micromediations

Penguins, fish and signs

 

On a Skåne beach...

 

Not far away, Kurt Wallander will be taking Jussi for a walk....
 

Happy herring

God Jul

Green supermarket trolley from 250 recycled plastic bottles

 

Wonder what the Yule goat will bring..?

The Swedish for Christmas gift is julklapp. The jul bit is easy (=Yule) but, unless I am being cruelly teased, klapp comes from the sound made when the Christmas goat (bock) bangs on the front door before hurling in your Christmas present...

In fairness, traditions have softened with the emergence of Tomte, a pricklier version of Santa Claus, who still carries a few reminders of his troll in-laws.

I haven't decided whether I have any more chance of getting the dog I wished for if it is thrown across the threshold by a goat or smuggled down the chimney by a fat man in a red suit... 

Top ten Swedish novels of the decade

 

There's no sign of Stieg Larsson in Sydsvenskan's list of the ten best Swedish novels of the decade. It goes like this:

1. Drömfakulteten, by Sara Stridsberg

2. De Fattiga i Lodz, by Steve Sem-Sandberg

3. Vargskinnet, by Kerstin Ekman

4. Lewis Resa (Lewi's Journey), by Per Olov Enquist

5. Den Amerikanska Flickan (The American Girl), by Monika Fagerholm

6. Ett annat liv (Another Life), by Per Olov Enquist

7. Mig äger ingen, by Åsa Linderborg

8. Montecore, by Jonas Hassen Khemri

9. Pölsan (Hash), by Torgny Lindgren

10. Fält, by Andrzej Tichy 

I have highlighted the three titles available in English - The American Girl doesn't come out until February.

I've read Lewi's Journey and am sure it would have made a Booker shortlist - highly recommended. I haven't read Vargskinnet (I think it is actually a trilogy) but Ekman's earlier novel Blackwater is a tremendous read.

Steve Sem-Sandberg's Holocaust story De Fattiga i Lodz has only been out a few months but has won tremendous acclaim - maybe this will appear in English soon.

My carriage awaits

Window seat

Hedda Gabbl-Air