I was in a Booker Prize mood when I pulled On the Calculation of Volume by Solvej Balle from the local library shelf. I also made a very innocent mistake: I assumed “Volume 1” was simply part of the title, the way some literary novels like to sound a little quirky. So I started reading it as if it were a complete, standalone story. Only later did I learn that On the Calculation of Volume 1 is actually the first entry in a seven-part novella series.

The setup of the novel is gripping. The narrator wakes up one morning and realizes she’s stuck reliving the exact same day: November 18th. She’s in Paris for an auction of rare books, and during breakfast she suddenly recognizes what’s happening around her because she has already lived it. At first, she tries to stay and observe, almost as if she can outthink the situation. When she wakes up to November 18th again, she decides to go home and explain everything to her husband. He believes her, though not easily, and for a while they talk through it together, trying to find a reason or pattern. The loop continues, and it becomes clear that time is repeating for her alone. Eventually, the daily explanations and theories wear thin. She stops sharing as much, and the repetition turns into something she carries privately.

The unthinkable is something we carry with us always. It has already happened: we are improbable, we have emerged from a cloud of unbelievable coincidences.

Solvej Balle, On the Calculation of Volume

This was my first time reading a book with this kind of premise, so it felt like a completely new reading experience. I kept flipping pages without really knowing what the story would do next, and that uncertainty was part of the appeal. The novel has a strange, thoughtful tone, very literary, with a quiet philosophical edge. It reflects on time, on how we move through ordinary routines, on small joys, and on the traces we leave behind even when nothing seems to “progress.”

How the day itself repeats creates a mix reading experience for me. The narrator’s way of seeing changes, her attention shifts, and the repeated scenes start to carry different emotional weight. Still, I reached a point where I wanted something that would break the rhythm. I found myself hoping for a stronger hook or a moment that would shake things up, because my interest slowly started fading. By around the last quarter of the book, I felt myself drifting, and I wasn’t as fully engaged as I wanted to be.

Thus, I had conflicted about continuing the series right away. I’m still curious about the reason behind the repeating days, and that question is definitely pulling me forward. At the same time, I think I might enjoy the next parts more after a pause. Maybe coming back when I’m in the mood for something slow, reflective, and quietly strange.

My Favorite Bits

• We have grown accustomed to living with that knowledge without feeling dizzy every morning, and instead of moving around warily and tentatively, in constant amazement, we behave as if nothing has happened, take the strangeness of it all for granted and get dizzy if life shows itself as it truly is: improbable, unpredictable, remarkable.

• It seems so odd to me now, how one can be so unsettled by the improbable. When we know that our entire existence is founded on freak occurrences and improbable coincidences. That we wouldn’t be here at all if it weren’t for these curious twists of fate.

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Author: Solvej Balle
Publication date: 2 February 2020
Number of pages: 176 pages

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