On the Calculation of Volume V: 'Our century's answer to Proust' New York Times
Nov 2026 · On the Calculation of Volume Book 5 · Faber & Faber
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Tara Selter has become someone new.
It becomes clear just how ridiculous it is: life in progressive time. Or was. Before we came to a halt. How foolishly one can spend a life in a time that moves forward. The nonsense of the ceaseless grind.
The enchanting word-of-mouth sensation accelerates as Tara marks over a decade in the eighteenth of November.
Tara has returned to Thomas, but she is no longer the person he remembers. She has now spent twelve years in the eighteenth of November, while Thomas has endlessly repeated his identical day. He struggles to reconcile Tara as she is now with the Tara he loves. And so she rejoins her friends, with whom she finds companionship and understanding. They set off for Val Benoît, where other time-stranded people have created a community built on curiosity, conversation and even optimism. As the eighteenth of November continues to expand, Tara's connection with those around her deepens, and a life beyond Thomas comes unexpectedly into view.
'I was smitten.' Richard Flanagan
'Hypnotic . . . a philosophical experiment illuminated by a novelist's sensuous and humane way of looking.' New York Times
'A storm of brilliance.' Daisy Johnson
'The greatest literary work of the 21st century so far . . . these books will be seen by future scholars as the work which best captured the soul of our times.' The Herald
It becomes clear just how ridiculous it is: life in progressive time. Or was. Before we came to a halt. How foolishly one can spend a life in a time that moves forward. The nonsense of the ceaseless grind.
The enchanting word-of-mouth sensation accelerates as Tara marks over a decade in the eighteenth of November.
Tara has returned to Thomas, but she is no longer the person he remembers. She has now spent twelve years in the eighteenth of November, while Thomas has endlessly repeated his identical day. He struggles to reconcile Tara as she is now with the Tara he loves. And so she rejoins her friends, with whom she finds companionship and understanding. They set off for Val Benoît, where other time-stranded people have created a community built on curiosity, conversation and even optimism. As the eighteenth of November continues to expand, Tara's connection with those around her deepens, and a life beyond Thomas comes unexpectedly into view.
'I was smitten.' Richard Flanagan
'Hypnotic . . . a philosophical experiment illuminated by a novelist's sensuous and humane way of looking.' New York Times
'A storm of brilliance.' Daisy Johnson
'The greatest literary work of the 21st century so far . . . these books will be seen by future scholars as the work which best captured the soul of our times.' The Herald
Tara Selter has become someone new.
It becomes clear just how ridiculous it is: life in progressive time. Or was. Before we came to a halt. How foolishly one can spend a life in a time that moves forward. The nonsense of the ceaseless grind.
The enchanting word-of-mouth sensation accelerates ...
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About the author
Solvej Balle was born in 1962 and made her debut in 1986 with Lyrefugl ( Lyrebird.) She went on to write one of the 1990s' most acclaimed works of Danish literature, Ifølge loven (1993) ('According to the Law: Four Accounts of Mankind', translated by Barbara Haveland.)
Sophia Hersi Smith and Jennifer Russell have translated authors including Olga Ravn and Tove Ditlevsen. In 2025, they were finalists for the National Book Award for Translated Literature.
Solvej Balle was born in 1962 and made her debut in 1986 with Lyrefugl ( Lyrebird.) She went on to write one of the 1990s' most acclaimed works of Danish literature, Ifølge loven (1993) ('According to the Law: Four Accounts of Mankind', translated by Barbara Haveland.)
Sophia Hersi Smith and Je...
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