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Antiken
En ensam kvinna i trettioårsåldern. Genom ett jobbuppdrag lär hon känna den äldre konstnären Helena och blir hennes assistent, vän och vittne. Olga är Helenas knepiga tonårsdotter. Berättarjaget känner instinktivt att hon vill vara Helenas allt, tillhöra henne - ända tills hon träffar Olga och besattheten byter riktning. De inleder en hemlig, förbjuden och ojämlik relation i den gamla förfallna staden Ermoupoli i grekiska Kykladerna, där de tre kvinnorna tillbringar en lång het sensommar och höst. Antiken är en roman om tillhörighet, sexualitet, tabu, familj och besatthet.
Ett triangeldrama mellan en mor, hennes tonårsdotter och moderns yngre väninna. Några varma månader i staden Ermoupoli i grekiska kykladerna. En queer Lolita-berättelse.
Ett triangeldrama mellan en mor, hennes tonårsdotter och moderns yngre väninna. Några varma månader i staden Ermoupoli i grekiska kykladerna. En queer Lolita-berättelse.
223 pages, Hardcover
First published August 20, 2020
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 179 reviews
July 2, 2024
Hanna Johansson’s prize-winning debut is an unsettling tale of queer obsession, desire and self-delusion. The unnamed narrator’s a Stockholm-based journalist who tends to live vicariously through the people whose lives she envies. Her latest attachment is to Helena, an older artist she once interviewed. The narrator gradually inserts herself into Helena’s life, mirroring her tastes and habits, observing her almost as if she were an artwork. Her attention to Helena pays off when Helena invites her to stay at her holiday home in Greece. But the narrator’s wary about this invitation as Helena’s there with her 15-year-old daughter Olga, who occupies the position in Helena’s affection the narrator craves for herself. But once there the narrator slowly begins a sexual relationship with Olga, one that becomes all-consuming.
The outlines for the novel centre on the ‘Lolita-like’ aspects of the affair between the narrator and Olga but the novel itself is more akin to an extended character study. It’s a dream-like, painterly piece with a strong emphasis on atmosphere – Johansson is consciously building on her background as an art critic. Her prose is fluid, elegant even, and it’s easy to see why she’s been compared to writers like Marguerite Duras, although there’s also a hint of Violette LeDuc here, as well as various cinematic influences – and copious references to queer literature and film. Her style reminded me too of more recent novels like Winter in Sokcho.The timeline is as restless as the narrator, shifting between past and present; and the descriptive passages often project a kind of languid beauty.
The narrator’s a fascinating creation. She sees herself as a perennial outsider, only able to fulfil her desires through parasitic, precarious forms of bonding. As if she’s a spy of sorts briefly granted access to others’ experiences yet exempt from any form of responsibility for her interactions. It’s this sense of detachment and self-deception that allows her to overlook issues such as relations of power between her and Olga. The roots of the narrator’s perspective are obscured, although it’s clear she’s estranged from her own family, and has few, if any, close friends. So, in many ways this is also a study of the impact of extreme isolation and loneliness which makes this far from a standard morality tale.
The narrator simply transfers her interest in Helena to Olga, and justifies this on the basis that she and Olga are somehow alike – although it’s also possible that this transference is an act of revenge in the face of Helena’s seeming indifference. Johansson sometimes frames the narrator’s actions in terms of the mythic, so that the narrator becomes someone outside of the real, with Olga at one stage becoming a version of Persephone abducted by the king of the underworld, leaving her mother to grieve. This mythic element feeds into the narrator’s tendency to mythologise her own impulses and decisions, elevating them above the mundane – such as mere sexual attraction. Although it’s also suggested that Olga is actually, in many ways similar, rebellious, unhappy at school, and struggling with coming to terms with being queer.
At various points in the narrative, the narrator and Olga appear to mirror or reflect aspects of each other’s character. So that the narrator’s attraction to Olga might be seen as part of a process of the narrator coming to terms with herself. But the narrator’s a quintessentially unreliable one, so the lines between her understanding, her version of events, and what’s actually happening are deliberately blurred. However, this is part of what makes this such a fascinating novel, don’t all of us seek to justify our actions through the stories we weave about ourselves and those around us? In that sense the narrator’s not particularly unusual except in her combination of exceptional self-consciousness and equally exceptional obliviousness to the possibility that her choices impact others, in likely damaging ways. All of which makes it possible for her to cross cultural and moral boundaries in ways many others wouldn’t even contemplate. Translated by Kira Josefsson.
Thanks to Netgalley and to publisher Scribe for an ARC
The outlines for the novel centre on the ‘Lolita-like’ aspects of the affair between the narrator and Olga but the novel itself is more akin to an extended character study. It’s a dream-like, painterly piece with a strong emphasis on atmosphere – Johansson is consciously building on her background as an art critic. Her prose is fluid, elegant even, and it’s easy to see why she’s been compared to writers like Marguerite Duras, although there’s also a hint of Violette LeDuc here, as well as various cinematic influences – and copious references to queer literature and film. Her style reminded me too of more recent novels like Winter in Sokcho.The timeline is as restless as the narrator, shifting between past and present; and the descriptive passages often project a kind of languid beauty.
The narrator’s a fascinating creation. She sees herself as a perennial outsider, only able to fulfil her desires through parasitic, precarious forms of bonding. As if she’s a spy of sorts briefly granted access to others’ experiences yet exempt from any form of responsibility for her interactions. It’s this sense of detachment and self-deception that allows her to overlook issues such as relations of power between her and Olga. The roots of the narrator’s perspective are obscured, although it’s clear she’s estranged from her own family, and has few, if any, close friends. So, in many ways this is also a study of the impact of extreme isolation and loneliness which makes this far from a standard morality tale.
The narrator simply transfers her interest in Helena to Olga, and justifies this on the basis that she and Olga are somehow alike – although it’s also possible that this transference is an act of revenge in the face of Helena’s seeming indifference. Johansson sometimes frames the narrator’s actions in terms of the mythic, so that the narrator becomes someone outside of the real, with Olga at one stage becoming a version of Persephone abducted by the king of the underworld, leaving her mother to grieve. This mythic element feeds into the narrator’s tendency to mythologise her own impulses and decisions, elevating them above the mundane – such as mere sexual attraction. Although it’s also suggested that Olga is actually, in many ways similar, rebellious, unhappy at school, and struggling with coming to terms with being queer.
At various points in the narrative, the narrator and Olga appear to mirror or reflect aspects of each other’s character. So that the narrator’s attraction to Olga might be seen as part of a process of the narrator coming to terms with herself. But the narrator’s a quintessentially unreliable one, so the lines between her understanding, her version of events, and what’s actually happening are deliberately blurred. However, this is part of what makes this such a fascinating novel, don’t all of us seek to justify our actions through the stories we weave about ourselves and those around us? In that sense the narrator’s not particularly unusual except in her combination of exceptional self-consciousness and equally exceptional obliviousness to the possibility that her choices impact others, in likely damaging ways. All of which makes it possible for her to cross cultural and moral boundaries in ways many others wouldn’t even contemplate. Translated by Kira Josefsson.
Thanks to Netgalley and to publisher Scribe for an ARC
April 12, 2024
This reads to me like a reception of the Proserpina myth - but where things are given a twist so that the female narrator is the Pluto figure. It's subtly done but the clues are there from the title 'Antiquity', the Greek island setting, the chapters with their mythic headings (Atlas, Echo etc.), the prevalence of pomegranates and the way the narrator disrupts the mother-daughter relationship of Helena and Olga.
It's a interesting project that is as much about the narrator giving a shape to her obsession and desires as a realist retelling. But thinking about the mythic precedent adds nuance and complexity: Olga is 15 and at one point the narrator notices her blood-stained sheets - a sort of stand-in for Pluto's rape but this time without the gender dichotomy. It's striking, too, that where the myth as retold in Ovid's Metamorphoses is as much about the frantic search of Ceres for her daughter, here Helena is a more lax mother, seemingly oblivious to what is happening in her home.
The writing is of that dreamy, hallucinogenic style that doesn't always work for me - I would have liked something more concrete to underpin the sense of the unreal - and makes good use of the landscape of sun, heat, sea and a general sense of loosened boundaries.
The concept of a female predator is always interesting and here it's complicated by us being inside her head so that it can be hard to separate fantasy, memory, desire and reality. Definitely a slippery text with a provocative premise. 3.5 stars rounded down as I needed a little more direction.
Many thanks to Scribe UK for an ARC via NetGalley
It's a interesting project that is as much about the narrator giving a shape to her obsession and desires as a realist retelling. But thinking about the mythic precedent adds nuance and complexity: Olga is 15 and at one point the narrator notices her blood-stained sheets - a sort of stand-in for Pluto's rape but this time without the gender dichotomy. It's striking, too, that where the myth as retold in Ovid's Metamorphoses is as much about the frantic search of Ceres for her daughter, here Helena is a more lax mother, seemingly oblivious to what is happening in her home.
The writing is of that dreamy, hallucinogenic style that doesn't always work for me - I would have liked something more concrete to underpin the sense of the unreal - and makes good use of the landscape of sun, heat, sea and a general sense of loosened boundaries.
The concept of a female predator is always interesting and here it's complicated by us being inside her head so that it can be hard to separate fantasy, memory, desire and reality. Definitely a slippery text with a provocative premise. 3.5 stars rounded down as I needed a little more direction.
Many thanks to Scribe UK for an ARC via NetGalley
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December 28, 2024I just loved this book. The writing was beautiful.
The best occasion for reading this is probably if some rich people you know have invited you to visit their fancy vacation home, and you're feeling anxious that you'll act weird and behave badly and really just blow it... Reading this book will give you confidence that whatever faux pas you may commit, you're not as bad a guest as this crazy Swedish lesbian narrator!
This is most I've enjoyed a contemporary novel in awhile. The writing was gorgeous, the setting was so vivid, the characters were brilliantly drawn, and I enjoyed the pacing and structure and all that just so much. I guess the topic and main character were a bit unsavory, but the experience of reading it was deeply pleasurable and fun.
The best occasion for reading this is probably if some rich people you know have invited you to visit their fancy vacation home, and you're feeling anxious that you'll act weird and behave badly and really just blow it... Reading this book will give you confidence that whatever faux pas you may commit, you're not as bad a guest as this crazy Swedish lesbian narrator!
This is most I've enjoyed a contemporary novel in awhile. The writing was gorgeous, the setting was so vivid, the characters were brilliantly drawn, and I enjoyed the pacing and structure and all that just so much. I guess the topic and main character were a bit unsavory, but the experience of reading it was deeply pleasurable and fun.
August 17, 2024
i specifically wanted to read this during women in translation month because i first picked this up due to its translator kira josefsson which i don’t think i’ve done before (she translated the swedish books the trio and the details, both of which i loved).
antiquity tells the story of an unnamed thirty-something narrator, who is invited by her friend helena to spend the summer at their house on a greek island with her teenage daughter, olga. at first an object of jealously, olga soon morphs into an object of desire with whom our narrator becomes infatuated with.
this is a novel where nothing really happens, but it captures the languid restlessness of a summer perfectly (perhaps a lazy comparison, but it did remind me a little of call me by your name). i read this in one day, aided by the short chapters and dreamy, episodic writing. it was interesting to see this kind of lolita-esque obsessive relationship from a female perspective and the ways in which the narrator attempts to self-justify. i do think the novel would’ve benefitted from being a little longer, as when the crux of the story was happening, it was wrapping up soon after. but i enjoyed the book a lot, the stifling greek island setting makes for a great summer read.
antiquity tells the story of an unnamed thirty-something narrator, who is invited by her friend helena to spend the summer at their house on a greek island with her teenage daughter, olga. at first an object of jealously, olga soon morphs into an object of desire with whom our narrator becomes infatuated with.
this is a novel where nothing really happens, but it captures the languid restlessness of a summer perfectly (perhaps a lazy comparison, but it did remind me a little of call me by your name). i read this in one day, aided by the short chapters and dreamy, episodic writing. it was interesting to see this kind of lolita-esque obsessive relationship from a female perspective and the ways in which the narrator attempts to self-justify. i do think the novel would’ve benefitted from being a little longer, as when the crux of the story was happening, it was wrapping up soon after. but i enjoyed the book a lot, the stifling greek island setting makes for a great summer read.
March 26, 2025
2.5 stars, rounded up. This one felt a little like a female Lolita set on a sunny Greek island—but ended up leaving me indifferent. While I enjoyed the hazy, summery atmosphere, the story itself felt hollow and inconsequential. The unnamed narrator’s obsession with Helena seems like a plotpoint without real motivation. Helena came across as insecure, bland, and unforgettable—so what was the draw? And where did the narrator’s fixation and loneliness stem from? Her inner world felt underdeveloped, her motivations vague, and her past was completely absent. I kept waiting for the story to deepen or shift, but it remained very flat. This book went for obsession and yearning, but didn’t give me enough to feel either.
September 14, 2024
This was not what I expected at all. It’s a deceptive story in more ways than one, a disturbing tale of abuse wrapped in layers of character study and contemplative literary fiction. Weeks after reading, I’m still mulling over its complexity and figuring out what I thought about it.
The narrator, a somewhat aimless writer, is invited to spend a summer in Greece with Helena, an artist she once interviewed. From the start, there’s something slightly off: a coldly obsessive edge to the narrator’s approach that suggests she closely observes – but doesn’t understand – others’ relationships. Looking for identity through other people, the narrator seems to hold Helena in contempt while simultaneously coveting her life. She speaks of desire for Helena, but this seems less erotic than bloodthirsty; one gets the sense the narrator would rather wear Helena’s skin than sleep with her. Once ensconced in the city of Ermoupoli, her observations take on an even more sinister cast as the focus of her obsession shifts to Olga, Helena’s 15-year-old daughter.
So much of Antiquity puts it into a particular literary category: a lonely person wanders an unfamiliar place, interrogating their life in chilly, lucid prose. It put me in mind of Intimacies, The Coming Bad Days and The Diver’s Clothes Lie Empty. The effect is enhanced because it seems untethered from time (what decade is this story taking place in?) and any real sense of the world beyond the narrator’s current experience (Helena is an artist, but we learn virtually nothing about her art). Suspended between these musings on her life, the passages in which the narrator briefly discusses her encounters with Olga are jarring: both blasé and evasive.
Antiquity has been marketed as ‘a queer Lolita story’, which at first I thought was just an attention-grabbing (and maybe even a bit crass) way of describing a plot that involves a relationship with an age and power disparity. But the deeper I got into the story, the more I could see the comparison – if not in terms of style, then in the way Johansson’s narrator obfuscates and dances around the truth. It’s easy to start thinking the writing is so good that it doesn’t need this ‘taboo’ hook. I kept catching myself admiring the narrator’s description of a place or her insight into herself; basically, forgetting who she was, forgetting that this is a confession. There’s her queasy and, surely, knowing assertion that ‘[Olga] was in charge, she was the one wielding her power over me’; her horribly indulgent idea that Olga will look back on their entanglement fondly: ‘I gave her a story she’d be able to tell someone who loved her later on.’
The narrator repeatedly and obsessively returns to the idea of deliberately constructing her memories. Her mental images of these months in Ermoupoli are ‘a story I told myself, a memory I was preparing for later.’ Forcing herself to picture a swimming octopus alongside the things she’s actually seen there, she thinks ‘it was not a real memory but it was just as real as a real memory, no different.’
All this contrasts severely with the language the narrator uses about Olga. The way she describes their first physical encounter is a stark reminder that she knows exactly what she’s doing: ‘I gave her an indelible memory... I tore a hole in her history.’ And so the final line sends a chill down the spine as the narrator takes control once again. At this point – the forcible reminder of whose version of this story we have always been reading – I was once again brought back to Lolita. Only the perpetrator has the luxury of perfecting their own memories, weaving them into a picturesque story.
The narrator, a somewhat aimless writer, is invited to spend a summer in Greece with Helena, an artist she once interviewed. From the start, there’s something slightly off: a coldly obsessive edge to the narrator’s approach that suggests she closely observes – but doesn’t understand – others’ relationships. Looking for identity through other people, the narrator seems to hold Helena in contempt while simultaneously coveting her life. She speaks of desire for Helena, but this seems less erotic than bloodthirsty; one gets the sense the narrator would rather wear Helena’s skin than sleep with her. Once ensconced in the city of Ermoupoli, her observations take on an even more sinister cast as the focus of her obsession shifts to Olga, Helena’s 15-year-old daughter.
So much of Antiquity puts it into a particular literary category: a lonely person wanders an unfamiliar place, interrogating their life in chilly, lucid prose. It put me in mind of Intimacies, The Coming Bad Days and The Diver’s Clothes Lie Empty. The effect is enhanced because it seems untethered from time (what decade is this story taking place in?) and any real sense of the world beyond the narrator’s current experience (Helena is an artist, but we learn virtually nothing about her art). Suspended between these musings on her life, the passages in which the narrator briefly discusses her encounters with Olga are jarring: both blasé and evasive.
Antiquity has been marketed as ‘a queer Lolita story’, which at first I thought was just an attention-grabbing (and maybe even a bit crass) way of describing a plot that involves a relationship with an age and power disparity. But the deeper I got into the story, the more I could see the comparison – if not in terms of style, then in the way Johansson’s narrator obfuscates and dances around the truth. It’s easy to start thinking the writing is so good that it doesn’t need this ‘taboo’ hook. I kept catching myself admiring the narrator’s description of a place or her insight into herself; basically, forgetting who she was, forgetting that this is a confession. There’s her queasy and, surely, knowing assertion that ‘[Olga] was in charge, she was the one wielding her power over me’; her horribly indulgent idea that Olga will look back on their entanglement fondly: ‘I gave her a story she’d be able to tell someone who loved her later on.’
The narrator repeatedly and obsessively returns to the idea of deliberately constructing her memories. Her mental images of these months in Ermoupoli are ‘a story I told myself, a memory I was preparing for later.’ Forcing herself to picture a swimming octopus alongside the things she’s actually seen there, she thinks ‘it was not a real memory but it was just as real as a real memory, no different.’
All this contrasts severely with the language the narrator uses about Olga. The way she describes their first physical encounter is a stark reminder that she knows exactly what she’s doing: ‘I gave her an indelible memory... I tore a hole in her history.’ And so the final line sends a chill down the spine as the narrator takes control once again. At this point – the forcible reminder of whose version of this story we have always been reading – I was once again brought back to Lolita. Only the perpetrator has the luxury of perfecting their own memories, weaving them into a picturesque story.
February 20, 2024
I read this book over the course of 2 days and couldn’t put it down. It’s full of insightful musings and for a book without too much of a plot was pretty suspenseful. The plot centers on a relationship that develops between the narrator (mid thirties) and Olga (15), the daughter of Helena, over the course of a late summer/early fall on a Greek Island called Ermoupoli. The narrator travels to the island to become closer with Helena. She’s initially jealous of Olga - Helena’s preoccupation with her, and her lack of interest in Helena. The narrator weans herself off of her obsession with Helena through the deepening of her illicit affair with Olga.
The narrator’s obsessive self hating thoughts and jealousy of the relationship between Helena and Olga reveal themselves to be increasingly unhinged over the course of her time in Ermoupoli. By the end of the fall she can’t even bear to leave the two of them alone together. She’s pitiable and unlikeable, which is clearly rooted in a deeply held belief that she belongs no where and to no one. Her loneliness is taken as a given, and while we get some context on an old friendship strained by jealousy, her past is purposefully ignored.
I loved the book’s central exploration of the transience of memory and time. There are insightful observations about the way that our perception of events, places and people change so dramatically as we get to know them. The relationship between the narrator and Olga mirrors her obsession with the past and the future - it’s a relationship that exists outside the “chronology of time” - a notion she uses to reframe what is clearly abuse as a relationship free from the trappings of time:
“Had I done anything wrong? No. All I wanted was to be loved. And she had loved me, I thought, she had loved me like nobody else would be able to love me. Because it was the first love. Because she had seen me here, without context. A love story free from old grief. A young love free from memories. Free from future. I gave her a story she’d be able to tell someone who loved her later on, someone who would want to know everything about her.”
This is towards the end of the book, and is probably the narrator at her most unhinged - there are other times where her self reflection feels much more lucid.
A book I’ll definitely keep thinking about, and will hopefully reread this summer!
The narrator’s obsessive self hating thoughts and jealousy of the relationship between Helena and Olga reveal themselves to be increasingly unhinged over the course of her time in Ermoupoli. By the end of the fall she can’t even bear to leave the two of them alone together. She’s pitiable and unlikeable, which is clearly rooted in a deeply held belief that she belongs no where and to no one. Her loneliness is taken as a given, and while we get some context on an old friendship strained by jealousy, her past is purposefully ignored.
I loved the book’s central exploration of the transience of memory and time. There are insightful observations about the way that our perception of events, places and people change so dramatically as we get to know them. The relationship between the narrator and Olga mirrors her obsession with the past and the future - it’s a relationship that exists outside the “chronology of time” - a notion she uses to reframe what is clearly abuse as a relationship free from the trappings of time:
“Had I done anything wrong? No. All I wanted was to be loved. And she had loved me, I thought, she had loved me like nobody else would be able to love me. Because it was the first love. Because she had seen me here, without context. A love story free from old grief. A young love free from memories. Free from future. I gave her a story she’d be able to tell someone who loved her later on, someone who would want to know everything about her.”
This is towards the end of the book, and is probably the narrator at her most unhinged - there are other times where her self reflection feels much more lucid.
A book I’ll definitely keep thinking about, and will hopefully reread this summer!
November 1, 2024
It was like going from seeing the letters of the alphabet as silent cyphers in one moment and hearing them as sounds in the next. I was given a language. I was given a glimpse of forever.
Was the literary value worth how viscerally upsetting this became? Yes... probably... And I mean, I obviously knew where it was headed when I picked it up; it's not like Igot jumpscared. It did kinda appal me in the ways it was meant to. I've never read Lolita, but I assume the comp is an accurate one, and this is how one would feel when reading that as well. Beautiful writing, of course. A voice that inhabits that narrator, shows her pains and insecurities and foibles, without ever asking the reader to sympathise with her. There are several scenes when her self-delusion is clear, when she holds up a mirror and does not see herself in it. It's a little pitiable? Obsession, as always, is a favourite theme of mine, and I loved the different paths through which we explored it; first with the mother, then with the daughter. I'm not super well up in Greek myth and history (other than the obvious/very well known stories), and one or two of the references and images escaped me, but it made for some interesting ideas to chew on when I googled certain things.
It could have been beautiful, if they’d let them stay, buried down there. But perhaps all graves are robbed in the end. That’s what’s nice about ashes, and what’s sad about them too, you erase everything, you leave no trace.
I really, really did not like the writing style when it came to the punctuation and lack therefore, and all the run-on, breathless sentences. My most hated litfic thing. For whatever reason, it's just really difficult for me to read, especially the way dialogue is never differentiated from prose. I find it obnoxious, it makes my eyes just want to trip right off the page, and this time, I had no audiobook to help me. I know it's an artistic, stylistic choice, but I don't have much patience for styles that feel hostile to the reader. I felt like I was dragging myself through this book, and I thought it would have taken me ages to read despite its short length. But I got through it pretty quick (somehow, reading on the exercise bike just always goes faster) and that's a testament to the writing and translation. It really was beautiful. Particularly when it came to simple observations on the narrator's obsessions. Very well drawn. Some of my favourite lines are when she ruminates on the hold Helena has over her, how resentful and helpless she feels in her infatuation, and how it gradually gets twisted when things with Olga begin. God, poor Olga. Thinking of her near future makes me so sad, especially with Helena for a mother. Woof. Not what I'd call an enjoyable reading experience, but one that I'm glad to have had.
Content warnings:
It felt like devastation, it felt like great riches, I was consumed by them. I burned the ground she was walking on, I gave her an indelible memory, I erected a border, there would be no way back. I tore a hole in her history.
January 1, 2021
Aaaaaahhhh
Det är Grekland, det är kvinnor, det är generationsgränser. Vad mer kan jag begära?
Romanjaget, en kvinna i trettioårsåldern (en ålder en får veta av baksidan, överlag är åldern väldigt osäker i texten. Den skapar en sorts oro med att aldrig vara helt tydlig) har får kontakt med, och blivit besatt av en äldre konstnärinnan som tar sin tillflykt till staden Ermoupoli, från ett trist Stockholm. Där ska hon och dottern Olga stanna. När romanjaget kommer dit är Olga frånvarande och otrevlig, dottern är ett hot om uppmärksamheten som annars riktas åt henne.
Överallt kommer ni att se att den här boken handlar om begär. Jag skulle säga att det är ett för litet ord för att beskriva det som sker. Självklart finns begäret, men det beroende som jaget upprättat till Helena, är alldeles för medvetet för att vara just endast ett begär. Begäret är rått, okontrollerat och stingsligt. Det är i huset i staden som jagets blick på kvinnan och barnet förändras, det är också där begäret tar plats.
Texten har en nästan, för mig, komplicerad melodi. Det gör att jag fastnar snabbt, jag lyssnade på samma spellista som jag lyssnar på när jag läser Nina Borauoui, om ni förstår vad jag menar. Och visst märks det att Hanna Johansson gillar Bouraoui, eller åtminstone hör jag det i språkets ton, viljan att uppmärksamma läsaren på någonting genom språket och inte bara i dess berättelse. I språket återfinns minnets förgänglighet och det omöjliga i att skriva om sig själv och sin historia utan att glömma, utan att minnesbilder förvanskas.
"Antiken" är någonting så vackert som en komplex roman om lesbiskt begär. En roman som i en queer begärskontext verkligen hörsammar en strömning inom queer konst idag, där det vackra får ta plats. Jag tänker, när jag läser, även på romanens likhet med begäret i filmer som "Porträtt av en kvinna i brand" och "The Favorite".
Det är Grekland, det är kvinnor, det är generationsgränser. Vad mer kan jag begära?
Romanjaget, en kvinna i trettioårsåldern (en ålder en får veta av baksidan, överlag är åldern väldigt osäker i texten. Den skapar en sorts oro med att aldrig vara helt tydlig) har får kontakt med, och blivit besatt av en äldre konstnärinnan som tar sin tillflykt till staden Ermoupoli, från ett trist Stockholm. Där ska hon och dottern Olga stanna. När romanjaget kommer dit är Olga frånvarande och otrevlig, dottern är ett hot om uppmärksamheten som annars riktas åt henne.
Överallt kommer ni att se att den här boken handlar om begär. Jag skulle säga att det är ett för litet ord för att beskriva det som sker. Självklart finns begäret, men det beroende som jaget upprättat till Helena, är alldeles för medvetet för att vara just endast ett begär. Begäret är rått, okontrollerat och stingsligt. Det är i huset i staden som jagets blick på kvinnan och barnet förändras, det är också där begäret tar plats.
Texten har en nästan, för mig, komplicerad melodi. Det gör att jag fastnar snabbt, jag lyssnade på samma spellista som jag lyssnar på när jag läser Nina Borauoui, om ni förstår vad jag menar. Och visst märks det att Hanna Johansson gillar Bouraoui, eller åtminstone hör jag det i språkets ton, viljan att uppmärksamma läsaren på någonting genom språket och inte bara i dess berättelse. I språket återfinns minnets förgänglighet och det omöjliga i att skriva om sig själv och sin historia utan att glömma, utan att minnesbilder förvanskas.
"Antiken" är någonting så vackert som en komplex roman om lesbiskt begär. En roman som i en queer begärskontext verkligen hörsammar en strömning inom queer konst idag, där det vackra får ta plats. Jag tänker, när jag läser, även på romanens likhet med begäret i filmer som "Porträtt av en kvinna i brand" och "The Favorite".
May 9, 2021
Boken känns välskriven. Är svag för stycken som ”när jag stod och höll hans röst i handen” när berättarjaget pratar i telefon med en kompis. Fint.
Gillade att kunna googla filmer mm som nämns, hjälpte för att förstå vissa referenser.
En i bokklubben sa att boken handlar om ägande. Att äga någon eller något och att själv känna sig ägd av en annan person. Håller med.
Är ju svag för miljön de befinner sig i. Varm sol och turkost vatten. Och ja det kanske är en lesbisk Call me by your name i Grekland. Men vem älskar inte medelhavet?
Kände kanske inte jättestarkt för någon karaktär men överlag en bra läsupplevelse.
Gillade att kunna googla filmer mm som nämns, hjälpte för att förstå vissa referenser.
En i bokklubben sa att boken handlar om ägande. Att äga någon eller något och att själv känna sig ägd av en annan person. Håller med.
Är ju svag för miljön de befinner sig i. Varm sol och turkost vatten. Och ja det kanske är en lesbisk Call me by your name i Grekland. Men vem älskar inte medelhavet?
Kände kanske inte jättestarkt för någon karaktär men överlag en bra läsupplevelse.
August 6, 2021
Wow! Vad hände just? Hur kan något så fult bli så vackert? Johanssons sinnliga prosa drabbar mig och jag sträckläser hela boken. Enormt stilsäker och genomarbetad debut. Nära på perfekt.
Hur kan jag skriva om den här romanen utan att avslöja för mycket? (Jag är själv glad att jag inte läste baksidestexten innan.) Relationell makt är ett genomgående tema, menar jag. Hur åldrande förhåller sig till makt. Och längtan. Hur en förtärande längtan efter att vara tillsammans med någon kan innebära att gränsen mellan vad som är rätt och fel, värdigt och ovärdigt negligeras. Kanske handlar det om klass också? Hur förförisk en övre klass kan verka på en undre. Psykologi är ett annat huvudtema.
Jaget i boken intervjuar en äldre konstnär, Helena. Omedelbart blir det intressant hur den ojämlika relationen kan fungera, mellan en som intervjuar och en som bli intervjuad. Helena och jaget inleder en slags relation som sedan utökas med Helenas dotter Olga. Detta triangeldrama utspelar sig i Grekland.
Antikens myter står som fond till berättelsen. Berättarjaget lyckas aldrig koppla ur självmedvetenheten utan ser redan i nuet sitt liv som minnen, berättelser, scener. Dramat är inte heller olikt ett grekiskt antikt. Det är supertjusigt nedtecknat.
”Alla mina kärleksrelationer dittills hade lämnat mig ensammare än innan på ett sätt som var dunkelt för mig. Vid varje nytt uppbrott förlorade sammanhang jag trott mig utgöra en självklar del av. Jag förlorade vänner. Jag hade lätt för att bli förälskad och lätt för att sluta vara det, och jag hade ofta tagit vägar ut ur relationer som människor runtomkring mig, människorna jag trott stod mig nära och förstod mig, verkade betrakta – på ett sätt som fick mig att känna mig ännu mer ensam, fundamentalt ensam, en ensamhet jag aldrig blev fri från – som omoraliska, nästan olagliga. Jag hörde saker om mig själv på omvägar: henne kan man inte lita på. Men jag gjorde aldrig något fel. Jag sökte bara efter kärlek. Jag sökte efter någon som skulle spegla mig. Jag sökte efter någon som skulle uppta mig i sin värld. Jag ville utplåna mig själv, tömmas och fyllas, men fann aldrig vad jag letade efter. Jag var aldrig så intresserad av den andra som jag var av den jag blev i deras ögon. Och när jag upphört att vara någon i deras ögon, eller när jag själv upphört att vilja vara den de såg mig som, återstod ingenting. Ingen ömhet. Jag måste genast hitta någon annan, något annat, en ny version av mig själv. Jag väntade på något ödesdigert. Något som förändrade allt.”
Berättarperspektivet är helt perfekt. Karaktären – en kvinna som är en bra bit äldre än Olga och yngre än Helena – är komplex och motsägelsefull, klok och orättfärdig, kuvad och parasitisk. Oerhört osund och intressant.
Det är för svårt att skriva den här recensionen utan att avslöja handlingen. Alltså, du som inte läst boken men vill göra det (gör det!), sluta läs här.
SPOILERVARNING! SPOILERVARNING!
Jaget är en självbedräglig berättare a la Humbert Humbert, det är en lesbisk pedofil vi har att göra med här. Att vara i hennes sjuka huvud är läskigt och spännande. Det fenomenala är att hon – precis som andra sjuka människor – inte bara är knepig. Jag känner igen mig i flera av hennes tankegångar, vilket förstås gör läsningen än mer obehaglig.
Jag taggar den här boken som feministisk, dels för att den handlar om kvinnor. Men också för att den handlar om en lesbisk förövare. Tänk att vi ändå kommit så långt äntligen, att man kan publicera böcker om lesbiska kriminella utan att kritiken sen lyfter att det är fel med homosexualitet.
Hur kan jag skriva om den här romanen utan att avslöja för mycket? (Jag är själv glad att jag inte läste baksidestexten innan.) Relationell makt är ett genomgående tema, menar jag. Hur åldrande förhåller sig till makt. Och längtan. Hur en förtärande längtan efter att vara tillsammans med någon kan innebära att gränsen mellan vad som är rätt och fel, värdigt och ovärdigt negligeras. Kanske handlar det om klass också? Hur förförisk en övre klass kan verka på en undre. Psykologi är ett annat huvudtema.
Jaget i boken intervjuar en äldre konstnär, Helena. Omedelbart blir det intressant hur den ojämlika relationen kan fungera, mellan en som intervjuar och en som bli intervjuad. Helena och jaget inleder en slags relation som sedan utökas med Helenas dotter Olga. Detta triangeldrama utspelar sig i Grekland.
Antikens myter står som fond till berättelsen. Berättarjaget lyckas aldrig koppla ur självmedvetenheten utan ser redan i nuet sitt liv som minnen, berättelser, scener. Dramat är inte heller olikt ett grekiskt antikt. Det är supertjusigt nedtecknat.
”Alla mina kärleksrelationer dittills hade lämnat mig ensammare än innan på ett sätt som var dunkelt för mig. Vid varje nytt uppbrott förlorade sammanhang jag trott mig utgöra en självklar del av. Jag förlorade vänner. Jag hade lätt för att bli förälskad och lätt för att sluta vara det, och jag hade ofta tagit vägar ut ur relationer som människor runtomkring mig, människorna jag trott stod mig nära och förstod mig, verkade betrakta – på ett sätt som fick mig att känna mig ännu mer ensam, fundamentalt ensam, en ensamhet jag aldrig blev fri från – som omoraliska, nästan olagliga. Jag hörde saker om mig själv på omvägar: henne kan man inte lita på. Men jag gjorde aldrig något fel. Jag sökte bara efter kärlek. Jag sökte efter någon som skulle spegla mig. Jag sökte efter någon som skulle uppta mig i sin värld. Jag ville utplåna mig själv, tömmas och fyllas, men fann aldrig vad jag letade efter. Jag var aldrig så intresserad av den andra som jag var av den jag blev i deras ögon. Och när jag upphört att vara någon i deras ögon, eller när jag själv upphört att vilja vara den de såg mig som, återstod ingenting. Ingen ömhet. Jag måste genast hitta någon annan, något annat, en ny version av mig själv. Jag väntade på något ödesdigert. Något som förändrade allt.”
Berättarperspektivet är helt perfekt. Karaktären – en kvinna som är en bra bit äldre än Olga och yngre än Helena – är komplex och motsägelsefull, klok och orättfärdig, kuvad och parasitisk. Oerhört osund och intressant.
Det är för svårt att skriva den här recensionen utan att avslöja handlingen. Alltså, du som inte läst boken men vill göra det (gör det!), sluta läs här.
SPOILERVARNING! SPOILERVARNING!
Jaget är en självbedräglig berättare a la Humbert Humbert, det är en lesbisk pedofil vi har att göra med här. Att vara i hennes sjuka huvud är läskigt och spännande. Det fenomenala är att hon – precis som andra sjuka människor – inte bara är knepig. Jag känner igen mig i flera av hennes tankegångar, vilket förstås gör läsningen än mer obehaglig.
Jag taggar den här boken som feministisk, dels för att den handlar om kvinnor. Men också för att den handlar om en lesbisk förövare. Tänk att vi ändå kommit så långt äntligen, att man kan publicera böcker om lesbiska kriminella utan att kritiken sen lyfter att det är fel med homosexualitet.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 29, 2020
En så fint skriven bok om besatthet uppkommen ur ensamhet. Jag tänkte någon gång på hur konstigt jag tyckte det var att en bok med så exakta detaljer och spaningar kunde ge mig en så bra bild av kvinnan som berättarjaget är besatt av men inte berättarjaget själv, fastän detaljerna och spaningarna är ett resultat av berättarjagets tankebanor. Jag tyckte först det var konstigt men sedan tyckte jag om det, eftersom det är besattheten till kvinnan och sedan också fascinationen till hennes dotter som är det centrala i texten.
Miljöerna och stämningarna i den här boken skrivs fram så tydligt. De åt några körsbär på ett ställe och det lät gott men också lite äckligt och jag tänkte fortfarande på de körsbären tio sidor senare. Det känns som att man velat förmedla en specifik värld och jag känner att jag når den. Det är mycket saker som kaffe med hälften mjölk, stenstrand och cola med citronskivor. Boken har en viss känsla! Och jag tror att hela boken hade kunnat bli rätt drömsk eller svävande eller flummig i den värld den är satt, men den hamras på plats med saker man känner igen, en tröja som blir blöt av bikinin under, lukt av svett, alla saker man själv kan relatera till. Då blir boken inte längre en dröm utan något som hade kunnat hända.
Miljöerna och stämningarna i den här boken skrivs fram så tydligt. De åt några körsbär på ett ställe och det lät gott men också lite äckligt och jag tänkte fortfarande på de körsbären tio sidor senare. Det känns som att man velat förmedla en specifik värld och jag känner att jag når den. Det är mycket saker som kaffe med hälften mjölk, stenstrand och cola med citronskivor. Boken har en viss känsla! Och jag tror att hela boken hade kunnat bli rätt drömsk eller svävande eller flummig i den värld den är satt, men den hamras på plats med saker man känner igen, en tröja som blir blöt av bikinin under, lukt av svett, alla saker man själv kan relatera till. Då blir boken inte längre en dröm utan något som hade kunnat hända.
June 16, 2024
A difficult one to rate because of the subject matter, but the language was so beautiful and hazy and lonely. If I had read this a few years ago it would have altered my brain chemistry. I want to go back to Greece so bad. ‘I was preparing a memory for later.’
dnf
November 8, 2025 DNF at page 39 (17%) … because I have no interest in these characters. I feel so detached and I don’t think the un-named narrator helps that.
November 16, 2023
Briljant. Grät mycket
February 25, 2025
this had me hooked in the beginning but it took me SO long to read because nothing happens + the prose is so thick sometimes that i felt like giving up. if you like greek mythology and predatory narrators with deceptive, well-crafted internal monologues, this might be for you — certainly it's for someone with a high tolerance for litfic, because even though it's objectively good, i found myself wanting our narrator to be killed off mid-sentence so i could be done with the book. lol
November 18, 2024
Svettigt, klibbigt, skavigt, mörkt. Detaljer som känns, miljöer som skrivs fram mycket väl och finmejslade kopplingar till grekiska dramer. Det är innerligt och förbjudet och det är en mycket fin debut.
March 8, 2024
Super weird and uncomfy book, just as I expected. And it did all of that with no plot to be seen lol
Thank you for the giveaway copy!!!
Thank you for the giveaway copy!!!
August 2, 2024
this book quite surprised me!!!! My first lesbian book!!!!! I saw this book at the bookstore and was intrigued by the premise and I ended up liking it more than I thought I would!!!!!
This novel follows our unnamed narrator as she travels to Ermoupoli for the summer to stay with an artist, Helena, who the narrator has recently taken a lot of interest in after interviewing her for a magazine, and Helena's daughter, Olga. At first, the narrator becomes obsessed with Helena, desiring her love and attention, and once she discovers Olga, she becomes jealous of Olga, but soon that jealousy turns into love. (Yes, the narrator is like a middle aged woman and Olga is 15 years old. This novel is described as a queer Lolita story.)
The exploration of love and relationships is really great stuff!!!! I thought that the narrator's thoughts and emotions were really well written and there's a lot of emotional trouble that she goes through. I love how the novel explores the narrator's insecurity in relationships and how she sorts of projects her own insecurities onto other people. Because it's written in first person we can really see how the narrator thinks about these two other characters and how she's willing to do whatever it takes to make sure that they like her back. She becomes so desperate for their love and attention, and she ends up becoming so jealous of the two of them because they both know each other as mother and daughter, important people in each other's lives, but the narrator only believes that she's a stranger to them. I think this novel is also a brilliant exploration on loneliness and what it means to be lonely in a relationship as well. The narrator, as she says multiple times, is a lonely woman and her thoughts and actions really demonstrate this well. great stuff!!!!
The writing is really really really good!!!! Omg I highlighted so many good quotes. I was truly enamoured with the writing and how everything was written so beautifully and eloquently. I especially love when the narrator describes her own feelings, as you can hear the desperation and loneliness in every single word she writes/tells us. This book also uses no quotation marks and weaves between direct and indirect dialogue in a very interesting way that I've never really seen being used before, and it did seem a little difficult at first, but after a while each character had a unique voice and I thought the writing style was very unique (I mean only 3 characters really talk in the entire book so I think this type of writing style works LOL).
Idk I keep thinking about this book and something about it just isn't worth 5 stars for me. It definitely is a fantastic book and the author has such a good grasp on each character and their relationships to one another, but I don't really think it wowed me or anything. There were some parts I enjoyed, and some parts definitely did get just a bit boring. Idk I think I'd have to read this book again to reconsider giving it 5 stars. Something was just missing for me.
But anyways, good book!!!! Solid read!!!!!! I would definitely recommend this if you're into books like Lolita and Call me by your Name (as the synopsis suggests) because this book definitely had those vibes. I could definitely feel the Call me by your Name vibes of this book which is probably why I liked it so much. I can see how it's a bit like Lolita, but I think with Lolita, it's definitely more clear that the main character is an evil man. With this one, I think the author's intentions focus more on the power dynamics in relationships. Through all of the narrator's relationships, power is definitely a huge theme, and I think the narrator's desire to have power over Olga is really well developed. Interesting read, and I enjoyed it!!!! Ok bye!!!!!
This novel follows our unnamed narrator as she travels to Ermoupoli for the summer to stay with an artist, Helena, who the narrator has recently taken a lot of interest in after interviewing her for a magazine, and Helena's daughter, Olga. At first, the narrator becomes obsessed with Helena, desiring her love and attention, and once she discovers Olga, she becomes jealous of Olga, but soon that jealousy turns into love. (Yes, the narrator is like a middle aged woman and Olga is 15 years old. This novel is described as a queer Lolita story.)
The exploration of love and relationships is really great stuff!!!! I thought that the narrator's thoughts and emotions were really well written and there's a lot of emotional trouble that she goes through. I love how the novel explores the narrator's insecurity in relationships and how she sorts of projects her own insecurities onto other people. Because it's written in first person we can really see how the narrator thinks about these two other characters and how she's willing to do whatever it takes to make sure that they like her back. She becomes so desperate for their love and attention, and she ends up becoming so jealous of the two of them because they both know each other as mother and daughter, important people in each other's lives, but the narrator only believes that she's a stranger to them. I think this novel is also a brilliant exploration on loneliness and what it means to be lonely in a relationship as well. The narrator, as she says multiple times, is a lonely woman and her thoughts and actions really demonstrate this well. great stuff!!!!
The writing is really really really good!!!! Omg I highlighted so many good quotes. I was truly enamoured with the writing and how everything was written so beautifully and eloquently. I especially love when the narrator describes her own feelings, as you can hear the desperation and loneliness in every single word she writes/tells us. This book also uses no quotation marks and weaves between direct and indirect dialogue in a very interesting way that I've never really seen being used before, and it did seem a little difficult at first, but after a while each character had a unique voice and I thought the writing style was very unique (I mean only 3 characters really talk in the entire book so I think this type of writing style works LOL).
Idk I keep thinking about this book and something about it just isn't worth 5 stars for me. It definitely is a fantastic book and the author has such a good grasp on each character and their relationships to one another, but I don't really think it wowed me or anything. There were some parts I enjoyed, and some parts definitely did get just a bit boring. Idk I think I'd have to read this book again to reconsider giving it 5 stars. Something was just missing for me.
But anyways, good book!!!! Solid read!!!!!! I would definitely recommend this if you're into books like Lolita and Call me by your Name (as the synopsis suggests) because this book definitely had those vibes. I could definitely feel the Call me by your Name vibes of this book which is probably why I liked it so much. I can see how it's a bit like Lolita, but I think with Lolita, it's definitely more clear that the main character is an evil man. With this one, I think the author's intentions focus more on the power dynamics in relationships. Through all of the narrator's relationships, power is definitely a huge theme, and I think the narrator's desire to have power over Olga is really well developed. Interesting read, and I enjoyed it!!!! Ok bye!!!!!
January 5, 2024
Underbar bok om man vill läsa något atmosfäriskt! Det händer inte jättemycket men intrycken och känslorna är där. Res till en grekisk ö och bara lev där ett tag.
April 17, 2021
Toppenbok. Ville stanna kvar i den för sinnligheten, miljöbeskrivningarna, världen som byggdes upp.
January 31, 2024
Entrancing and calamitous, ANTIQUITY dreams deeply into the shadows of desire and obsession. A precise and mysterious spell of a book.
February 9, 2024
looking for something similar to CALL ME BY YOUR NAME? i've got you covered.
it feels almost serendipitous that i read ANTIQUITY a week after reading CMBYN and watching the film.
i read ANTIQUITY over two sittings and i could've read it in one, honestly.
ANTIQUITY has similar themes to CMBYN in that it tackles obsession that is all-consuming and intoxicating.
the writing is stunning, vivid and at times shocking in its honesty and reflections.
the chapters are short, which makes for easy stopping points if needed, but the novel is so engaging you won't want to put it down.
is our unnamed narrator likeable? absolutely not, but she is compelling for her honesty, unflinching desire and perceptions on desire and womanhood.
NOTE: because this is comparable to CMBYN, our unnamed narrator takes advantage of a younger girl, so PLEASE be mindful of this. i should also note that i do not condone this kind of behaviour IRL, and i can appreciate that it is polarizing in nature.
many thanks to the folks at @catapult for the gifted copy of ANTIQUITY.
it feels almost serendipitous that i read ANTIQUITY a week after reading CMBYN and watching the film.
i read ANTIQUITY over two sittings and i could've read it in one, honestly.
ANTIQUITY has similar themes to CMBYN in that it tackles obsession that is all-consuming and intoxicating.
the writing is stunning, vivid and at times shocking in its honesty and reflections.
the chapters are short, which makes for easy stopping points if needed, but the novel is so engaging you won't want to put it down.
is our unnamed narrator likeable? absolutely not, but she is compelling for her honesty, unflinching desire and perceptions on desire and womanhood.
NOTE: because this is comparable to CMBYN, our unnamed narrator takes advantage of a younger girl, so PLEASE be mindful of this. i should also note that i do not condone this kind of behaviour IRL, and i can appreciate that it is polarizing in nature.
many thanks to the folks at @catapult for the gifted copy of ANTIQUITY.
September 15, 2024
I am never a fan of comparing books to other books, or authors to other authors. That being said, I know it is merely a PR/bookselling angle. Surely no one thinks this book reminds them of 'Lolita', right?
Anyway.
Better-than-decent writing but rather lacking in oomph or any real emotional depth. Possibly trying too hard to be referential, literary, and queer, and ends up quite a bit more derivative than anything else more complimentary. I felt the narrative leaves the reader to assume actions, feelings, and thoughts overmuch, which, if one is willing to do so, could give the novel more weight. Still, if I need to manufacture my own tale, I hardly need to pick up an authors outline to assist in that venture, do I? Not awful, just much less than I had wanted, PR-blurb aside.
Anyway.
Better-than-decent writing but rather lacking in oomph or any real emotional depth. Possibly trying too hard to be referential, literary, and queer, and ends up quite a bit more derivative than anything else more complimentary. I felt the narrative leaves the reader to assume actions, feelings, and thoughts overmuch, which, if one is willing to do so, could give the novel more weight. Still, if I need to manufacture my own tale, I hardly need to pick up an authors outline to assist in that venture, do I? Not awful, just much less than I had wanted, PR-blurb aside.
August 22, 2024
3.5
The writing was awfully stunning, but I just couldn't bring myself to care once the book was over.
The writing was awfully stunning, but I just couldn't bring myself to care once the book was over.
October 6, 2024
3.5/5
Last week was Banned Books Week in my country. There were bookmobiles and displays and a less populous focus on the myriad challenges spiking wherever "parents' rights" were mewling, but my thoughts were with the American Library Association facing down the Patriot Act. You see, once upon a time, humans thought it just to sexually assault their children, but these days it's largely fearmongered into the queer community, where facets of history from Allen Ginsberg to NAMBLA serve as lightening rods for a hegemony eager to divide and conquer while maintaining a marriageable age of 15 in certain parts of its dominion. Figures such as André Gide and Oscar Wilde and the classics of the Ancient Greeks are part of that continuum, and good luck to any serious devotee of literature who tries to gain a credible education without tangentially engaging with any of it. As such, to check this book out from a public library as a queer librarian who regularly interacts with children as part of their professional duties is an exercise in vociferously defended privacy, and let me tell you, there's no such thing as being too paranoid in the age of the gay/trans panic defense.
So, reader: that's the water in which I breathe. In more "objective" terms, I picked up this book as part queer theme, part women in translation, part mapping literature in the age of Hays Code 2.0 and thoughtcrime evangelism amongst folks under 30. I didn't expect it to pop up in a local library, or my checkout to be brusquely shepherded back by multiple holds, but I won't begrudge this measure of rarefied air. As for the read itself, translation certainly interferes when it comes to engagement with the prose, but on the whole, this is a much needed literary treatment of that bugbear of US social engineering: the sexual extortion of children, and how much of it lies in the codified ties that (il)legally bind and (il)legally isolate, especially when one can't pin the blame on 'testosterone' and the like. I'd find the phrase "queer 'Lolita'" insufferably insipid even without having tackled the material myself, but as I've mentioned elsewhere, I consider that literary forebear to be equally impressive as both masterwork of the purple prose and canary in the socioeconomic coal mine, and I can't say this modern day work doesn't measure up in its own way in both regards. For all the happy go lucky "LGBT" works littering the YA and teen sections can't save my community if books like this can't also be found on the shelf, and the fact that this is featured in the New Book section with nothing but a 'NEW' sticker and a publication date to distinguish it will always mean something, no matter what contortions the word 'progressive' undergoes in the years to come.
Last week was Banned Books Week in my country. There were bookmobiles and displays and a less populous focus on the myriad challenges spiking wherever "parents' rights" were mewling, but my thoughts were with the American Library Association facing down the Patriot Act. You see, once upon a time, humans thought it just to sexually assault their children, but these days it's largely fearmongered into the queer community, where facets of history from Allen Ginsberg to NAMBLA serve as lightening rods for a hegemony eager to divide and conquer while maintaining a marriageable age of 15 in certain parts of its dominion. Figures such as André Gide and Oscar Wilde and the classics of the Ancient Greeks are part of that continuum, and good luck to any serious devotee of literature who tries to gain a credible education without tangentially engaging with any of it. As such, to check this book out from a public library as a queer librarian who regularly interacts with children as part of their professional duties is an exercise in vociferously defended privacy, and let me tell you, there's no such thing as being too paranoid in the age of the gay/trans panic defense.
So, reader: that's the water in which I breathe. In more "objective" terms, I picked up this book as part queer theme, part women in translation, part mapping literature in the age of Hays Code 2.0 and thoughtcrime evangelism amongst folks under 30. I didn't expect it to pop up in a local library, or my checkout to be brusquely shepherded back by multiple holds, but I won't begrudge this measure of rarefied air. As for the read itself, translation certainly interferes when it comes to engagement with the prose, but on the whole, this is a much needed literary treatment of that bugbear of US social engineering: the sexual extortion of children, and how much of it lies in the codified ties that (il)legally bind and (il)legally isolate, especially when one can't pin the blame on 'testosterone' and the like. I'd find the phrase "queer 'Lolita'" insufferably insipid even without having tackled the material myself, but as I've mentioned elsewhere, I consider that literary forebear to be equally impressive as both masterwork of the purple prose and canary in the socioeconomic coal mine, and I can't say this modern day work doesn't measure up in its own way in both regards. For all the happy go lucky "LGBT" works littering the YA and teen sections can't save my community if books like this can't also be found on the shelf, and the fact that this is featured in the New Book section with nothing but a 'NEW' sticker and a publication date to distinguish it will always mean something, no matter what contortions the word 'progressive' undergoes in the years to come.
September 17, 2020
Mitt i läsningen slogs jag av likheten till Call Me By Your Name, som trots det kontroversiella innehållet är en favorit (både bok och film). Denna debut var som att få läsa ur Olivers perspektiv. Gästen, den som egentligen inte tillhör, den som förväntar sig något och istället får något helt annat. Något som gör att livet aldrig kommer vara riktigt likadant igen.
Antiken berör besatthet, familjerelationer, begär. En ö som inte tillhör dig i ett hus som inte tillhör dig. Hur navigerar du dessa rum, dessa gator, denna lust?
Jag gillade språket, beskrivningarna, det grekiska som jag är så bekant med. Jag kunde se Helena så tydligt. Jag såg hennes klädstil, hennes sätt att tala, hennes ambitioner. Det känns som om jag känner henne. Att hon är en bekants bekant som jag har råkat hamna i en diskussion med om saker som intresserar oss båda men som ändå inte för oss samman. Men denna roman handlade inte om henne, egentligen, och det var som att fara ut på okänt vatten när vi plötsligt släppte henne och fokuserade på Olga och huvudpersonen. Allt blev farligare, osäkrare. Jag fylldes med ångest över att inte veta exakt vad huvudpersonen lämnade kvar i Stockholm när hon reste till Grekland. Hennes hemresa var så hotande, så oundviklig. Det kändes som om jag var där (min senaste vistelse i Grekland, sommaren 2019, präglades av en liknande känsla av inkräktande). Men trots att jag kände igen mycket och tyckte om det jag INTE kände igen, var det något som hindrade en större njutning, och det är väl okej. Därav mina 3, egentligen 3.5, stjärnor. Berättelsen var komplex, rå, ja, kontroversiell. Ett författarskap att hålla koll på, helt enkelt.
Antiken berör besatthet, familjerelationer, begär. En ö som inte tillhör dig i ett hus som inte tillhör dig. Hur navigerar du dessa rum, dessa gator, denna lust?
Jag gillade språket, beskrivningarna, det grekiska som jag är så bekant med. Jag kunde se Helena så tydligt. Jag såg hennes klädstil, hennes sätt att tala, hennes ambitioner. Det känns som om jag känner henne. Att hon är en bekants bekant som jag har råkat hamna i en diskussion med om saker som intresserar oss båda men som ändå inte för oss samman. Men denna roman handlade inte om henne, egentligen, och det var som att fara ut på okänt vatten när vi plötsligt släppte henne och fokuserade på Olga och huvudpersonen. Allt blev farligare, osäkrare. Jag fylldes med ångest över att inte veta exakt vad huvudpersonen lämnade kvar i Stockholm när hon reste till Grekland. Hennes hemresa var så hotande, så oundviklig. Det kändes som om jag var där (min senaste vistelse i Grekland, sommaren 2019, präglades av en liknande känsla av inkräktande). Men trots att jag kände igen mycket och tyckte om det jag INTE kände igen, var det något som hindrade en större njutning, och det är väl okej. Därav mina 3, egentligen 3.5, stjärnor. Berättelsen var komplex, rå, ja, kontroversiell. Ett författarskap att hålla koll på, helt enkelt.
February 3, 2021
En bok i min smak, jagberättaren som långsamt väver fram berättelsen, något som skaver i hennes personlighet, hur hon verkar haka fast i andra, söka bekräftelse på något sätt som känns osunt i hennes intentioner, och underligt hur det går att skildra genom jagperspektivet utan att det blir konstigt - hon är både medveten och naiv inför det hon gör på samma gång. Den grekiska ön kändes också levande och jag längtar efter att resa och bada i havet, dricka vin i trädgården...
***Spoiler alert***
En slags Call me by your name in reverse: med kvinnor ist för män, Lolitavibbar - vår jagberättare är en Humbert Humbert även om motparten förvisso är lite äldre än Lolita, och här leker författaren med vår syn på feminitet och sexualitet - är det ok för att hon är kvinna trots att flickan bara är 15? Var det ok i Call me by your name för att det var i den yngre partens perspektiv (är det så förresten?, får erkänna att jag bara sett filmen) och är det jag som övermoraliserar? Har svårt att bortse från maktobalansen som åldersskillnaden innebär dock.
***Spoiler alert***
En slags Call me by your name in reverse: med kvinnor ist för män, Lolitavibbar - vår jagberättare är en Humbert Humbert även om motparten förvisso är lite äldre än Lolita, och här leker författaren med vår syn på feminitet och sexualitet - är det ok för att hon är kvinna trots att flickan bara är 15? Var det ok i Call me by your name för att det var i den yngre partens perspektiv (är det så förresten?, får erkänna att jag bara sett filmen) och är det jag som övermoraliserar? Har svårt att bortse från maktobalansen som åldersskillnaden innebär dock.
February 16, 2021
JAHAJA. Ja. Tyckte så mycket om miljöbeskrivningarna och det enda jag vill i livet är att åka till GREKLAND!!! Eller annat land vid varmare breddgrader och bara andas och bada och skita i allt och leva loppan.
Författaren har också fångat huvudkaraktärens ensamhet som fött en extremt besatthet på ett väldigt intressant sätt. Samtidigt blev jag ofta irriterad och tyckte att allt var så sjukt stört bara. Bra betyg förstås att bli känslomässigt investerad, men den lämnade mig inte med nån vidare skön känsla.
Författaren har också fångat huvudkaraktärens ensamhet som fött en extremt besatthet på ett väldigt intressant sätt. Samtidigt blev jag ofta irriterad och tyckte att allt var så sjukt stört bara. Bra betyg förstås att bli känslomässigt investerad, men den lämnade mig inte med nån vidare skön känsla.
September 3, 2020
"Antiken" a debut novel by Hanna Johansson, which I just finished reading.
It's a book about obsession, illegal desires and to impose on a mother-daughter relationship.
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"Antiken" är en bok om besatthet. Om en mor och dotter-relation och vad det innebär att inkräkta på en sådan. Om tabu och olagligt begär. Boken har ett fint flyt och en ganska stötande story. Intressant debut!
It's a book about obsession, illegal desires and to impose on a mother-daughter relationship.
🌫🏛
🏛🌫
"Antiken" är en bok om besatthet. Om en mor och dotter-relation och vad det innebär att inkräkta på en sådan. Om tabu och olagligt begär. Boken har ett fint flyt och en ganska stötande story. Intressant debut!
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