Post by account_disabled on Dec 19, 2023 21:52:22 GMT -6
Björn LarssonLast January 19th, the Swedish writer Björn Larsson came to Rome, to the Faculty of Nordic Languages . Studying Norwegian at that faculty, I also went, even though he hadn't read any of his works. I had learned that Larsson knew Italian – he is also married to an Italian – learned so he could talk to his Italian readers. The conference was therefore interesting. On that occasion he presented his latest novel, Dead Poets Don't Write Mysteries , a title which in a certain sense, due to its strangeness, didn't make me want to read.
After the conference I decided to read Björn Larsson. That novel represented a challenge for the writer, who had never written detective stories, a challenge born from the request of his Special Data French publisher. Larsson speaks Italian quite well, he makes himself understood, he said that he would only be able to entertain those present for a few minutes and then he held court for almost two hours. What emerged was a likeable writer, who doesn't just talk about his books, but about the entire literary panorama.
He criticized the trend of Swedish detective stories, spoke about reality and fiction in history, and about the tasks of the narrator. His latest novel totally stands out from other Swedish crime novels, both in terms of geographical setting and themes covered. He also told some anecdotes, how some scenes from his stories actually happened and showed us the newspaper articles. Maybe two hours was too long, but it went by quickly. And maybe it gained a few more readers, or at least one, me. From that meeting I returned home with four articles in mind to write. You just read one.
After the conference I decided to read Björn Larsson. That novel represented a challenge for the writer, who had never written detective stories, a challenge born from the request of his Special Data French publisher. Larsson speaks Italian quite well, he makes himself understood, he said that he would only be able to entertain those present for a few minutes and then he held court for almost two hours. What emerged was a likeable writer, who doesn't just talk about his books, but about the entire literary panorama.
He criticized the trend of Swedish detective stories, spoke about reality and fiction in history, and about the tasks of the narrator. His latest novel totally stands out from other Swedish crime novels, both in terms of geographical setting and themes covered. He also told some anecdotes, how some scenes from his stories actually happened and showed us the newspaper articles. Maybe two hours was too long, but it went by quickly. And maybe it gained a few more readers, or at least one, me. From that meeting I returned home with four articles in mind to write. You just read one.