The Physics of Sorrow threads together an intricate fabric of stories steeped in personal and collective memory, stretching from Bulgaria's 1925 country fairs to the intimate recesses of a slug's final moments. Our protagonist is burdened with 'pathological empathy,' diving into others’ memories—entering a tapestry of recollections like a modern-day Theseus pursuing the Minotaur through the labyrinth of his lineage. The novel spans the spectrum of human experience, from the mundane to the mythic, with forays into landlord grandfathers deserted at mills, to a boyhood shadowed by Bulgarian communism. As the narrator pieces together his family's saga, he uncovers an intimate portrait of Eastern European life, all the while searching for the core of sorrow within and striving to convert it into empathy and understanding.