Drömmar om rosor och eld

by Eyvind Johnson

"In 17th century Loudun, a city already destabilised by prolonged religious conflict and an outbreak of plague, some Ursuline nuns claimed to be possessed of demons. There are public exorcisms and a priest is accused of having sent the demons into the women by witchcraft. The townspeople don't know whether to be amused or frightened.
Touching, often humorous, the strength of Eyvind Johnson's writing is such that the voices of the characters linger in the mind long after the book has been put down. As a portrayal of a city in the grip of panic, his novel is reminiscent of Camus's The Plague."

The Guardian

Genres: Nobel Prize, Historical Fiction, Sweden, Fiction, Swedish Literature, Scandinavian Literature, Historical

393 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1949

About the author

Eyvind Johnson was a proletarian writer who was influenced by the contemporary literary currents of his time. He is regarded as the modern novel art's foremost pioneer in Sweden. He made ​​his debut in 1924 and had his breakthrough in 1930 with the semi-autobiographical novel about Olof . His most prominent works include Krilontrilogin , Strändernas Svall and Hans Nådes Tid . He became a member of the Swedish Academy (Chair 11) in 1957. He was awarded the 1974 Nobel Prize in Literature "for a narrative art, farseeing in lands and ages, in the service of freedom." (Award shared with Harry Martinson.)

Reviews

[Matthew Pullar · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has lingered in my mind long after reading it more than many others have done. Whether the deceptively tedious diary entries of Daniel Drouin, a man full of hidden complexity, or the agonising accounts of church conflict or tortured romance, the many voices of this unresolvable novel are credible and compelling. Johnson's Nobel prize has been questioned because he was on the committee the year he won and because other seemingly more deserving writers missed out to him that year. But I don't know many more virtuosic or powerful books of the past century than this one.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very well written but ultimately not as engaging a read as you might hope. I feel this was predominantly due to the structure, which jumped around from various different people's viewpoints, narratives and time points and as such the novel felt stilted.

I have yet to read The Devils of Loudon, but would be interested to see how that compares to this rendering of the story.

[Ali Nazifpour · Rating 4 out of 5]

A historical novel about the burning of a rebellious priest after he was framed for demons haunting nuns. The book changes POV from the accused to his accusers to nuns and other characters, and can change styles based on the POV character as well. The novel's multiple voices and perspectives are very interesting and the descriptions can be very poetic and atmospheric. You get to understand the psychology and thinking of multiple characters despite being diametrically opposed and the tension is very high. Some scenes are very erotic. I would say that this is a very competent and successful novel, but I wouldn’t consider it a masterpiece or something that I have never encountered in a historical novel before, I would be glad to rage it 4/5.

[Anneli Waara · Rating 4 out of 5]

En verklighetsbaserad historisk berättelse pm en ståndaktig präst i 1600-talets Frankrike. Psykologisk skildring av vad som händer när avund och makthunger vänds mot en omtyckt/älskad person som blivit för viktig för staden och som vägrar att inte tänka själv och stå upp för sin sak och övertygelse. Otäcka scener av tortyr och otäcka beskrivningar av hur vissa bara följer makten, eller fegt intar en ”neutral hållning”. Säger mycket om människans psykologi. Fantastiskt och varierande språk beroende på vilken person som ”talar” och uttrycker sina tankar. Slås av hur mycket ett sådant här författarskap erbjuder jämfört med merparten av dagens författare. Läsupplevelse. Mycket vackra och sensuella avsnitt om kärleken mellan Urbain och Madelene.

[Dolf van der Haven · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nobel Prize in Literature 1974.
Eyvind Johnson shared the 1974 Noble Prize with his compatriot and colleague Nobel Committee member Harry Martinson. This led to some controversy and nowadays both laureates seem to be mostly forgotten. It was somewhat difficult to find anything still available by Johnson and quite surprising tat the only book I could find by him was a Dutch translation.
Anyhow, the author can write well (even though the translation doesn't do him justice) and uses a great many perspectives on the 17th century Loudun witch-hunt to come to this novel. Many perspectives also means regular repetition, though. His writing style is quite factual, often bordering on non-fiction. I'd call this novel informative rather than engrossing.
2.5 stars.

[Cristian Tomescu · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was trully boring. Could not finish.

[Jacob Tjernström · Rating 4 out of 5]

Första delen något starkare. Tror bara att jag har svårt för dagboks-former helt enkelt.

[Evelien Baeten · Rating 2 out of 5]

drömmar om rosor och eld, eigenlijk

[Johanna Hammarström · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was one of the most boring books I´ve ever read. I normally like old books but this one was just to slow, and the characters to dull.