Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Functionalism). The topic sets design patterns in their
historical and political context, and includes beautiful
photographs by Ingalill Snitt. There's also a section on
achieving classic Swedish decor effects, and a good list of
suppliers of decorative materials, though without
exception all are in America.
LITERATURE
Ì Hugh Beach A Year in Lapland . As a young man,
Beach went to live with the Sámi reindeer herders of
Jokkmokk. In later life he returns to the Arctic Circle to chart
the fascinating changes that have occurred to northern
Sweden and its traditionally nomadic inhabitants.
Frans G. Bengtsson The Long Ships: A Saga of the Viking
Age . A real gem of historical fiction, bringing the Viking
world vividly alive with solid background on arcane Norse
traditions such as “trollcraft”, “gold-luck” and “the Ale-
death”. This marvellously pacy adventure story is literally
laugh-out-loud funny.
Ì Andrew Brown Fishing in Utopia: Sweden and the
future that disappeared . After living in Sweden in his 20s,
the author returns to the country in later life to explore his
relationship with it in general and social democracy in
particular.
Marikka Cobbold Frozen Music . Cobbold - who is herself
Swedish, though lives in England - paints a very true-to-
life picture of Swedish mannerisms and way of life. This
novel about the relationship between a Swedish architect
and an English woman is set on a very well-drawn Swedish
island.
Stig Dagerman A Burnt Child . One of the author's best
works, this intense short narrative concerns the reactions of
a Stockholm family to the death of the mother. A prolific
young writer, Dagerman had written short stories, travel
sketches, four novels and four plays by the time he was 26;
he committed suicide in 1954 at the age of 31.
Ì Kerstin Ekman Blackwater . A tightly written thriller
by one of Sweden's most highly rated novelists. Set in the
forests of northern Sweden, the plot concerns a woman
whose lover is murdered; years later, she sees her daughter
in the arms of the suspect.
Ì Kerstin Ekman Under the Snow . In a remote Lapland
village, a police constable investigates the death of a
teacher following a drunken brawl. The dark deeds of
winter finally come to light under the relentless summer
sun.
Robert Fulton Preparations for Flight . Eight Swedish
short stories from the last 25 years, including two rare
prose outings by the poet Niklas Rådström.
Pers Christian Jersild A Living Soul . The work of one of
Sweden's best novelists, this is a social satire based around
the “experiences” of an artificially produced, bodyless
human brain floating in liquid. Entertaining, provocative
reading.
Selma Lagerlöf The Wonderful Adventures of Nils .
Lagerlöf is Sweden's best-loved children's writer. The tales
of Nils Holgren, a little boy who flies all over the country on
the back of a magic goose, are continued in The Further
Adventures of Nils .
Stieg Larsson The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo . The
gripping international bestseller which charts the efforts
by Lisbet Salander and Michael Blomkvist to discover why
Harriet Vanger disappeared over forty years earlier.
Sara Lidman Naboth's Stone . A novel set in 1880s
Västerbotten, in Sweden's far north, charting the lives of
settlers and farmers as the industrial age - and the railway
- approaches.
Torgney Lindgren Merab's Beauty . Short stories
capturing the distinctive flavour of family life in northern
Sweden.
Ivar Lo-Johansson & Rochelle Wright Peddling My
Wares . An intriguing exploration of life for a young, self-
educated Swede. This autobiographical tale is written by
the last surviving member of the “Thirties Generation” and
is as popular today in Sweden as when it appeared in 1953.
Ì Vilhelm Moberg The Emigrants . From one of
Sweden's greatest twentieth-century writers, this is one of
four novels depicting Karl Oskar and Christina Nilsson as
they struggle their way from Småland to Minnesota. It's a
highly poignant story dealing with the emigration of
Swedes to the US.
Ì Michael Niemi Popular Music . The enchanting tale of
two boys, Matti and Niila, growing up in Pajala in northern
Sweden in the 1960s and 1970s. Dreaming of an unknown
world beyond the Torne Valley, they use their fantasy to
help take them there. Winner of the August Prize for
Sweden's best novel in 2000.
Agneta Pleijel The Dog Star . By one of Sweden's leading
writers, The Dog Star is the powerful tale of a young girl's
approach to puberty. Pleijel's finest novel yet, full of fantasy
and emotion.
Clive Sinclair Augustus Rex . August Strindberg dies in
1912 - and is then brought back to life by the Devil in
1960s Stockholm. Bawdy, imaginative and very funny
treatment of Strindberg's well-documented neuroses.
August Strindberg Plays: One (including The Father, Miss
Julie and The Ghost Sonata); Plays: Two (The Dance of Death,
A Dream Play and The Stronger) . The major plays by the
country's most provocative and influential playwright,
analysing the roles of the sexes both in and out of marriage.
Only a fraction of Strindberg's huge output has been
translated into English.
Hjalmar Söderberg Short Stories . Twenty-six short
stories from the stylish pen of Söderberg (1869-1941).
Brief, ironic and eminently suited to dipping into.
 
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