29 September 2008

Avant les hommes by Nina Bouraoui (Swe)

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Yes, I did read it in French when it just came out. But I'm currently in Phuket International Airport waiting for my Air Asia flight to take me to K.L, and I'm bored.

I did also prefer reading this novel in French. Not that it's badly translated - but there is something about the flow that doesn't really translate too well into Swedish. Although I do remember reading it in French thinking someone will have to tell the translator not to translate the word "shit" into something stupid. Which she certainly did. "Brass" in Swedish is a word only used by peeps older than 40 (definitely not by teenagers now), it reeks of the 70's, in a bad way. Every time I read it I shiver.

Otherwise, this novel is a bit like Mes mauvaises pensées, as if written in one long sentence. Sometimes you have to catch your breath, the same way I had to do when I was a kid, reading The Fantastic Four comic books until I almost saw fire and devils coming out of the pages.
Att älska män är min allra största tystnad, och det största krig som jag måste föra. Jag vill vinna, jag vill vara bland dem som liknar mig.

23 September 2008

Svart som Silver by Bruno K. Öijer

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I am amazed over the fact that a whole pice of work can seem so distant, right up to the very end, where it just suddenly grabs a tight hold.

ingen kan råna dej på din sorg

Bruno K. Öijer was my first favourite Swedish poet when I was younger. I saw him at Orionteatern a few years back, think it was in 2002, a year after Dimman av allt, the work that ended the magnificent trilogy after Medan giftet verkar (1990) and Det förlorade ordet (1995). In Dimman av allt, Öijer wrote about a dead mother; his mother, all mothers:



vad du än fick med dej
hoppas jag att du kan ta fram det ibland
och utan att bli ledsen
utan att längta tillbaka hit


This latest work seems to lack the dirt I always felt came with Öijer's poetry. It's cleaner, he seems older, more together; as if he was a voice in an awful world he has finally started coming to terms with. Not always a bad thing, but not that interesting either. Except for the ending.

Or is it that I am older?

A re-read or two might clear things up. After all, it's Öijer.

17 September 2008

Samtidigt by Kolik Förlag

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Swedish publisher of graphic novels Kolik Förlag just released Samtidigt, a little compilation of short stories by Swedish up and coming artists. It is packed with interesting stuff, especially Clara Johansson's Betjänt Hök. I'm in love with that ol' butler birdie.

Thanks to Danny. It is not every day I get comics for present to go with my morning coffee. And by the way, your comics manifest is still as brilliant.

More Kolik can be found here.

02 September 2008

The Pie

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2008 so far. I've been a lousy reader this summer. Wha'happened to my list? Out of all of those, I read one. That's horriba.

Make your own pies over at Mycrocosm.