New Swedish Books, Autumn 2018 1
New Swedish Books 50 The Boy in the Ceiling One d
ay a boy called Sesam arrives with the family. He has travelled far, is alone and doesn’t speak very much. The children give him a few things, a football, some crayons, a flashlight. Sesam sets up camp in the ceiling. That’s a bit different, the children think. And when he takes things with him up into the ceiling, then no one else can use them. Even when they go outside Sesam is up in the air, attached to a string like a balloon. That’s how it is. With humour and linguistic virtuosity an absurd story emerges, as engaging in its details as it is striking in its urgency. Of course in this era of refugee crisis, the boy’s fate speaks of an experience that has a wider political resonance. However, because of its surprising changes in linguistic direction and the ease with which the paradoxical and the impossible are embraced, it turns into an affecting depiction that goes way beyond pure allegory. Viveka Sjögren Pojken i taket HIPPO BOKFÖRLAG Viveka Sjögren (b. 1966) The Boy in the Ceiling Publisher Hippo Bokförlag www.hippobokforlag.se Rights Hippo Bokförlag Marianne Lindfors marianne.lindfors@ hippobokforlag.se Works Om du skulle fråga Micha 2015 Den dagen 2014 Vi blåste bort ibland 2013 Photo:Disa Bergsteinsdottir