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cover pictures in the 2000:2 issue are taken from the book Drömmen
om San Michele (The Dream of San Michele), with text by Berndt
Jangfeldt and pictures by Ingalill Snitt, published by Albert Bonniers
förlag in 2000 (ISBN 91-0-057067-2). Axel Munthe's book The
Story of San Michele was first published in London in 1929 and
soon became a bestseller all over the world. (The Swedish translation
was published in 1930.) Millions were fascinated by the story of how
Munthe, born in Oskarshamn in 1857, had a passion to build an idyllic
home on the Mediterranean island of Capri. Munthe led a truly international
life, moving between Uppsala, Paris, Naples, Capri, Rome, London and
Stockholm, having earned a fortune as a society doctor but also displaying
great generosity as a revered healer of the poor. |
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| Jangfeld's
and Snitt's book follows Munthe's journey through Europe, and is illustrated
with a plethora of stunning colour photographs by Ingalill Snitt,
effectively punctuated with old black-and-white photographs. Besides
being a man of science, Munthe was also devoted to the arts: all his
homes had a music room and were filled with beautiful pictures and
artefacts — but although all were beautifully situated, none
could rival the location of San Michele. The picture on our front
cover is of the old chapel of San Michele, perched on a clifftop overlooking
the Mediterranean, which was the first of the complex of buildings
purchased by Munthe in order to create his idyllic island home. The
back cover shows a window in Munthe's house in Dalarna, Stengården
(renamed Hildasholm after the death of his estranged wife), beyond
which the view over Lake Siljan is very different from that over the
Gulf of Naples. The book is reviewed in more detail by Harry Watson
on page 46 of the 2000:2 issue. |
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| The
translator Joan Tate died on 6 June, 2000, aged 78. We devote
a large section of the 2000:2 issue to a series of tributes
to Joan from an extensive range of friends and colleagues, as
well as presenting a factual survey of her life and work. |
Survey of Joan Tate's
life and work |
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Göran
Sonnevi
translation by Rika Lesser |
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The
144 sections of "Mozart's Third Brain" constitute
the nearly 200-page meditative, visionary title poem of
Göran Sonnevi's thirteenth book, Mozarts Tredje
Hjärna, published by Bonniers in 1996. In fact
one could say that all Sonnevi's work is one unending
poem that continues from book to book.
Rika Lesser presents extracts from her translation of
Mozarts Tredje Hjärna. |
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Kate
Larson
introduction and translation by Linda
Schenck |
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| Kate
Larson was born in Stockholm in 1961. Her first novel
was published in 1986, and since then she has written
three more published novels, as well as the collection
of short stories entitled Himlen över platsen
(The Sky Above the Place, 1998). Linda Schenck introduces
Kate Larson and presents her translation of Night noise,
a story from Himlen över platsen which creates
the atmosphere in which, according to Larson, the collection
should be read. |
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Why
are so few Swedish books published in English?
article by Eric Dickens |
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| Another
response to the question dealt with by Roger Greenwald
came from Eric Dickens, who has been translating from
Swedish (especially Finland-Swedish) and also Finnish
and Estonian for over twenty years. He lives currently
in Holland. |
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Gothenburg
Book Fair 2000
report by Sarah Death |
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| Sarah
Death provides a detailed report on the sixteenth Gothenburg
Book Fair, which took place on 14-17 September, 2000. Major
themes included the literatures of Scandinavia, "Läsrörelsen"
(The Reading Movement, a new campaign to promote literacy and
reading in Sweden), and Faith in the 21st Century. |
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