Synopses & Reviews
In
Smile of the Midsummer Night, best-selling author Lars Gustafsson and Agneta Blomqvist present a very personal guide to their Swedish homeland. Setting off from the far South, their journey takes them up to Norrland, from the farms of Scania to Laponian, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. But it is the idyllic fjord in Bohulandauml;n, located in the Vandauml;stmanland region, as well as Mandauml;lar Lake and Stockholm that they call home. Throughout, Gustafsson and Blomqvist are full of entertaining suggestions for excursions, including journeys through forests and moors where you can take in the odd elk or wolf along the way and visits to August Strindbergandrsquo;s and Kurt Tucholskyandrsquo;s graves.
The first work of contemporary travel writing about Sweden by Swedish writers to have been translated into English, Smile of the Midsummer Nightand#160;is a loving and poetic ode to this beautiful nation and a must-have for anyone interested in Scandinavia.
Review
andldquo;Imparts a heart-warming sense of shared discovery and rediscovery.andrdquo;
Synopsis
Lars Gustafsson and Agneta Blomqvist have written a very personal guide to their Swedish homeland. Setting off from the far South their journey leads them all the way up to Norrland, from the farms of Scania to Laponian, a UNESCO World heritage site. But it is the idyllic fjord in Bohusland#228;n, in the Vand#228;stmanland region, as well as Mand#228;lar Lake and Stockholm that they call home. Alive with their many, varied interests and full of entertaining suggestions for excursions and#8211; from journeys across the forests and moors to collect berries and mushrooms, taking in the odd elk or wolf along the way, to visiting Strindberg and the grave of Kurt Tucholsky, A Midsummer Nightand#8217;s Sun is a knowledgeable, loving and poetic and a must have for all the fans of Sweden.
About the Author
Lars Gustafsson is one of Sweden's most eminent authors. His award-winning works have been translated into fifteen languages.
Agneta Blomqvist is a teacher of religion and literature.
Deborah Bragen-Turner is the translator of Anne Swärd's
Breathless and P. O. Enquist's
The Wandering Pine.
Table of Contents
Foreword: The Map of Sweden
The Swedish South
Marshland Berries
The Geometric City
Jandouml;nkandouml;ping
A Hero from the Heartland of Bohuslandauml;n
Life by a Fjord
Wolves
First Sign of Spring
Smile of a Midsummer Night
The Vanished East of Sweden
Journey on a Number Two Bus
Sounds of the City
What do Swedes do?
My Childhood Nockebytorg
Princess Cake
The Battle for the Elms
A Journey over Lake Mandauml;laren
Wetlands
Landscape of Poets
Old Roads
The Weather in Sweden
andAuml;ngelsbery-Vandauml;sterandaring;s-Stockholm
Norberg
At Elinoreandrsquo;s Bakery in Norberg
Saint Lucia
Swedenandrsquo;s Forests
Elks
Lakes without Sails
Europeandrsquo;s Peaceful Attic