The Illogic of Kassel is one of the most richly allusive novels you’re likely to encounter, with references from literary greats and avant gardists such as Kafka, Borges and Raymond Roussel to contemporary iconoclasts including the performance artist Tino Sehgal. But one of the first works that comes to mind is the Sherlock Holmes story The Red-Headed League, in which the protagonist is mysteriously engaged to sit in a room copying out the Encyclopaedia Britannica. Here, a writer is asked to travel to the art exhibition Documenta and sit each morning in a Chinese restaurant, writing. Why? It would be misleading to suggest that this thrillingly imaginative exploration of creativity precisely answers the question – but it does take you to the most interesting of places. “It seemed to me,” as the narrator says, “that art was still holding up perfectly well, and it was only the world … that had crumbled.”
The Illogic of Kassel is published by Harvill Secker (£16.99). Click here to buy it for £12.99
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