian book dealer Tara Selter wakes to find that time has stopped. It’s November 18, just like the day before. And the day before that. Given the chance to live the day again, Tara experiments with minor changes, only to find nothing she does makes a difference. Time simply rolls back. Meanwhile, everyone around her is experiencing the day as if for the first time. Balle playfully messes with the various paradoxes thrown up by Tara’s predicament to gloriously mind-blowing effect. An intellectual feast with a cheeky, winking edge.

My brain is mush, but bring on Book Two!

On the Calculation of Volume (Book 1) by Solvej Balle (Tr. Barbara Haveland)
New Directions, 2024 (First pub. 2020)
161 pages