Sov du så diskar jag

by Stig Claesson

Ida Adriana väver mattor, så vackra att det vore ett helgerån att gå på dem, John skriver, och när vintermånaderna är över ägnas dagarna åt trädgårdsarbete. John klipper den stora gräsmattan - med gräsklipparen Aisopos och i den fart han funnit passar honom bäst, "stilla engelsk vals" - och Ida Adriana planterar och sköter sina blommor. Åren går, men inte alls tillräckligt många, och en dag är John Andersson åter ensam i sin stuga i skogen. Den andra stugan står tom.

Sov du, så diskar jag skildrar hur två människor, hänvisade till varann i varsin ensligt belägen stuga, klarar av sitt vardagsliv och finner lycka i sin gemenskap. Men framför allt är den en hyllning till en älskad och djupt saknad livskamrat. Denna roman är Stig Claessons ojämförligt finaste kärleksskildring, skriven med ömhet och humor, som bara han kan. Sov du så diskar jag utspelar sig i en liten ort i dagens Sverige.

Genres: Swedish Literature

186 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

John Stig Claesson, also known under his signature Slas, was a Swedish writer, visual artist, and illustrator. Claesson was born on 2 June 1928 in Huddinge, south of Stockholm. He attended the Royal Swedish Academy of Arts between 1947 and 1952, during which time he began to illustrate Swedish literature such as the novels of Per Anders Fogelström. Claesson was the father of actor Leif Claesson.

Claesson debuted in his writing career in 1956, when he was 28 years of age. During his career Claesson published more than 80 books. A number of his books are based on travel abroad and move in the frontier between reporting and fiction. Among his best-known works include En vandring i solen (Walking in the Sun, 1976), which was made into a film with Gösta Ekman in the role of the main character. Claesson provided works about the remote and rural regions of Sweden and describe the conflict between the town and the country in books such as Vem älskar Yngve Frej (1968; Who loves Yngve Frej), which was translated into 10 languages and was filmed for television in 1973 starring Allan Edwall. A stage adaption was created in the 1990s. His last book was God Natt Fröken Ann (Goodnight, Miss Ann), published in 2006.

Stig Claesson's work has received many awards, such as the literature prize of the newspaper Svenska Dagbladet and the Selma Lagerlöf Prize. The University of Uppsala awarded him an honorary doctorate degree in 1974.

The elder Claesson died on 4 January 2008 in Stockholm.