New Swedish Books, autumn 2019 1
New Swedish Books 16 Steve Sem-Sandberg (b. 1958)
W, novel, 422 p. Publisher Albert Bonniers förlag www.albertbonniersforlag.se Rights Nordin Agency Anna Frankl anna@nordinagency.se Selected works: Theres, novel, 1996 Ravensbrück, 2003 De fattiga i Lódz, 2009 De utvalda, 2014 Literary Prizes Doblougska priset 2005 Sorescupriset 2007 De Nios Stora Pris 2009 Augustpriset 2009 Prix Médicis Étranger 2016 W In 1999, Steve Sem-Sandberg made his major breakthrough as a writer with the novel Theres, which, along with All that is transitory is but a metaphor and Ravensbrück, forms a loose trilogy about three women: West German terrorist Ulrike Meinhof, Russian-born psychoanalyst and author Lou Andreas-Salomé, and Czech journalist and writer Milena Jesenská, good friend of Franz Kafka. Each novel depicts the same dilemma: people’s confinement in the political and/ or psychological roles forced upon them by historical circumstances. In this lengthy, well-researched novel, Sem-Sandberg uses documen tary material and builds a strong sense of presence. W is based on a real court case that inspired 19th-century German author Georg Büchner to write the classic play Woyzeck. Sem-Sandberg tells the story of a man who enlists in the army to lift himself from poverty, fights in the perpetual wars of the early 19th century, and then, warwounded and broken, murders his beloved. Sem-Sandberg paints a dark backdrop to the drama: a Europe that wants to see the individual as a responsible member of society, while people are being dehumanised by the brutality of war. Photo: Stefan Tell