Whenever I travel—whether I’m gone for two weeks, or am spending a weekend away—I want to read something that complements or expands the setting or headspace I’m in.
I recently spent two weeks on the west coast, and brought with me Adam Ross’s Playworld, which at five hundred pages counts for two books (suitcase math!), Katie Kitamura’s excellent A Separation, and Territory of Light by Yuko Tsushima, translated by Geraldine Harcourt. As with summer, it seems there is always a book that defines a trip—or any extended period away from home—and for me, this time, it was On the Calculation of Volume I by Solvej Balle (trans. by Barbara Haveland).
Time adopts a fantastical quality when I go to this little island. There are no roads or cars. Electricity only pulses when we run the generator. Days become longer, and because there are no clocks, I disregard the hour completely. I see nobody, except for those encountered on the walking trail which wreathes the island. In retrospect, it is telling that the book I chose was about time, specifically the repetition of a single day.
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