New Swedish Books, Spring 2020 1
New Swedish Books 10 GRAVITY Eländet (The Wretche
dness) may seem like an unattractive name for a novel. It sounds like something the darkly bitter, furious Thomas Bernhard would use. But Andrzej Tichý’s last novel, published in 2016, was also his breakthrough, and was nominated for the prestigious August Prize. It was a novel permeated by Tichý’s peculiar mixture of social realism and hallucinatory vision, in which the poor and unwanted were given a voice. His new book is called ww and is a collection of short stories that are launched with a furious attack: a stranger on the bus behaving violently towards fellow passengers. Thus the narrator begins a winding monologue. With Tichý, the gulf between humankind’s actions and their inner life is absolute, and the reader is always on the inside where associations and meaning flow freely and deeply. We see this in one of the short stories, where a thief is being questioned and silently measures out his life with coffee spoons, knowing that he will never be understood. Tichý seems to want to say that inside we are able to express ourselves – but life is dumb. Andrzej Tichý Selected works Fält, novel, 2008 Eländet, novel, 2016 Selected awards Borås Tidnings litteraturpris 2006 Aftonbladets litteraturpris 2013 Eyvind Johnsons litteraturpris 2018 Novel, 300 p. Andrzej Tichý (b. 1978) Publisher Albert Bonniers förlag www.albertbonniersforlag.se Rights Bonnier Rights Eleonoora Kirk eleonoora.kirk@bonnierrights.se Photo: Carla Orrego Veliz