NIE! The Physics of Sorrow by Georgi Gospodinov

Title: Physics of Sorrow

Author: Georgi Gospodinov

Translator: Angela Rodel

Original Language: Bulgarian

"If we exist, that means we're being watched. There is something or someone that never lets us out of its sight. Death comes when that thing stops watching us, when it turns away." -187

According to the New York Times, this Bulgarian novel is a kind of response to an Economist poll showing Bulgaria to be the saddest place in the world. But this piece isn't exactly what I would call depressing - nor does it read like a standard novel. The Physics of Sorrow is dressed like prose but breathes like poetry.

Angela Rodel masterfully translated each segment, as it reads fluidly as we jump from each experience to the next. There's certainly a flavouring of Borges in this work, particularly due to the motifs of labyrinths.

The empathetic narrators' obsession with the Minotaur keeps the reader centred as he/she is flung into the lives of family members at different ages. It is a small portrait of the Bulgarian life in the last century, a dash of colour that offers a glimpse into the mindset of a family surviving war, living through the rise and fall of communism, into the modern day.

The structure mirrors a kind of natural flight of conciousness, in a way that complements the empathetic nature of the narrator. He moves from one time and person to the next, experiencing everything, but only for a moment before moving into another mode of conciousness, another thought appears.

This novel, due to its structure, is far more interactive for the reader. Connecting the characters and time-line is part of the joy of the novel. While short, this novel is rather time consuming, if only because one must become used to the pattern.

Regardless, I'm shelving Physics for a definite re-read - if only because, even in its sorrow, there is beauty.