The Freudian concept of dreams as instruments of wish fulfilment is the baseline of Solo. Here, Rana Dasgupta harnesses the creative power of dreams to weave them ornately into his storyline. The novel — centred around Ulrich, a 100-year-old Bulgarian — demarcates the protagonist’s ‘life’ from his ‘daydreams’, where the latter compensates the insufficiency of the former. In Ulrich’s words, “There is far more to us than we can live.” And Ulrich decides to illustrate this idea through his meticulous dreamt up life.
It seems Dasgupta was clear in choosing a ‘failed’ protagonist who does not have any grand accomplishments to his credit. A succession of wars, repressive Fascist and Communist regimes, illusionary hopes of modernisation and the downturn of “chemical rivers” flowing through the country leave Bulgaria despondent and Ulrich demoralised with the inability to pursue his twin passions — chemistry and music.
Contrary to expectations, Ulrich’s rich tapestry of dreams does not possess the absurd qualities characteristic of Tokyo Cancelled, his earlier book, or a utopian scenario where happiness invariably prevails. In fact, a reader would realise Ulrich’s imaginary universe only when motifs and characters (names) from the protagonist’s past reappear in mysterious ways.
What the author unravels in the second half is contemporary Bulgaria, abuzz with myriad characters amidst the international music scene and rising capitalist ideologies. Ulrich’s achievement lies in journeying beyond the limitation of ‘real’ life, and Dasgupta’s in making that journey poignant and empathetic.
This review was published in the Businessworld Issue Dated 14-20 April 2009
Book Reviews 
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Solo; 
