Hash by Torgny Lindgren
Swedish writer – and member of the Swedish Academy – Torgny Lindgren is reviewed in The Guardian:

Adventurous gourmets may wish to chance their hand at the Swedish delicacy "surströmming": herring left to ferment underground. It's not for the faint-hearted. Less well known, but still likely to bring up memories for some of a grey, gelatinous mess served in school kitchens, is the northern speciality "Pölsan", a member of the haggis family rendered in Tom Geddes's translation of Torgny Lindgren's latest novel as hash.

Personally, I wouldn’t touch either dish. Lindgren’s short novel is however a quite charming bagatelle, very typical for a certain strain of Swedish northern rural magical realism which in this case – intentionally or not – is almost on the edge of self-parody. Though in no way the masterpiece Swedish critics claimed it to be it is an entertaining read. Don’t take its facts about Sweden at face value, however... [Hash at Amazon.com. Other books by Lindgren.]
Malte P @ 11:30 AM |   |  

 
Strindberg and Helium
No news, but i have to post something... I have already reported in my Swedish blog about these very funny films based on August Strindberg’s novel – or perhaps diary? – Inferno. Originally written in French, Inferno tells the story of the Swedish writer’s attempts to make gold out of lead and his persuasion that his neighbours try to harm him with electricity, and so on. (I believe it has greatly influenced the deliric parts of Ernesto Sabato’s classic novel Sobre héroes y tumbas, for example. They've got the same weirdly convincing voice.)
Malte P @ 1:53 PM |   |  

 
New literary blog
This is Errata 2. Errata 1 was, and is, my literary blog in Swedish. So far, Errata 1 has been updated very regularily. Errata 2 will be updated at least erratically. It will probably take a while for me to get into it. To what extent no 1 and no 2 will overlap I don’t know yet. My focus will be on serious literature (fiction, poetry, essays, etc) and whatever else I'd like to occasionally comment on. ”Errata” of course means ”errors”. Feel free to point them out.
Malte P @ 1:18 PM |   |