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Four Swedish Classics from Novellix
The box contains four short stories by some of Sweden’s most beloved authors translated into English – a quartet of classic Swedish literature!
·Astrid Lindgren Most Beloved Sister & Mirabelle
·August Strindberg Frictions
·Selma Lagerlöf The Silver Mine
·Stig Dagerman Sleet
·Astrid Lindgren Most Beloved Sister & Mirabelle
·August Strindberg Frictions
·Selma Lagerlöf The Silver Mine
·Stig Dagerman Sleet
- GenresShort StoriesFiction
128 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2017
2 people are currently reading
44 people want to read
About the author
Astrid Lindgren
1,241 books3,882 followersAstrid Anna Emilia Lindgren, née Ericsson, (1907 - 2002) was a Swedish children's book author and screenwriter, whose many titles were translated into 85 languages and published in more than 100 countries. She has sold roughly 165 million copies worldwide. Today, she is most remembered for writing the Pippi Longstocking books, as well as the Karlsson-on-the-Roof book series.
Awards:
Hans Christian Andersen Award for Writing (1958)
Awards:
Hans Christian Andersen Award for Writing (1958)
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 11, 2018
A fantastic bite-sized sampler of Swedish short fiction, which covers a range of styles and subjects that seems amazing given its scale. On a physical level it's also a beautiful little package of booklets to read and to hold. It comprises the following four slender volumes, neatly boxed:
Astrid Lindgren – ‘Most Beloved Sister’ and ‘Mirabelle’
Two perfectly crystalline children's stories. I usually have little interest in reading children's books, and I probably couldn't have read a whole book of them, but two was perfect. The narrative voice is so personable – clean and clear as a bell. Like the best fairytales, these have those little inoculatory hints of darkness and pain, but the primary sense is of excitement, secrecy and wonder.
August Strindberg – ‘Frictions’
‘They lit the candles on the Christmas tree; it radiated peace and happiness; but its dark branches smelt of a funeral and looked sinister, like the Baron's face.’ Strindberg was an intense bastard, who used to get up in the morning, peer out of the window, and exclaim, ‘CHRIST, IT'S A BARREN, PITILESS WASTELAND OUT THERE!’ Or at least, I like to imagine that he did. This story is one of those get-in, get-out little tales that read like the synopsis of a thousand-page Tolstoy doorstopper; telegraphic descriptions of momentous life changes, interspersed with a few representative bits of dialogue. This one shows a deep interest in gender double-standards and women's participation in intellectual life, and considers how these affect romantic relations between the sexes. In reality, of course, Strindberg for all his progressiveness concluded that women belonged at home, which is why all his lefty friends fell out with him. What can you say; people are complicated. It's a barren, pitiless wasteland out there.
Selma Lagerlöf – The Silver Mine
Strindberg's particular brand of social realism set the tone of Swedish literature for some time – until Selma Lagerlöf came along to give it another injection of romanticism and wonder. In 1909 it netted her the first Nobel prize for literature awarded to a woman. A woman, by god! This 1913 short story is a parable of rural morality, money as the root of all evil, and the idea of the Wise King (in this case, the eighteenth-century monarch Gustav III). I'm a sucker for this kind of unironic, emotional evocation of altruism, and sure enough this one hit home. By the end I was ready to rip my shirt off and move to a hamlet in Dalecarlia. Why I would need to be naked from the waist up to do this, I'm not sure, but it felt appropriate.
Stig Dagerman – ‘Sleet’
A slice of postwar naturalism, this story, endearingly narrated by a little boy in the rural north of Sweden, steers a controlled course between the comedy and the tragedy of daily life. It's full of striking detail – the daybed in the kitchen, the chaff-cutter, the practicalities of heading carrots, snatched liaisons in the cowshed. Many of the details seems to resonate with a sense of expressionist meaning(-lessness), though the story refrains from pointing any firm morals or tying up thematic conclusions. Dagerman was found dead in his car at 31, so the same might be said of him.
Astrid Lindgren – ‘Most Beloved Sister’ and ‘Mirabelle’
Two perfectly crystalline children's stories. I usually have little interest in reading children's books, and I probably couldn't have read a whole book of them, but two was perfect. The narrative voice is so personable – clean and clear as a bell. Like the best fairytales, these have those little inoculatory hints of darkness and pain, but the primary sense is of excitement, secrecy and wonder.
August Strindberg – ‘Frictions’
‘They lit the candles on the Christmas tree; it radiated peace and happiness; but its dark branches smelt of a funeral and looked sinister, like the Baron's face.’ Strindberg was an intense bastard, who used to get up in the morning, peer out of the window, and exclaim, ‘CHRIST, IT'S A BARREN, PITILESS WASTELAND OUT THERE!’ Or at least, I like to imagine that he did. This story is one of those get-in, get-out little tales that read like the synopsis of a thousand-page Tolstoy doorstopper; telegraphic descriptions of momentous life changes, interspersed with a few representative bits of dialogue. This one shows a deep interest in gender double-standards and women's participation in intellectual life, and considers how these affect romantic relations between the sexes. In reality, of course, Strindberg for all his progressiveness concluded that women belonged at home, which is why all his lefty friends fell out with him. What can you say; people are complicated. It's a barren, pitiless wasteland out there.
Selma Lagerlöf – The Silver Mine
Strindberg's particular brand of social realism set the tone of Swedish literature for some time – until Selma Lagerlöf came along to give it another injection of romanticism and wonder. In 1909 it netted her the first Nobel prize for literature awarded to a woman. A woman, by god! This 1913 short story is a parable of rural morality, money as the root of all evil, and the idea of the Wise King (in this case, the eighteenth-century monarch Gustav III). I'm a sucker for this kind of unironic, emotional evocation of altruism, and sure enough this one hit home. By the end I was ready to rip my shirt off and move to a hamlet in Dalecarlia. Why I would need to be naked from the waist up to do this, I'm not sure, but it felt appropriate.
Stig Dagerman – ‘Sleet’
A slice of postwar naturalism, this story, endearingly narrated by a little boy in the rural north of Sweden, steers a controlled course between the comedy and the tragedy of daily life. It's full of striking detail – the daybed in the kitchen, the chaff-cutter, the practicalities of heading carrots, snatched liaisons in the cowshed. Many of the details seems to resonate with a sense of expressionist meaning(-lessness), though the story refrains from pointing any firm morals or tying up thematic conclusions. Dagerman was found dead in his car at 31, so the same might be said of him.
July 13, 2025
4 very different little booklets form this collection of Swedish classics: Astrid Lindgren takes you back into the mind of a child, Selma Lagerlöf expresses the joy of and need to write, Stig Dagerman delivers poignant social criticsm that still feels very relevant today and August Strindberg... - let's be honest, I didn't like his story very much and I'm not sure if it's satire and if so, what exactly it wants to convey. I still recommend the collection for the other three contributions.
September 24, 2020
Picked up this little box of shorts at a museum in Sweden.
I really liked the writing in Sleet by Stig Dagerman. I wouldn't mind reading more by him.
I really liked the writing in Sleet by Stig Dagerman. I wouldn't mind reading more by him.
Read
January 7, 2021Loved this: crisp insights into Swedish literature
September 22, 2025
his set of four, a sampler of the Swedish greats - August Strindberg, Selma Lagerlöf, Astrid Lindgren and Karin Boye, went down easy today and helped me feel a little better.
I found Lindgren a little creepy - I can see how she may have inspired doll horror like Annabelle.
August Strindberg had a Proust-lite touch to his story. Lagerlöf gave us a perfectly executed little fable. I think it was the interiority of Karin Boye’s story that I liked best.
I found Lindgren a little creepy - I can see how she may have inspired doll horror like Annabelle.
August Strindberg had a Proust-lite touch to his story. Lagerlöf gave us a perfectly executed little fable. I think it was the interiority of Karin Boye’s story that I liked best.
March 9, 2019
I have received this little box as a gift from my Swedish colleague, Sofia. I was really happy receiving it and I`ve enjoyed reading every single little book.
Astrid Lindgren ~ Most Beloved Sister & Mirabelle ***** // Lovely :)
August Strindberg ~ Frictions ** // Bitter
Selma Lagerlöf ~ The Silver Mine *** // Funny :)
Stig Dagerman ~ Sleet ***** // Bittersweet
Astrid Lindgren ~ Most Beloved Sister & Mirabelle ***** // Lovely :)
August Strindberg ~ Frictions ** // Bitter
Selma Lagerlöf ~ The Silver Mine *** // Funny :)
Stig Dagerman ~ Sleet ***** // Bittersweet
September 26, 2021
Nice little short stories. I got these in Sweden, as I like to read from local authors as another way of getting to know the places I visit.
Sleet, My dear Sister, Mirabelle, the silver mine. Some endearing, heartful stories, one of them a bit more troubling.
Sleet, My dear Sister, Mirabelle, the silver mine. Some endearing, heartful stories, one of them a bit more troubling.
April 14, 2020
Not bad not good, but I am biased towards short stories
October 19, 2020
A very nice collection of Swedish classics
December 13, 2024
What a great gift I got from my friends. This box of 4 novellas is very beautifully designed and helps you discover 4 big authors in no time. On holiday in Scandinavia, I immediately bought another box of Swedish classics in Swedish. Most loved story from this box is Selma Lagerlöf's parabel The Silver Mine. The atmosphere she creates is just wonderful. The characters and landscape feel so mysterious and alive. It triggers me to read her famous books 'Gösta Berlings saga' or 'Nils Holgerssons underbara resa'.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews