31 h. ago ‘A different philosophy of things’: how Solvej Balle got ahead of Groundhog Day’s time

Solvej Balle had been planning her time-loop novel for a decade when the Bill Murray comedy beat her to it. Thirty years and five volumes later, it is longlisted for the International BookerIf you’ve heard about Solvej Balle’s On the Calculation of Volume I, longlisted for this year’s International Booker prize, you may have experienced a sensation that is central to the Danish writer’s brand of philosophical speculative fiction: deja vu.In Balle’s five-book opus (of a planned septology), the first three of which won the prestigious Nordic Council literature prize in 2022, someone wakes up to find they are reliving the same day over and over. Their partner, family, neighbours: they all experience this day for the first time in their life. Only the protagonist has been there before. That person is a woman called Tara rather than a man called Phil, and the day is 18 November rather than 2 February, but the plot resemblance to Groundhog Day ...

Politics

66 h. ago 'A dark, crazed reversal of Notting Hill and the ending is far from romantic': The best Popular fiction out now

Wendy Holden reviews the best Popular fiction out now.

Politics

3 d. ago Salman Rushdie to tackle mortality in first fiction book written since knife attack

Book will mark author’s first fiction work after being stabbed on stage in 2022 – and will ‘explore themes and places that have been much on my mind’

Events

3 d. ago Salman Rushdie to publish new collection of stories, The Eleventh Hour

The first fiction the author has written since he was attacked in 2022 comprises three novellas and two shorter works set across India, England and the USSalman Rushdie will publish a new collection of stories later this year, the first work of fiction he has written since he was attacked in 2022.The Eleventh Hour comprises three novellas and two shorter works set across India, England and the US, all places Rushdie has lived. Continue reading...

Events

3 d. ago Salman Rushdie's first book of fiction since his stabbing will be published in November

Salman Rushdie has a collection of novellas and short stories coming out this fall

Events

9 d. ago 'Atmospheric and assured': The Literary Fiction you should read now

Stephanie Cross reviews the best Literary Fiction out now.

Politics

4 w. ago Salman Rushdie out, Dan Brown in: why it’s time to detoxify our middle

Drop the pretence: instead of parading a love of highbrow literature, just enjoy the books you want to readToughen up. It’s the end of the line for soft, middle-class authors. Lefty-baiting headteacher Katharine Birbalsingh has declared that “gentle parenting” advice books by middle-class writers are sabotaging families by insisting adults become friends with their children.She’s probably got a point – most mums and dads have watched with a cocked eyebrow as a Boden-clad parent has tranquilly informed little Johnny that punching another child in the face while playing in the sandpit “might not be what they like” – but I say Birbalsingh is not going far enough. Why stop with the parenting books? Why not fillet the whole damn bookcase of toxically middle-class ideas? Visionaries such as Chairman Mao have tried it before – with, admittedly, mixed results – but this time we’ll do it right. Continue reading...

Events