Frans G. Bengtsson
The Longships (out of print) Röda Orm
After reading this novel about the viking nicknamed Röda Orm (red dragon) in Swedish I eventually managed to pick up a copy of it in English for my husband who had so enjoyed Fridegard's viking novel. This novel is every bit as well researched and educational as Land of Wooden Gods, and, like it, does a great job of depicting the conflicting world views of the vikings, the Christian Europeans and here Islamic cultures as well. This novel is much more in the traditional saga tradition of the viking hero who travels far and wide having adventures before returning home again.
Karin Blixen (Isak Dinesen) yes, this is the Danish author played by Meryl Streep in Out of Africa. Her voice is hauntingly unique. Her tales, influenced by German Romanticism and its dreamy, melancholic quality and extremes of emotion and idealism. Her characters are haunted by ghosts of their past or trapped by their own personal habits or cultural norms to fully profit from or enjoy life fully. These collections of short tales or novellas contain incredibly memorable characters and entertaining situations, like fairy tales for grown-ups. My favorite tales are "Babette's Feast" (great movie, too!!) about a French chef who prepares a sumptuous feast for an ascetic pietistic community in remote Denmark and another about a gentlewoman and her servant who take turns trading places on holiday, because neither can appear in public without the other.
Out of Africa and Shadows on the Grass ISBN: 0679724753
Seven Gothic Tales ISBN: 0679736417
Karin Boye is best known for her poetry, but her futuristic novel,
Kallocain (out of print), depicts a dystopic vision reminiscent of 1984 in which emotions as well as thoughts are policed by the government. The book is beautifully and poignantly written.
Gerd Brantenberg is one of the great creative feminist writers of this century.
Egalia's Daughters ISBN: 1878067583 is a brilliantly written feminist treatise in the form of a dystopian novel
in which it is the women (wim) who have the power in society and in which their position is a surprisingly convincing
pseudo-biological "survival of the fittest" argument. In this way, Brantenberg points out that things that we take to be "true" may only
be true because we believe them to be so and take them for granted. Brantenberg herself worked on the English translation from
Norwegian so that she is able to call attention to "sexist" vocabulary in English as well as in the original Norwegian. It's a brilliant
satire and will make everyone think a little more about the status quo.
Camilla Collet
The District Governor's Daughters
Reminiscent, perhaps of Jane Austen's works, the main theme of Collet's
work is marriage. The protagonist Sophie is the youngest of four daughters
of a governor of a rural Norwegian district. She struggles against her family,
own conditioning, and most of all against society's precepts, which treat
women as economic objects of trade.
Tove Ditlevsen -- A Danish writer of great sensitivity, known
for her 
poetry and semi-autobiographical
works, the writing of which proved to be therapeutic for her. Tove grew
up in a working-class environment and although she did not endure the physical
hardships nor abuse that, say, Moa Martinson and Herbjorg Wassmo did, Tove's
keen sensitivity made her unhappy home psychologically traumatic for her.
Surprisingly, she portrays her family with tenderness and love. In the
novel Early Spring, the young protagonist discovers the hope
and beauty of letters, and she finds strength to succeed in spite of everyone's
belief that "girls can't be poets." Early Spring ISBN:
0931188288
Jan Fridegard
Another well known prolitarian writer, known for semi-autobiographical works, such as I, Lars Hard (out of print), Fridegard is probably best known for his Holme Trilogy which are historical novels of the Viking Age from the perspective of a slave. I have only read the first novel (in Swedish and English), which parallels the life and outlook of the slavesmith Holme with that of a Frisian missionary who is one of the first Christians to bring his message to Sweden. A highlight of this extremely well researched novel is an account of the nine day offerings at Old Uppsalla.
The Land of Wooden Gods (Trägudarsland) (Holme Trilogy I) out of print
People of the Dawn (Holme Trilogy II) (out of print)
Sacrificial Smoke (Holme Trilogy III) (out of print)
Lars Gustafsson -- currently a professor at the University of Texas, Lars Gustafsson's narratives are refreshingly modern and uniquely his own.
Bernard Foy's Third Castling
This one I really enjoyed. The narrative starts as detective story, but soon narrative perspective and genre change and then change again. ISBN: 0811208621
Sigismund; From the Memories of a Baroque Polish Prince
One of the main questions I had when reading this novel was who is the narrator (who indeed) for this narrator -- who is called Lars Gustafsson seems to share his identity with the 16th century Polish and Swedish King Sigismund. Interupting the narrative are Flash Gordonesque cartoons and input from aliens who are monitering a bike race from their spaceship. ISBN: 0811209245
Tale of a Dog : From the Diaries and Letters of a Texan
Bankruptcy Judge (on my to read list) ISBN: 0811213951
The Tennis Players (on my to read list) This novel is reportedly about the Department of Germanic langs and lits at UT. ISBN: 0811208621
Knut Hamsun, the subject of an astounding film starring Max von Sydow, was Norway's pride and glory until late in life he chose to sympathize with the Nazis during World War II. For a short while his work fell out of favor, but now recieves its due attention again. Hamsun is a master wordsmith and his novels have a lyrical quality which blurs the boundaries between poetry and prose. His works are masterpieces not to be missed.
Hunger ISBN: 0374525285 In my humble opinion, this is Hamsun's greatest work. Written in 1890, this novel portrays the "starving artist" quite literaly as the young writer in the Norwegian capital city starves for his art until starving almost becomes his art. Hamsun reveals the anguish of the struggling writer whom the world ignores through a moment-by-moment internal monologue. It is a fascinating study of irrationality.
Pan : From the Papers of Lieutenant Thomas Glahn ISBN: 0141180676
First published in 1894, Knut Hamsun's PAN recounts Thomas Glahn's
lyrical, yet disturbing, retrospective narrative of his life and adventures
in the Norwegian woods.
P.C. Jersild is one of my favorite Swedish authors. He is a practising (or at least was -- he could be retired) physician who spends his "free-time" writing about scientific and medical ethics. Many of his novels are science fiction or at least present utopian/dystopian visions of the world.
The Animal Doctor (Djurdoktorn) ISBN: 0803275692-- the protagonist of this social criticism is a middle aged female veterinarian who got her job and THE international medical institute by virtue of a quota system. The powers that be are quite disturbed when she starts questioning the code of ethics by which the system (at the Institute and in the medical community in general) operates in which both animals and humans are treated more or less as replaceable clinical subjects.
Children's Island (Barnensö) ASIN: 0803225695
Although the book is a bit dated (having been written in the early 70's) it is an entertaining novel about a young prepubescent boy who instead of catching the bus to Summer Camp as he was supposed to, he manages to spend the summer alone in Stockholm. Fascinating commentary on growing up from a 10 year old's perspective.
House of Babel (Babelshus)ISBN: 0803275684
A criticism of the lack of compasion for patients by the medical community -- set at a large Stockholm hospital. This book has been on my "to-read" list for a long time.
Living Soul (Ett levende Själ) ISBN: 1870041097-- the narrator of this novel is a disembodied brain who searches for his identity while participating in some, unknown to him, science experiment.
After the Flood (Efter flodet) ISBN: 0688049028
a postapocalyptical dystopia which I haven't yet read.
Pär Lagerkvist -- thanks to his nobel prize winning status, perhaps, Lagerkvist's novels have remained in print to a great extent in this country.
Barrabas ISBN: 067972544X
this is the poignant story of the man whose life was exchanged for that of Jesus of Nazareth. Although acquitted by the Romans, Barabbas is condemned to a dark life inextricably linked to this "Christos Iesus" whose name is carved on the disk that he wears around his neck. But Barabbas cannot pray nor believe in any god, no matter how much he
Sibyl ISBN: 0394702409
Another dark tale by Lagerkvist dealing with questions of religion. Two devestated souls, a man cursed by Christ and a woman who was raped and foresaken by the Oracle at Delphi meet and together search for answers to their questions of devotion and God.
The Dwarf (Dv�rgen) -- ISBN: 0374521352
Although this is my personal least favorite of Lagerkvist's best known works, it is another dark tale of a twisted soul, that of a Dwarf who lives in the same setting as Machiavelli's Prince. The questions raised by the narrative are the very nature of good and evil.
Selma Lagerlöf (first woman to be allowed into the Swedish Academy and Nobel prize winning author). Selma's writing has a style all its own. She is influenced by fairy tales, medieval legends, poetry and oral traditions (among other things). Her writing tends to deal with the psychological, the mystical and address powerfully the daily struggles and joys of human existence.
Gösta Berlings Saga ISBN:
1572160330
Shame on me! I have yet to read Gösta Berlings Saga. I have, however, heard a great deal about it by a friend who wrote her dissertation on Selma. It is a historical romance of sorts about love and suffering.
The Wonderful Adventures of Nils (Nils Holgerssons
underbara resa )ISBN: 0486286118
This book is unique among Selma's writings. She was commissioned to write a book to teach Swedish children geography and this fairy tale is what she came up with. It tells of young Nils Holgerson who has the misfortune of trying to take advantage of a tomte, who, as punishment, shrinks Nils small enough that he ends up flying around Sweden on the back of a goose.
Lowenskold Ring ISBN: 1870041143 is a ghost story of sorts about guilt and greed. It is definitely a compelling (and humerous) adventure!/P>
Kejsarn av Portugallien is another great tale about a man who adores his daughter so much that he believes her to be the Empress of Portugal and he, thereby an emperor himself. I don't think there's an English translation out, though.
Astrid Lindgren is the author of children's literature that is beloved world wide! Her characters are always getting into michief and wonderful adventures.
The Adventures of Pippi Longstocking
(ages 9-12) Just about everyone has heard of Pippi. Her peculiar style of
dressing and her red pigtails are almost as memorable as her adventures!
ISBN: 0670876127
The Children of Noisy Village
(ages 4-8)
The "noisy Village" is a group of neighboring farms and gets its nickname from the six high-spirited children who live there.
ISBN: 014032609X
Ronia, The Robber's Daughter
(ages 9-12)
I haven't actually ever read this book, but am familiar with the title character, who is a favorite in Germany.
ISBN: 0140317201
The Tomten (with Viktor
Rydberg)ISBN: 0698115910
(reading age 4-8)
I'm familiar with a poem called Tomten by, I believe, Rydberg, but everybody who knows Swedish culture loves these little creatures who guard the farm from trouble, bring presents at Jul or, on occasion, perform magic.
Brothers Lionheart (out of print) It is such a shame that this book is out of print in English. We read it in second year Swedish class at the University and loved it. There's a fairly decent film from the book, too, (as there are from most of Lindgren's classics). This is a marvelous tale of two brothers, Jonathan and Karl (Skorpan) and their bond of love. When elder brother Jonathan dies, younger brother Karl is devastated and yearns to go to the mystical Nangijala where he believes Jonathan to be. In Nangijala the boys must fight an evil dragon in order to bring peace to the land.
Karlson on the Roof (out of print) I have only a passing acquaintance with this and the other Lindrgren characters below, but know them all to be favortites world wide.
Rasmus and the Vagabond (out of print)
Emil and the Soup Tureen (out of print)
Lotta on Troublemaker Street (out of print)
Ivar Lo-Johansson another of the prolitarian writers from earlier this century.
Only A Mother (out of print) (Bara en mor)
In this novel the protagonist hopes for more from her life than to be "just a mother."
Peddling My Wares (translated by Rochelle Wright -- my Swedish professor) ISBN: 1571130152
Moa Martinson is the only well known female writer from the prolitariat movement and her writing career was stunted by her own marriage to a successful poet. Like many women writers she had to find time for writing after taking care of the household and children, and only after the children grew up was free to make a career of it.
My Mother Gets Married (Mor gifter sig) ISBN: 0935312811
In this semiautobiographical novel, Moa portrays the difficulties of prolitarian life, from the perspective of a young girl whose mother marries out of financial necessity. The rigours of daily life are depicted in minute detail and, as is also characteristic of Moberg's books, literacy is portrayed as the one key to freedom from this dreary existence.
Vilhelm Moberg is one of my all-time favorite authors. He is one of the well-known "proletarian" writers of the 1930's who were primarily well known for semi-autobiographical works. Probably his best known works are the Emigrant series which deal with Swedish emigration to America.
The Emigrants (Utvandrarna)
ISBN: 0873513193
Karl Oskar and Kristina Nilsson and the 14 others who make up their
party of Swedish emigrants to America represent the different reasons which
drew Northern Europeans to leave their homes for a distant unknown land.
The three "P"s, Peace, Polio vaccine and the Potato all attributed
to overpopulation in Sweden and other similar emigrant countries (like Ireland).
The children of many farmers migrated to the cities to find work or emigrated
to America because the land could no longer support them. Others left because
of the American dream of freedom or because of religious persecution. Still
others left for more personal reasons, fleeing the law (or an unwanted spouse).
These novels are written with amazing mastery of symbolism and humanity.
The films (staring Max von Sydow) are also to be recommended. The first
book, The Emigrants, takes our pioneers as far as the shores
of America. The second book, Unto A Good Land, encompasses
the difficulty in getting to the "promised" land of Minnesota.
The third, The Settlers, describes the hardships of settling
and the fourth, The Last Letter Home, with the alienation
of being so far away from what had been their homeland. Intended as one
work, the four extensively researched novels document the sturdy nature
of the people who endured so much to settle our midwest during the 1850's-80's.
Sigrid Undset
Kristin Lavransdatter : The Bridal Wreath, the Mistress of Husaby, the Cross ISBN: 0394432622
This remarkable work, which attributed to Unset's Novel Prize win in 1928, is a landmark among historical novels. In the three parts (or volumes) we follow Kristin through the various stages of life for a fourteenth-century Norwegian woman of her station. She is the young daughter, lover then wife, mother and finally nun. Meanwhile, she is caught up in all the upheaval of political schemes and unrest as well as spiritual debates. Undset immerses the reader in the details of life in the middle ages and one comes to know and understand Kristin and her times. This is such a powerful work that it is understandable why the English language edition has never gone out of print in spite of an, at times, unwieldy translation. Luckily a new translation is forthcoming and the first volume has already been published. Good news for us all!
It really is a shame that more of the great works of Scandianvian Literature are not translated and that so many that have been translated are out of print. After taking one course of Scaninavian Lit. in translation, I decided to learn Swedish and minor in the Swedish novel. Some of these works are good enough, in my opinion, to inspire one to learn Swedish (or Danish or Norwegian) and that's why I want to share them with you! By the way, if you do feel so inspired, Swedish is relatively easy for English (German or Dutch as well) speakers to learn and the syntax is very similar to English (that's one reason why these novels translate so well).
