Il gioco serio

by Hjalmar Söderberg

Arvid e Lydia si amano: la giovinezza, la dolcezza delle sere estive nell’arcipelago, la musica sospesa nell’aria, l’incanto dei primi baci, tutti i sogni ancora possibili. La felicità è lì, a portata di mano. Ma è già davvero il momento di afferrarla? È già quella la vita? È con un’esitazione, una rinuncia, una perdita, che inizia Il gioco serio, la storia di un amore perennemente inseguito, cercato, rimpianto, vissuto solo nel breve spazio di una passione, nell’interstizio di un tempo sospeso tra il troppo presto e il troppo tardi. “L’unico vero romanzo d’amore della letteratura svedese”, verrà definito in seguito, quando sarà annoverato tra i classici del nostro secolo, dopo la controversa accoglienza dei contemporanei a quell’ammissione di un fallimento esistenziale in cui non potevano che rispecchiarsi. Söderberg appartiene in pieno alla categoria degli scrittori dell’esilio, di quell’irrimediabile lontananza tra l’io e la vita che è la cifra della letteratura moderna. Con una lucidità senza concessioni, un’eleganza capace di rivestire di ironica leggerezza la di-sperazione, guarda Arvid scivolare a poco a poco dalle grandi aspirazioni ai compromessi, agli inganni, a quei piccoli tradimenti di se stesso che lo rendono sempre più estraneo a un’esistenza che non riconosce più come sua, e Lydia disperdere in inappaganti esperienze il suo appassionato bisogno di un amore assoluto che la giustifichi. Dal caso Dreyfus alla morte di Strindberg, dalla guerra tra Russia e Giappone al Titanic, la cronaca fedele degli anni a cavallo del secolo registra gli avvenimenti della storia che scorre loro accanto, come il passare dei giorni e delle stagioni in una Stoccolma tanto più meticolosamente concreta e reale, con le sue vie, i suoi teatri, i suoi caffè, tanto più emblematica, con i suoi lunghi crepuscoli e i suoi cieli vuoti, quanto più sfuggente e incontrollabile si fa il loro destino.

Genres: Classics, Fiction, Swedish Literature, Sweden, Romance, Scandinavian Literature, 20th Century

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1912

About the author

Hjalmar Emil Fredrik Söderberg was a Swedish novelist, playwright, poet and journalist. His works often deal with melancholy and lovelorn characters, and offer a rich portrayal of contemporary Stockholm through the eyes of the flaneur. Söderberg is greatly appreciated in his native country, and is sometimes considered to be the equal of August Strindberg, Sweden's national author.

Reviews

[Guille · Rating 5 out of 5]

La moraleja del libro es bien sencilla, no se puede jugar con la vida, la vida es un juego serio y peligroso. Esto es lo que viene a decir Hjalmar Söderberg en esta soberbia novela, delicada y sutil, precisa y contenida, incisiva y elegante, fatalista y amarga, como posiblemente solo pueda serlo una novela en la que el autor se enfrenta a sus demonios particulares. Para mí supera incluso a Doctor Glas.

Una decisión, en principio intrascendente, incluso natural dadas las circunstancias personales e históricas en las que el azar sitúa a nuestra pareja de protagonistas - Arvid Stjärnblom y Lydia Stille- puede tener consecuencias imprevisibles y terribles. No se puede jugar con el destino de otras personas, se transforma, se concreta y solidifica en una dirección no prevista y posiblemente no deseada, está en juego la vida de todos.

Una vez iniciado el juego se inicia un proceso de acción-reacción imparable donde la inercia, el rencor, la venganza, el orgullo, el autoengaño, el miedo harán el resto: acciones que nunca se producirían si las condiciones iniciales del juego hubieran sido otras; reacciones que quizás no se habrían tenido sin la actitud concreta que las provocó. Y es que la unidad de nuestra personalidad es una pamema: somos una extraña amalgama de muchos yoes, aunque algunos solo lleguemos a descubrirlos bajo ciertas condiciones, momentos cruciales que lo trastocan todo, que pueden envenenar nuestras relaciones hasta hacerlas irreconocibles e imposibles ya para siempre.

"Qué poco se conoce uno a sí mismo: siempre he creído, al menos hasta ahora, que yo era una persona honesta y franca (...) siempre he dado por supuesto que la honradez y cierto amor desinteresado por la verdad eran dos de mis rasgos más característicos. Y ahora me encuentro en una situación que hace de la falsedad, la astucia y las mentiras una necesidad casi diaria, y para mi sorpresa me doy cuenta de que también tengo aptitudes en este terreno."

La novela está narrada en tercera persona pero casi siempre bajo el punto de vista del protagonista masculino. De él llegamos a conocer perfectamente el porqué de cada uno de sus actos, sus pensamientos, sus deseos, sus temores. De ella solo conocemos, en el mejor de los casos, sus acciones, pero nunca las razones en las que descansan, razones que no siempre están claras. Tanto es así, que G. Sundström, posiblemente tan intrigado como yo por el alma de Lydia, escribió una versión de esta misma novela bajo el punto de vista de ella. Aunque siento cierta curiosidad por este punto de vista, en el fondo prefiero quedarme con las mil posibilidades que a mí se me ocurren (el misterio es siempre un fuerte atractivo: mil posibilidades ganan a una concreción... casi siempre).

[Robin · Rating 3 out of 5]

My copy of this book describes it as "Sweden's most enduring love story"... all I can say to that is poor, poor Swedes! I agree, it endures, as it was published in 1912 and continues to be read and found relevant. But I wouldn't categorise this as a love story any more than I would call The End of the Affair a love story (though, I must say I found Graham Greene's lovers more convincing than Soderberg's). Doomed love story, maybe.

Arvid (a budding journalist) and Lydia (daughter of a well-known artist) have a romance in their youth. Arvid has no money to support Lydia, and doesn't want the pressure of her waiting for him, despite his tender feelings. So they go their separate ways. Lydia marries a rich old guy. Arvid, after some philandering, is tricked into a marriage of his own. About a decade goes by and they meet by chance, sparking all the old, idealised feelings, and begin an affair. Not a particularly happy one, as affairs go.

Needless to say, Arvid is punished heavily for making that initial mistake of walking away from love, when he could have had it, in all its uncomplicated splendour.

I learned this story is heavily based on Söderberg's own experiences (He was involved in an affair with a woman who considered him a drop in her bucket. This destroyed his marriage and social standing and caused him to flee Sweden for good.), which is interesting, and explains the fatalistic tone and the especially negative portrayal of Lydia.

A running theme in this novel is that of fate: You do not choose your destiny, any more than you choose your wife, your lover or your children. You get them, and you have them, and possibly you lose them. But you don't choose them! This is a fascinating idea. It's true that Arvid doesn't seem to be able to control his own life. He is trapped in his respectable marriage to a respectable woman. His relationship with Lydia is fraught and tortured. But the fact remains: he is where he is as a result of his own decisions.

I can see where this would have caused quite a splash when it was published, over a century ago. Söderberg's treatment of sex would have shocked some, especially in this extramarital context. Also Lydia, a woman who rejects marriage and motherhood, and who plainly has carnal needs like any man - well, while I didn't find her likeable, she's a remarkable character, ahead of her time, who refuses to fit into a neat and tidy box.

This book has philosophical and historical elements woven through it (which sometimes feel like unnecessary digressions), but what made the biggest impression on me is the pitch-black cruelties of love. The feelings of being shackled by expectations, the insecurities, the rejections, betrayals, the petty and cold revenges. Some people call this a love story. For me, it's a wounding, wounded war story, told by a survivor.

This isn't the life of a normal man. It is a life which, at most, could only be condoned if I were a writer. A writer is forgiven for just about anything. Nobody knows why, really, but that's the way it is. Writers are considered to be less responsible.

3.5 stars

[Julie G · Rating 4 out of 5]

I escaped to the ocean this past weekend, my first attempt to sit alone on a beach in six years.

The first day of my trip, the weather was ideal and the world felt shiny and bright. . . from then on, gray skies descended and the scenery was a sterling silver.

I'll be honest; I was disappointed. I have so little time for myself; all I wanted was to sit on a quiet, bright beach, and I got blustery and blah. It was cold, it was crowded, everything was overpriced, and it was not an ideal place for a busy mom to clear her head.

But we prevail, right?

I mean, I went into this 1912 Swedish read thinking it was a noir thriller, filled with hot sex and I got instead a moody, weird translation and G rated sex scenes (Disney's Sleeping Beauty is hotter, y'all).

We don't always get what we want, we just get what we get, and that's exactly what the protagonists here suffer.

Arvid is our main protagonist. He's a man who has a tough time accepting he's a writer (it seems to demean him in some way), and, other than having an early infatuation with a woman named Lydia, he has no real attachment to any woman. He's finally “duped” into marrying a woman named Dagmar and they fall into a safe, monotonous, baby-making partnership.

Lydia is his female counterpart, and she has her own struggles. She's young when her father dies, her mother preceded him in death, and Lydia must find her way in turn-of-the-century Sweden with no money and no prospects. She marries a much older man and knows that her marriage is a prison from the moment she chokes on “I do.”

So, til death do us part and til death do us part, and both Arvid and Lydia decide, rather quickly, that monogamy is maybe the biggest bullshit lie of the past five centuries and that if they are stuck in these loveless marriages until their death beds, well, damn it, that totally sucks.

I'll leave the rest up to your imagination, but, for my part, I wanted to contribute that this book, which had a slow beginning, did ultimately capture my interest.

It's moody, and I can sense it is much more powerful in its original Swedish, but there's something here. For me, it was reminiscent of three novels I love: The End of the Affair, Madame Bovary, and Doctor Zhivago.

I'm not declaring it's as good AS ANY of those three; I think those are three of the best novels that were ever written, but I think that if you like any of those, this might work well for you.

There are several topics explored here, in 1912, that are staggeringly modern and surprising: the cogency (or lack thereof) of monogamy for the human species, the concept of journalists being forced to produce a certain amount of “fake news” to keep their jobs, and the examination of a woman with multiple sexual partners who is not “paid” to do so, but is motivated by her own sexual desires.

I finished the book, still having no idea what “The Serious Game” means, and I believe it was an incredibly poor choice for a title. Perhaps the original title, in Swedish, was “The Fucking Game,” and something got lost in translation?

I'd recommend going back to the original title, and also adding some real sex scenes.

But, despite disappointments, as always, I prevail.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love is free.

You can't force it, you can't stop it, you can't keep it, you can't control it.

All the things we do in order to rein in our strongest desires and deepest emotions are just acts of surface polishing. We get married. We move away. We forsake or indulge. We can live a life determined by other factors than love, like career, family, marriage, status, or independence. All those things we can actively choose.

Love, we can't!

Several times in this masterpiece of Swedish fiction, a sentence is repeated, aiming at different characters.

"A while ago I met the man I used to love. And I could not understand why I loved him!"

Love is present tense. We can't imagine who we will love tomorrow and we can't imagine why we felt so strongly in the past if the feeling is lost. When we love, it is absolute and we can't imagine the end, and that is probably why we marry - to preserve the sense of belonging. But the marriage does not keep the feeling from changing. It just keeps us.

This is an incredibly modern story, written a century ago, recommended!

[Manny · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is invariably described as a love story - which is true as far as it goes, but it's an unusual example of the genre. The bare bones of the plot are soon apparent. Arvid, a diffident young man who has just moved from his provincial Swedish town to 1890s Stockholm, is smitten with Lydia, the beautiful daughter of a well-known artist. His feelings are reciprocated; there is some passionate kissing in the arbor, and Lydia says she will wait for him always. But this makes Arvid nervous, since he has no idea how long it will take him to accumulate enough money for marriage to be a possibility. He discourages Lydia, which deeply wounds her feelings. Then her father dies, and she impulsively marries a rich, much older man. Arvid also marries. Ten years later, they meet again by chance and cannot resist the temptation to begin an illicit affair.

In most books of this kind, the focus will be on the the intrigue - can things somehow work out for the star-crossed lovers? Failing that, it will be on the morality of the situation or on the main characters' feelings. But here, it's clear pretty much from the start that things can't possibly work out, and there is little talk of morals either. There is more about feelings: Den allvarsamma leken came out in 1912, the year before Un amour de Swann, and in some ways reminds me of it. Though Söderberg's analysis is in some ways rather different from Proust's; he is much more explicit about sex - shockingly so by the standards of the time - and one of the obvious reasons why things go wrong is that Arvid fails to understand how women can be just as interested in sex as men are. Söderberg's deadpan way of presenting this is nicely done, and I believe got him into a fair amount of trouble.

But, as with Proust, feelings aren't the central thing either. What both authors are most interested in motivation, and here Söderberg comes up with a striking way of presenting his answer. Arvid is a journalist at a major newspaper, and his work is described in considerable detail. Over and over again, we see that no one really controls what the paper publishes. People make solemn promises that articles will not be published, and then they turn up in the next day's number anyway. Solecisms are carefully corrected in the proofs, but despite everyone's efforts they reappear. No one is surprised: this is how a newspaper operates, and it's taken for granted that the editor's ability to enforce his will is very limited. And, just in the same way, Arvid and Lydia have no real control over their destinies. Arvid gets involved with her again, knowing that it will lead to disaster; she takes a lover, treats him badly, then bitterly regrets it; he writes a cruel and wounding letter that can only make her hate him, reads it through, then posts it.

Throughout most of the book the philosophy is kept in the background, but once or twice it briefly moves center-stage. There is a striking scene where an older colleague, seeing that Arvid is becoming involved with the woman he later marries against his better judgement, attempts to dissuade him. Arvid asks him why he thinks it's any of his business; Herr Rissler replies that, if he was going down the street and saw a runaway horse, he would grab hold of the reins before it overturned the carriage. Arvid replies mockingly that this is surely a mixed metaphor: he can't be the horse and the driver, can he? Oh, but you can! says Herr Rissler. Let's talk Kant: as phenomenon, als Erscheinung, you are the horse, but in the noumenal world, als Ding an Sich, you are the driver. Beware.

What a clever man Hjalmar Söderberg was. In just the same way, I think his novel is two things at the same time: als Erscheinung, it is a love story, but als Ding an Sich it is a philosophical treatise. Most authors who try this manoeuvre come unstuck, but he does it so well that hardly anyone even bothers to look past the beautiful appearances; he's at least as skillful as Sartre or Camus. Chapeau, monsieur. It's comforting to see that you are not forgotten, and that your works finally seem to be reaching a wider audience.

Or, at least, that was my reaction on first reading the book. But after considering it for another couple of days, I decided it was nonsense. You only have to think a little more about Kant's picture to see why it makes no sense: we can never know anything about the Ding an Sich, so it's not reasonable to say that the philosophy is the "real" book and the love story is the appearance. As Kant points out, we only ever have appearances: here, we have a book which sometimes appears as a love story, and sometimes as a work of philosophy.

I think this way of looking at it is rather closer to the truth. The author has divided himself between the two characters of Arvid and Herr Rissler, who respectively stand for the emotional and the philosophical ways of seeing what is happening. Arvid is interested in happenings and feelings; but Rissler, like Proust, is interested in why people do things, and, even more, how they write about them to turn experience into art. Proust seems to view art as an end in itself; Marcel's dream is to become an author, and life is mostly viewed as raw material for this process. But Söderberg reverses the process and views art as therapy for the pain of life. Goethe, says Rissler at one point, wrote Die Leiden des Jungen Werther to get over his own heartbreak and inflict it on his readers instead; Strindberg (very topical in early 20th century Sweden) put all his misery into his plays and novels, and was in private life a very happy person. Similarly, Söderberg himself is writing this book to avoid shooting himself after he has been abandoned by his beloved Gertrud. So it's not necessarily a work of philosophy masquerading as a love story; it's at least as plausible that it's a love story masquerading as a work of philosophy.

We do not perceive the true reality, as Chuang Tzu said in his celebrated parable of the butterfly and the Emperor...

[Ratko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Озбиљна игра је последњи роман Јалмара Седерберга и бави се животом стокхолмске гарађанске класе с почетка ХХ века. Главни лик је млади новинар који се пробија у професионалном свету, с тим да је окосница приче љубавни троугао и брачна превара. Тематизују се и нека шкакљива питања попут ванбрачне деце, преваре, брака из интереса и слично, што и данас јесте врло актуелно.
Седерберг пише занимљиво, осети се жива атмосфера стоколмских улица и ресторана. Ипак, поједине личности и догађаји нису значајне овдашњем читаоцу неупућеном у тадашња друштвена кретања у Шведској (али су вероватно били актуелни у тренутку писања дела), па стога има делова који су досадњикави. Но, роман је кратак и брзо се чита.
Свакако ми је Седербергов Доктор Глас знатно боље дело и више га препоручујем.

[Karenina (Nina Ruthström) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prosan är perfekt. Så snygg!

Ämnet är perfekt. Kärleken och dess böljande framfart som årstidernas växlingar; från hoppfull och färgstark vår till kall vinter.

Slutet är perfekt. Olyckligt. Realistiskt.

Men efter vinter kommer vår igen. Kärleken är den rast som ger ordning åt våra dagar, som Boye skrev.

[lorinbocol · Rating 3 out of 5]

il valore aggiunto di un libro così è che dopo guardi scene da un matrimonio e ti sembra una botta di vita. söderberg scrive 60 anni prima di quando bergman gira la sua tomografia computerizzata di una crisi coniugale, e i suoi arvid e lydia non sono nemmeno sposati. il tira e molla però è lo stesso, uguale il farsi e fare male. un ancora tu (ma non dovevamo vederci più) che qui è complicato da annichilimento umano e sentimentale.
per essere stato pubblicato nel 1912, il libro mostra quell'indubbia disinvoltura di approccio che noi terroni d'europa tanto invidiamo ai peninsulari lassù. poi c'è il rovescio della medaglia. quando leggi sintesi maceranti (e veritiere) del tenore di questa: «che terribile mania che aveva, però: scegliere sempre i suoi amanti proprio tra i miei amici e conoscenti... dopo quell'orribile autunno di quattro anni fa, quando mi scrisse 'sono stata di un altro mentre tu eri via', mi fidavo ciecamente della sua sincerità. ma era poi solo sincerità? non era piuttosto un piccolo, crudele desiderio di vedere come l'avrei presa? una piccola, crudele curiosità di vedere quante frustate riuscivo a sopportare?», e pensi che gli inverni lunghi ma soprattutto secoli di luteranesimo in scandinavia han fatto danni serissimi, accidenti.

[Kelly (and the Book Boar)]

If it's good enough for Eric Northman, it's probably good enough for me. But first . . . I must learn Swedish!

[Chrissie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know I have enjoyed this book a lot, so I know I want to give it four stars. Putting my finger on why exactly I have enjoyed it so much has not been easy. I will explain.

The prose, written in Swedish is beautiful. There is a quietness conveyed. Words are sometimes repeated. You hear their melody. I would classify sections of the writing as prose poetry. We're meant to listen to the rhythm of the words. We are meant to think carefully about the message being conveyed. A word in one language and in another may correspond to each other, but often they have at the same time different connotations. One must know how each word is to be used. The author’s Swedish words are filled with connotations, and they create an atmosphere, they add a magic to the reading experience. Söderberg is a master of prose.

The second reason why I like the book so much is that it speaks of places I know very well, places within a few minutes’ walk form where I live now or have lived before. The setting is Stockholm at the turn of the 20th century, but much still remains the same. The parks, the streets, the town squares, cemeteries, churches and theaters ae still all in the same places and are little changed. Buildings, winding alleyways and promontories are spoken of, and I see them. Actually, much is not even described. This is for me not necessary since I see them in my mind’s eye. I can envision them in every season. Stockholm is a beautiful old city. Memories of things done in the different places flood back while reading this book.

Now, let’s consider the plot, the story, what happens. A woman and a man meet when they are young. They are attracted to each other but end up each married to another. Then they meet again years later, and the attraction flares up again. How will this end? Must you have a sweet, happy ending? You might then want to read something else, but this all depends on the point of view you hold. Are you satisfied with a realistic ending? I am. I think the book draws characters in a convincing manner.

Krister Hendriksson has narrated this for Sveriges Radio. The narration is outstanding. When he whispers or lowers his voice in a confidential tone, you still hear exactly what is being said. The reading captures perfectly the atmosphere prevailing when the words are spoken. With the clearing of a throat an amusing message can be conveyed. Communication is delivered not merely through words; sounds work equally well given such a talented narrator as Hendriksson. The narration is in Swedish. If you understand Swedish, don’t hesitate a second before grabbing the audio version of the book. The narration is definitely worth the highest rating possible, so five stars. The speed of the narration is slow—we are meant to listen carefully to every word.

I think to really enjoy this book one should read it in Swedish if possible. I don’t think it is an easy book to translate.

************************

*Den allvarsamma leken 4 stars
*Doktor Glas TBR again (3 stars translated version)
*Gertrud TBR

[Emil Söderman · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, "The Serious Game" was, in my literature textbook described as "Possibly the most beautiful love story written in the swedish language."

This is not entirely incorrect, but it probably says something about swedish literature. Basic story: Boy loves girl. Girl marries other man, boy marries other woman, boy and girl meet again, boy and girl have an affair. Girl cheats on boy, boy forgives girl, boys wife finds out, boy finds out girl has cheated on him again, boy and girl break up. The end.

This story synopsis does not in any way describe the actual book, first of all, the swedish prose is absolutely brilliant: Söderberg is a wonderful author, witty, observant, cynical, and yet with a vein of sentimentality and fin-de-siecle angst that is very appealing. Throughout the book he makes wry comments on contemporary politics, religion and literature (more on that later) he shows characters armoured in cynicism and really too good-for-this-kind-of-melodrama but yet with the emotional vulnerability to get pulled into it anyway. In typical Söderberg fashion the motivations are often opaque, or at least easily presents multiple different interpretations.

There is something cool and slightly detached about Söderberg, which makes an odd juxtaposition in this kind of very emotional story. There is a sense that like his protagonist, Söderberg is a distant observer that somehow still hides emotional depths. This quite unlike Strindberg (whose entire art and life was arguably a kind of performance)

The novel was written in 1913, and is set in the period from late 1892 to the year it was published. It serves as a great panorama of fin-de-siecle culture, of a world that is both in many was unmistakably modern and at the same time very alien, the settings an milieus however are relentlessly bourgeisie: Although the books main characters moves at the outskirts they are still part of the cultural and social elite: This is very noticeable in some of the comments made regarding various political issues, and to some extent there is a feeling of "First world problems" over the entire thing.

Still, the book is witty, beautifully written, and at times genuinely poignant. And of course eminently quotable.

[love frisell]

betakille driver sig till vansinne över en bpd-tjej. vi älskar att se det

[João Carlos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Estocolmo - 1897

Nascido em Estocolmo, o escritor Hjalmar Söderberg (1869 – 1941) publicou o romance “Jogo Sério” em 1912.
A narrativa de “Jogo Sério” inicia-se num final de tarde no Verão de 1897, numa casa de férias situada numa das 24.000 ilhas do arquipélago de Estocolmo, onde se encontram reunidos vários homens e a jovem Lydia Stille. Três deles, o Barão Freutiger, o notário Loven e o jovem Arvid Stjarnblom, estão enamorados pela lindíssima Lydia; lentamente a noite começa a cair, e é nas sombras e na escuridão do jardim, que os lábios de Lydia e Arvid se uniram num beijo prolongado. Mas é na incerteza que Lydia questiona “… Arvid, achas que tu e eu podemos construir um dia um pequeno mundo para nós dois?” – “Suponho que podíamos tentar”; revelando que Arvid tem pouca confiança em si próprio e que não confiava nos seus sentimentos. Lydia desesperada sussurra-lhe ao ouvido: “Acredito em ti. Acredito em ti. Posso esperar.” E aos vinte e dois anos Arvid confessa: “não suporto a ideia de ter alguém, a esperar por mim… Não é altura de prender-me a ninguém… Antes de mais tens que viver a vida.”
As férias de Verão acabam e Arvid regressa a Estocolmo para iniciar um estágio a leccionar Sueco, História e Geografia e, simultaneamente, começa a trabalhar no jornal Nationalblad; os seus pensamentos centram-se em Lydia, mas são completamente dominados pela insegurança emocional e pela precariedade financeira, provocando, no imediato, um desencontro amoroso irreversível e doloroso.
A inevitabilidade de Lydia e Arvid prosseguirem e constituírem relacionamentos e vidas separadas, vem acentuar a ruptura comovente de amores “impossíveis”.
Passados dez anos, na ópera, o reencontro acontece, “as mãos de ambos procuram-se e encontraram-se.” – “És feliz?” – “Suponho que ninguém seja realmente feliz…” e “fatalmente” a infelicidade, a infidelidade e a mentira imperam sobre compromissos ténues assentes na falsidade e na ambiguidade de relacionamentos incompreensíveis.
As personagens de “Jogo Sério” tem simultaneamente comportamentos complexos e melancólicos, onde os conflitos morais e amorosos quase sempre degeneram numa dor física; e inexplicavelmente ou não, assistimos impávidos ao vislumbre do sofrimento e da insensibilidade das atitudes rotineiras, sem amor, felicidade ou paixão.
Hjalmar Söderberg tem uma escrita perfeita, emocionalmente comovente, com detalhes primorosos; destaco três exemplos: a folhinha de papel com o desenho de “uma planura outonal com esqueletos de salgueiros nus reflectidos num lago tranquilo, um céu carregado, aguaceiros e um bando de árvores migratórias…” e nas costas da folha Lydia escrevera “Quero ir para longe, oh, muito longe daqui.”, ou o pormenor do selo “Se me condenas e não queres saber mais de mim, cola o selo de cabeça para baixo. Mas se me absolves, cola-o de cabeça para cima.”, ou a simbologia de retirar do dedo o anel de esmeralda - sempre enquadrada por um suspense enigmático sobre os mistérios do amor.
“O que é que é felicidade?”
"Ninguém sabe", respondeu ele. "Talvez seja algo que imaginamos, e que não existe. Mas será de facto possível imaginá-la? Consegues imaginar uma felicidade constante, que dure para sempre - pois tem que durar para sempre: de outro modo, a ideia de que teria um termo bastaria para a envenenar..."


Hjalmar Söderberg (1869 – 1941)

Um magnífico artigo do escritor sueco Henning Mankell sobre "Jogo Sério" de Hjalmar Söderberg.
http://henningmankell.com/chronicles/...

[C Birgitta · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intressant veta vad som rörde sig i huvudet på folk för cirka 100 år sedan. Till viss del självbiografisk bok, något märkligt att den tog sådan tid att skriva, men han hade troligen mycket att tänka på däremellan, den gode Hjalmar.

Även märkligt att han inleder med ett kapitel ur Lydias perspektiv för att aldrig återkomma till det senare. Är han helt oförstående? Eller är det ett litterärt grepp jag helt enkelt inte förstår mig på?

Avskyr för övrigt huvudpersonen, Arvid. En feg, omogen krake som inte tar ansvar för något mer än att ta sig till sitt arbete. Rädd att binda sig, utnyttjar sin hustru och skyller både sina egna och äktenskapets tillkortakommanden på henne. Också Lydia får skulden, för hur relationen med henne utvecklas.

Det finns ett irriterande avståndstagande betraktande av både kvinnorna och samhället, kanske ett uttryck för, eller konsekvens av, rollen som journalist, som huvudpersonen och författaren ju delar.

Kan inte se hur det här skulle vara ett mästerverk, särskilt då jag läst "Doktor Glas", som är så mycket bättre.
Ser inte heller hur detta kan kallas för en kärlekshistoria. Möjligen handlar den om förälskelse och passion, men här finns ingen kärlek, enbart åtrå. En man som verkligen älskar skulle inte ständigt sätta sig själv före, så som Arvid gör. Inga överväganden gör han för att göra Lydia lycklig, och stundtals är båda tramsigt småsinta, buttra, nästan hämndlystna.

[Evripidis Gousiaris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Μία από τις ευχάριστες αναγνωστικές εκπλήξεις για φέτος. Δεν περίμενα να μου αρέσει τόσο πολύ.
Θα έλεγα ότι είναι το μικρότερο αδερφάκι από την Άννα Καρένινα και την Μαντάμ Μποβαρύ.

[Federico Escobar Sierra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cayó mucha nieve sobre Estocolmo mientras Arvid, Lydia y Dagmar jugaron al amor.
Él es un tipo tímido, siempre víctima de la inacción,de la idea de que el frente al destino no hay decisión. Ellas, tan distintas, lo manipulan, ya con sus dotes en casa o en cama. El va de una a otra, bebiendo de la seguridad de un mundo que cree sólido, mientras lo ve mecerse. Y al fin decide, y es ahí donde pone fin a un juego mezquino.
Lo conveniente choca con lo placentero. Y vemos nuestras contradicciones, recordamos cuando subimos la cabeza orgullosos de creernos quien triunfó y así mismo cuando la agachamos sabiendo tener la razón, en nombre de causas que creemos superiores. Somos nosotros. Así de complejos y de humanos.

Impecable edición.

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Anos mais tarde, quando recordava esse Outono de 1908, Arvid referia-se-lhe como o "purgatório". Na época, sentira como se estivesse a percorrer um longo e sinuoso túnel, que se ia afunilando cada vez mais, até o obrigar a gatinhar...um túnel sem saída e onde não entrava um raio de luz...De repente, sentiu-se velho. Era como se envelhecesse um ano a cada dia que passava."

"Sim, pensou ele, os poetas têm sorte. Podem encontrar consolação para quase tudo. Mesmo que tenham a vida destruída, devastada, estragada, podem sempre achar consolação. Têm o poder de exprimir a sua irredutível infelicidade, e nisso achar consolo. Mas o que há-de fazer um pobre e banal pecador?"

[Elin Hjelmestam · Rating 5 out of 5]

Läser alltid den i maj

[Ffiamma · Rating 4 out of 5]

un uomo, una donna, un amore che dura- nonostante il passare degli anni, le separazioni, il dolore, i matrimoni e i tradimenti. un amore che resta un gioco serio e non si concretizza mai, pur essendo fin troppo presente nella vita. e sullo sfondo, i grandi eventi della storia europea, i personaggi di spicco della società svedese e gli scorci romantici di stoccolma. romanzo assai bello, di una malinconia quasi insopportabile.

[Maya Skagegård · Rating 5 out of 5]

Läst om denna bok en gång om året sedan jag var 14 år gammal, och tycker att den är lika bra varje gång <3

[Ellen Ivarius Andersson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Att även Arvid har tankar om att man potentiellt kan gå och dö i en snöhög gjorde det hela lite bättre

[wilma · Rating 4 out of 5]

King hjalmar söderberg

[Lovis · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5
Man blir aldrig besviken på Hjalmar! Var lite osäker på storyn de första 50 sidorna men sen så var jag fast. Det enda klagomålet jag har är att jag hade velat ha mer av allt.

[Britta17 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Min första re-read av denna bok!

En stillsam, vacker bok om kärlek och livet i Stockholm under sekelskiftet

”Det fattades bara att jag skulle gå genom livet utan att någonsin ha varit din”

[Κατερίνα Μαλακατέ · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://diavazontas.blogspot.com/2018/...

Αγάπησα πολύ τον Δόκτωρα Γκλας του Σέντερμπεργκ κι ας μην είχα ακούσει τίποτα για αυτόν πριν τον διαβάσω. Ο Σέντερμπεργκ έγραψε στις αρχές του 20ου αιώνα, όμως οι ιδέες του μοιάζουν τόσο φρέσκες και σημερινές, σαν να μην έχουν περάσει εκατό και πλέον χρόνια. Ήμουν σίγουρη πως θα διαβάσω ο,τι δικό του βγει, με το που έκλεισα την τελευταία σελίδα του Δόκτωρος.

«Το σοβαρό παιχνίδι» δεν μπορεί βεβαίως να συγκριθεί με τον Γκλας σε κανένα επίπεδο, μπορεί όμως να σταθεί ως ένα πολύ καλό ερωτικό μυθιστόρημα. Ήρωας είναι ο Άρβιντ Xουερνμπλούμ, ένας νεαρός επαρχιώτης που προσπαθεί να κάνει καριέρα ως δημοσιογράφος. Στα είκοσί του ερωτεύεται τη Λύντια, την κόρη ενός ήσσονος ζωγράφου. Παρόλο που τα αισθήματα είναι αμοιβαία, αρνείται να δεσμευτεί απέναντί της, δεν έχει την οικονομική ευχέρεια να παντρευτεί και θα ήθελε πρώτα «να ζήσει τη ζωή του». Λίγο καιρό αργότερα η Λύντια παντρεύεται έναν πολύ μεγαλύτερό της διανοούμενο, και ο Άρβιντ παντρεύεται μια κοπέλα της καλής κοινωνίας, την Ντάγκμαρ, που είναι όμορφη, αν και δεν την αγαπάει. Όλα φαίνονται να κυλούν ομαλά, ώσπου δέκα χρόνια μετά ο Άρβιντ και η Λύντια συναντιούνται ξανά και η φλόγα αναζωπυρώνεται. Η Λύντια αφήνει τον σύζυγο και την κορούλα της στην εξοχή και ζει τη ζωή μιας ζωντοχήρας σε ένα μικρό διαμέρισμα στη Στοκχόλμη, ενώ ο Άρβιντ παραμένει στον γάμο του, κάνοντας διπλή ζωή. Μόνο που κι η Λύντια, τον πληρώνει με το ίδιο νόμισμα.

Έμειναν σιωπηλοί. Έξω, οι λάμπες του δρόμου τρεμόπαιζαν ανάμεσα στους γέρικους σκελετούς των δέντρων. Και εκεί πάνω στο παγωμένο μπλε του ουρανού, φλόγιζαν η Αφροδίτη και ο Άρης.
Κι εκείνη είπε:
- Θυμάσαι τότε που σε ρώτησα, εκείνη τη φορά στο Κοντινένταλ: αγαπάς τη γυναίκα σου;
-Ναι...
- Και θυμάσαι που απάντησες: την αγαπώ, όπως αγαπούν οι Λουθηριανοί;
[]
Η Λύντια είχε χλωμιάσει, αλλά με μια χλωμάδα που άστραφτε.
-Έλα, είπε. Εμένα, θα με αγαπήσεις όπως αγαπούν οι ειδωλολάτρες.


Ο χαρακτήρας της Λύντια- μιας γυναίκας που επιλέγει να ζει ελεύθερα, να ακολουθεί τα ένστικτά της, να μην δεσμεύεται, μιας γυναίκας που παράτησε το παιδί της στον πατέρα του- είναι φοβερά πρωτοποριακός για την εποχή· πιθανότατα και για την εποχή μας. Σπάει όλα τα στεγανά της γυναίκας μάνας και συζύγου και για αυτό προκάλεσε μεγάλο σκάνδαλο. Πόσο μάλλον αφού πρόκειται για ένα χαρακτήρα που στηρίζεται στην αληθινή ερωμένη του Σέντερμπεργκ, Μαρία φον Πλάτεν.

«Το σοβαρό παιχνίδι» είναι γραμμένο από την πλευρά του άντρα. Ο Άρβιντ μάς αφηγείται, αυτός είναι ο «αδικημένος» και «απατημένος» στη σχέση. Ο άλλος κεντρικός χαρακτήρας, η Λύντια, παραμένει στη σκιά, ποτέ δεν μαθαίνουμε τι σκέφτεται. Πόσο μάλλον η απατημένη του γυναίκα. Ακολουθούμε τις σκέψεις και τα συναισθήματα του Άρβιντ, που καταλαβαίνει τα λάθη του, αλλά έχει όλη αυτή την έκρηξη συναισθημάτων για τη γυναίκα που αγαπάει, που παντρεύτηκε χωρίς πάθος, και χωρίς συμφέρον- γιατί «δεν διαλέγεις»- που έζησε τη ζωή του σχεδόν σαν εξωτερικός παρατηρητής, μέχρι να τα παρατήσει όλα.

Ο Σέντερμπεργκ δίνει γλαφυρά την ατμόσφαιρα μιας εφημερίδας της εποχής, μιλά για το πώς γράφεται μια κριτική, βάζει τους ήρωες να τραγουδούν και να παίζουν μουσική ενώ επικεντρώνεται και στη Στοκχόλμη, φτιάχνει ατμόσφαιρα. Δεν υπάρχει αμφιβολία πως πρόκειται για ένα σπουδαίο ερωτικό μυθιστόρημα, χωρίς βέβαια να φτάνει μια Άννα Καρένινα ή μια Μαντάμ Μποβαρύ. Και δείχνει πως κακώς έχουμε ξεχάσει το είδος, ο έρωτας ήταν, είναι και θα είναι, ένα από τα βασικά θέματα της λογοτεχνίας. Χαίρομαι τόσο που μεταφράστηκε στα ελληνικά, και θα περιμένω και τα επόμενα.

[Mikaela · Rating 5 out of 5]

En vacker men ack så tragisk kärlekshistoria - precis sånt gillar jag. Jag vill ju nästan glida runt i Stockholm tidigt 1900-tal och stoiskt genomlida allt mög som kastas på mig, smita in på jobbet sena nätter och käka middagar ute ensam utan minska känsla av skam och konstighet - men det går ju inte eftersom jag är en bortskämd gnällis. Och som sådan kan jag inte förlika mig med synsättet "man väljer inte, man får det och man har det och det händer att man mister det, men man väljer inte" med någon vidare grace. En sorg jag alltid kommer få bära.

[Isabel · Rating 4 out of 5]

P. 151: ""Canta para mim", pediu ele.
Lydia acendeu duas velas sobre o piano, sentou-se e cantou "O Sonnenschein" de Schumann.
Enquanto ela cantava, duas borboletas entravam pela janela e puseram-se a esvoaçar em volta das velas"

P. 158: ""Passo diante da tua janela todas as manhãs. Se os pensamentos carinhosos se pudessem materializar, a tua sala encher-se-ia imediatamente de rosas. Lydia""

[Ellen · Rating 5 out of 5]

så glad att jag läste den nu och inte för två år sedan. finns obehaglig chans att jag hade använt den som case i nån krönika om ”killar”

[Karin · Rating 4 out of 5]

som klassiker brukar vara går handlingen väldigt långsamt i den här boken men så fort man börjar tröttna händer det något, så man tråkas inte heller ut så fort! men det är väldigt fint språk och en fin bok💕

[Nichlas Alsing · Rating 4 out of 5]

”Det fattades bara att jag skulle gå genom livet utan att någonsin ha varit din.”

”Så underligt - att det kunde vara så tråkigt att sitta vid ett dukat bord med sina närmaste, som hon höll så mycket av.”

”Man väljer inte sitt öde. Och man väljer lika liten sin hustru eller sin älskarinna, eller sina barn. Man får dem, och man har dem, och det händer att man mister dem. Men man väljer inte!”

“De drevo omkring i den lilla staden, i skymningen. Luften var fuktig och ljum. Det hade regnat men åter klarnat upp. Det doftade från de små täpporna av syren och hägg. Den gamla domkyrkans sträva och allvarsamma torn stod mörkt mot junikvällens ljusa himmel. Mälarfjärden låg stillnad och blank och ljus och speglade tomt den tomma, blå himlen.”

”- Kanske det, svarade hon. Men nu låter vi snön snöa ner över allt det där.”

”Nästa afton klockan nio stod han på Johannes kyrkogård och såg upp mot hennes fönster. Det lyste svagt ljus. Han gick upp de fyra trapporna och ringde på dörren. Ingen öppnade. Han ringde igen. Ingen öppnade dörren. Han ringde för tredje gången. Ingen öppnade. Han gick på en krog och söp förfärligt.”

”’Har aldrig älskat så’. Underbara ord, förtrollande ord, när de viskas i rätta stunden till den, som de gälla. Smutsiga ord, skamlösa ord, när de spottas ut i avskedets ögonblick efter den som drar bort.”