New Swedish Books. Autumn 2016 1
NEW SWEDISH BOOKS Tinet Elmgren (text and image)
SUGARSNAPS Ordbilder Media Rights: Ordbilder Media Sugarsnaps Science fiction set in the aftermath of ‘the Big War’ is often associated with totalitarian dystopias, societies with mutant monsterbeings or zombies stumbling about. There are none of those in Tinet Elmgren’s Sugarsnaps; a sensitive depiction of everyday life. Somewhere in what was once the Russian Federation survivors have rebuilt meagre farming communities. Ex-soldier Andrej tries to find his position in life, whilst his wife Tjulpán has isolated herself within her grief and is growing sugarsnaps. A story 70 told pensively in images inspired by classic animal fables (the humans are depicted as pigs), French graphic novels as well as Japanese manga, and painted in muted shades of watercolour. Elmgren’s interest in history, politics and philosophy becomes the backdrop to what is at its heart a story of humanity’s capacity for survival and dealing with the traumas that line the way. Definitely one of the most powerful, and most beautiful, of all this year’s Swedish graphic novels.