New Swedish Books. Autumn 2016 1
AUTUMN 2016 “ Between them there is a disloyal, t
emporary space.” BENGT OHLSSON DRINK THE WARMTH FROM MY HAND Albert Bonniers Förlag Rights: Partners in Stories Drink the Warmth from My Hand In his novel Drink the Warmth from My Hand, Bengt Ohlsson tells of how great the need for friendship, for love, is; of the bond between human and animal, the solace in it. But Bengt Ohlsson switches perspectives – the human is always human, the animal, animal. Between them there is a disloyal, temporary space. Martin is a Stockholm social worker. He accompanies the police to raids on brothels, to make contact with the clients. On one occasion he takes a dog into his care. Martin 7 is in the midst of a mid-life crisis, and he and the dog Rulle become inseparable. The dog can read Martin like no human can, and gives him the solace he seeks. Bengt Ohlsson is a talented observer of the mechanisms of everyday life, of misunderstandings that grow into schisms, of looks, gestures, patterns of movement, and the story comes to focus on man’s struggle for a dignified life.