Booknotes 5.23

On the Calculation of Volume I, by Solvej Balle, published 2020 (translation by Barbara J. Haveland published 2024), science fiction, 105 pages. I’m not sure what I think. I do love time loops. The mechanics here were interesting, too, and the overall take felt fresh. And yet, in spite of having read Proust and thus being able to read books in which not much happens, and in spite of reading more for voice and character than for plot these days, I don’t feel at all compelled to pick up the next volume. If any of you have read the subsequent volumes and think it’s worth continuing on, let me know! Everything Is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection, by John Green, published 2025, nonfiction, 215 pages. A quick read about an awful, awful thing. Fascinating and worthwhile. I wish the world were a fairer place. The War Lovers: Roosevelt, Lodge, Hearst, and the Rush to Empire, 1898, by Evan Thomas, published 2010, history, 450 pages. Another step on my…