The Book Shopper

Swedish Book Notes

Fanny & Alexander Productions, Stockholm

“But this is a different country, that’s why the little details are different.”

--Karl Ove Knausgaard, My Struggle Book 2

Accompanying Books

Since Book 2 in Karl Ove Knausgaard’s My Struggle is thick, the tome I began while still in Norway was still partially unread when I boarded the airplane in Stockholm to return to Atlanta. As I mentioned in the last posting much of the book centers on Knausgaard as a successful novelist living in Sweden but as a new father.  Though he loves his wife and young family, he resents them because it takes him away from his writing. 

The love story between Knausgaard and his second wife is more manic than romantic, but they seem to make it work. His domestic life reads a little banal, but somehow he makes it interesting enough by folding in comparisons between Norway and Sweden with help from his writer-friend Geir (mentioned in the last posting.)

“Sweden is a stupid, idiotic country…Stockholm has no soul, but it is fantastically beautiful…”If you said anything of that kind (in Sweden), you either were reactionary or Norwegian, in other words 10 years behind.”

On a broader level, it’s Knausgaard’s unapologetic views about writing is what I enjoyed the most:

Fictional writing has has no value, documentary narrative has no value. The only genres I saw value in, which still conferred meaning, were diaries and essays, the types of literature that did not deal with narrative, that were not about anything, but just consisted of a voice, the voice of your own personality, a life, a face, a gaze you could meet.

(Do blogs count?)

.. I wasn't very interested when it (an earlier book) was nominated for the Nordic Council Literature Prize, for there was one thing that I had learned over the past six months it was that all writing was about was writing. Therein lay all its value. Yet I wanted to have more of  what came in its wake because public attention is a drug, the need it satisfies is artificial, but once you have had a taste of it you want more.”

(This explains why I monitor this blog’s page view statistics on a daily basis,)

Book Shops

Denise and I visited only one bookstore while in Stockholm, but it was a worthy one. The English Bookshop is in the Södermalm District of the city. I purchased a copy of Norwegian Nobel Prize Winner Knut Hamsun’s novel Hunger (1890). Hamsun is mentioned several times is My Struggle, and Knausgaard himself is ticked off when a guest at this dinner party taunts him by calling him Hamsun.

Denise purchased a copy of a small book entitled Fika, which we learned is the Swedish tradition of having a break in the morning and the afternoons, which includes coffee/tea and a pastry. We didn’t want to risk offending our guide by not partaking in fika during a food tour. Here is our two-year old grandson Zack inhaling a slice of Princess cake. It was delicious. Zack learned this eating technique from his grandfather.

"Mom, you don't want any, do ya?"

Near the bookstore we had lunch at Meatballs for the People, which our guide recommended. She made it clear that if you think real Swedish meatballs is something you get at Ikea, you are sadly mistaken. Real Swedish meat balls are made of various meats; reindeer, moose, elk and bear to name but a few. On your sampler platter they identify the origin of every meatball with a little flag.

Unexpected Lit Experiences

Denise and I were unable to make it to Uppsala which is an hour north of Stockholm, where Ingrid Bergman wrote and directed in —which may surprise many— one of our favorite Christmas movies Fanny and Alexander (1982). Warning: if you listen to this clip, you risk getting a nasty earworm.

 

However, on the same day we were in the Södermalm District we did stumble across the Fanny and Alexander studio. It was Sunday, so there was no one around. I peered inside and it did seem like it was some kind of production company named after the famous film.

I did ask the female clerk at the bookstore for more details the studio but she  knew little about it. Coincidently she said her name was Fanny named after the young protagonist in the film.  But this was as close as we got the Swedish director.

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And finally a special thanks to Denise, Lizzie and her family (husband Mike, Zack and Zoey) and my daughter Cynthia for making the trip through France, Norway and Sweden possible and giving me something to write about. 

Norwegian Book Notes

Accompanying Books

In preparation for my trip to Norway following a week in Paris, I began reading Book 3 of Karl Ove Knausgaard's six book magnum opus My Struggle ( written from 2009-2011).  Even though I began reading it a few months ago, I cannot recall how I decided to read the book out of order.  Set in southern Norway in the 1970s, Book 3 focuses on Knausgaard's childhood.

Knausgaard is major literary figure in Scandinavia and considered so in the U.S., but he is lesser known here. His books are autobiographical novels known for candor and their wide scope.  He writes about exploring his suburban neighborhood with his best friend Geir – playing soccer, swimming and getting into boyhood mischief. Young Karl Ove must also deal with his abusive father, but that drama slowly builds throughout the book.

I finished Book 3 before I left stateside and liked it enough to bring a copy of Book 2 (again, what is my problem?) where Knausgaard is a successful novelist living in Sweden but as a new father he loves his wife and young family but resents them because it takes him away from his writing. 

 It is unclear whether My Struggle is an autobiographical novel or a memoir, but the author is a brutally honest narrator. (George Orwell once wrote that "an autobiography is only to be trusted only when it reveals something disgraceful.") He adeptly mixes commentary about writing and culture with his banal daily routine.  Geir— who also becomes a writer but not a "successful" one— summarizes Knausgaard's ability like so: "he can spend twenty pages describing a trip to the bathroom and hold his reader spellbound."

However, I did not start Book 2 until I was taking the train from Paris to Berlin to join my older daughter Cynthia before the two of us went on to Norway.  On this train trip, I lost my copy of The Myth of Sisyphus, that I purchased earlier in Paris.  Could I have been pickpocketed when the train broke down and I was jammed shoulder to shoulder with the soccer fans who flooded the cities and rail lines? Hosted by Germany, the UEFA Euro 2024 tournament was in full match-on mode when I overheard the police in the Cologne train station cautioning travelers to be vigilant.

Book Shops

Cynthia and I did visit "a calm bookstore with international titles" Tronsmo Bokhandel located near the University of Oslo. Not only did it have a sizeable English language book section, but the entire basement area was devoted to graphic novels and such. I inquired whether they had Albert Camus’s autobiography First Man which is available as a graphic book, but unfortunately, they did not. In First Man, Camus gives an account of growing up in poverty on the streets of Algiers. I still remember the passage when he lies to his grandmother that he lost two francs in the family latrine (he used the money to enter a soccer game), and how ashamed of himself he was when he discovers later she had fished in the excrement with her bare arm looking for the money. This is an autobiography you can trust.

I settled for Paul Beatty’s Slumberland because I needed a replacement for my alleged pickpocketed Camus book— an anecdote I invented to hide my own absentmindedness.)

Cynthia and I also spent some time in the Oslo's Deichman Municipal Library (the building is on the right side of the photo) which was completed just four years ago. The place was buzzing on a Saturday afternoon, proving once again of the Field of Dreams adage: “Build it and they will come.”

Unexpected Lit Experiences

A ferry from the across the Oslo Harbor to Bygdøy Peninsula takes you to three museums: The Norwegian Maritime Museum, The Polarship Fram Museum and the Kon-Tiki Museum. The trio is huddled together and it is easy to visit all three places within a few hours.

The Fram Museum focuses the various polar expeditions including the Fram expeditions to the South Pole and the North Pole. The actual boat itself is in the museum.  Part of the museum is dedicated to Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen (1872-1928) who led the expedition that was first to reach the South Pole in 1911. The museum bookshop includes many history books, but what caught my eye was a book on the wit and wisdom of Amundsen who I guess was quite a quipster despite the sour demeanor.

The Kon-Tiki Museum focuses on the journeys of Norwegian ethnologist and adventurer Thor Heyerdahl (1914-2002) who intended to prove the possibility of ancient transoceanic contacts between Peru and Polynesia. In 1947, Heyerdahl and five others followed the Pacific currents to travel for a 100 days. Heyerdahl wrote a book about it and they made a documentary about his voyage as well. I am old enough to remember all those Kon-Tiki mass market paperbacks that flooded libraries and secondhand bookshops for decades. (The profits were used to fund other adventures including explorations of Easter Island and the Galapagos.)

The original boat itself is in the museum.

Next up: Sweden Book Notes

Parisian Book Notes

It would be ludicrous to attempt some kind of coherent essay on the book culture of Paris which extends for centuries, but still, I have some musings to share. I was in the City of Light from June 18 to June 25 with my longtime partner Denise Casey who planned our successful trip.

Accompanying Books

On route I took the opportunity to re-read Voltaire’s Candide (1759) a book which I read forty years ago. The only thing I remembered from the classic is Candide’s mentor Dr. Pangloss’ simplistic philosophy “that all is for the best in this best of all possible worlds". And the final line of “we must cultivate our garden.” Furthermore, the book works for this traveler because of its portability, and it provides plenty of quips about the French. 

Besides, one never knows when you will be invited to a salon, so you want to be ready to toss out Voltairean zingers such as “the people in Paris are always laughing, but it is with anger in their hearts” or “there is pleasure in having no pleasure.”

Bookshops

The most famous book buying place are the dozens of forest green metal stalls along the Seine River. Seeing the bouquinists, as they are called, have street and culture credentials (dating back to the 17th century) and they provided me an extra connection to the city since I am a popup bookseller myself (Destination: Books).  Unfortunately, I was disappointed as the weather was a little rainy and windy and many of the stalls remained buttoned up while I was there. Of the few stalls I saw, a festoon of postcards, maps, magazines impeded the browsing.

I understand that the bouquinists  carry antiquated books too, but I don’t see the how they could compete with all the gallery quality antiquarian bookstores throughout the 6th Arrondissement. I am neither an antiquarian book shopper or a seller, but I still appreciate seeing gorgeous books so deliciously displayed in store windows like pastries.

The lines for the more well-known English language bookstore Shakespeare & Company near the Notre Dame Cathedral (still under repairs) were out the door, but I did visit The Canadian Bookstore, which was small shop but had canyons of books. I had finished Voltaire and needed another similarly-sized replacement, so I selected Albert Camus book of essays The Myth of Sisyphus (1942).  I always found the French writer intriguing since he was born in Algeria from the humblest of beginnings. 

Unexpected Lit Experiences

In St. Germain district there is a wall where Arthur Rimbaud,s most famous poem Le Bateau ivre ("The Drunken Boat") is engraved for all to see. Along the same street here was a poetry popup marketplace where booths filled with publishers, poets and stacks of poetry books for sale. I will admit my initial feeling about French poetry is similar to Bill Murray’s reaction in motion picture Groundhog Day when Andie MacDowell’s reveals she majored 19th century French poetry in college (“what a waste to time,” he blurts).

But there is a cringe of guilt that my level of appreciation for poetry is subpar. 

And finally, Denise and I went to an Eatwith.com dinner booked in a bohemian artist apartment where Karyn Bauer prepared delicious meal with plenty of wine, and you meet other travelers that are looking for a different dining experience. Coincidently her partner is a book artist Cristian Todie who has designed three dimensional books, which are quite amazing. He gave me a demonstration of how his books can effortlessly expand and contract.  I cannot begin to describe his work, but you should visit his website at thetodiebook.com.

Next up: Norway

Global Dutch Book Art

Currently the exhibit at the High Museum in Atlanta "Dutch Art in a Global Age" has it all: the portraits, the stills of beautiful objects, silver and ceramics, and two of my gallery favorites —paintings of sailing vessels on choppy seas (the Netherlands was a naval power in the 17th century) and a few beautifully illustrated books.

On the left is a gigantic Theatre of the Cities of the United Netherlands which includes hand-colored etchings and engravings by Joan Blaeu (1596-1673). Shown here is Amsterdam (circa 1650) which is a headliner in the town-by-town tour through Flanders and the United Provinces. A precursor to the Lonely Plant guides? I think not.

On the right, is a woodblock illustration appeared in another guidebook, Pictures of Famous Products of Mountains and Seas (1799).  Japanese artist Shitomi Kangetsu's (1747-1797) woodcut of an armed ship from the Dutch East India Company outside of Nagasaki Bay in southwestern Japan.  For over two centuries the Dutch were the only Europeans permitted to trade with Japan.

While the exhibition emphasizes the artistic achievement of the Dutch it does remind visitors "to consider the human costs of global commerce."  This is somewhat an understatement. I recently read the opening chapters of Amitav Ghosh's The Nutmeg's Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis (2021) where the Indian born writer gives a graphic account of Dutch atrocities in the Banda Islands. 

"You Can't Lay Down Your Memory Chest of Drawers"

I cannot go to the High Museum without checking out Tejo Remy's "Chest of Drawers" work which is part of the permanent collection. Remy is a Dutch designer who graciously allow me to use his art for the cover of my book A Father's Letters: Connecting Past to Present. When I first saw this work, I had no doubt that I wanted it for my cover and happily the people at the High helped make this happen. 

Also it is a nice coincidence that Sunday is Father's Day. Go Dads.

 

Memorial Day Archives

 

Note: From the archives. This posting originally appeared in May 2015. (Blogger takes a holiday.)

This weekend marks the 150th anniversary of the first Memorial Day Parade before there was even a Memorial Day. On May 23 and 24, 1865 Washington D.C. hosted the two-day Grand Review parade of the Union Troops. The Army of the West led by William T. Sherman had completed its capture of Atlanta and Savannah the previous autumn and had marched through South Carolina and North Carolina in the spring of 1865. They were about to join Grant's Army of the Potomac in Virginia when the war ended, but there was one last military spectacle left.

Here's an account of this extraordinary event from B.H. Liddell Hart's 1958 biography, Sherman: Soldier, Realist, American:

"On the 23rd, the Eastern armies (the Army of the Potomac) marched in review through Washington, an endless column of troops well-clad and well-drilled, their ranks trim and spotless. Returning from the pageant Sherman, with his customary candor, declared: 'It was magnificent. In dress, in soldierly appearance, in precision of alignment and marching we cannot beat those fellows.' Then someone suggested that they should not attempt it but instead should be workmanlike and pass in review 'as we went marching through Georgia.'

Sherman caught up the suggestion and next morning as the people of Washington watched the Grand Army of the West defile before their eyes they saw no glittering pageant, but instead an exhibition of virility. With uniforms travel-stained and patched, colours tattered and bullet riven, brigade after brigade passed with the elastic spring and freely swinging stride of athletes, each followed by its famous 'bummers' on laden mules ridden with rope and bridles. The most practically trained, physically fittest and most actively intelligent army that the world had seen."

 

 

Exciting New Bookcase

I recently added a new bookcase to my study and I have been enjoying the anticipation of what exactly I should put in it.

This is a custom-made bookcase from Neatnooks Furniture and the sixth bookcase they have made for Denise and me since we moved to Decatur 15 years ago. At first, I could not remember the name Paul Nooks the craftsman behind Neatnooks, but fortunately The Book Shopper blog serves as an archive of my book shopping experiences. The entry Bookcase Testimonial from July 15, 2010 had the information that I needed. With a minimum of back and forth, Paul matched the other bookcase in my study he had built years before.

This new one is slightly different because it houses my circa 1990 media center of VCR tape machine and DVD player. With a strategically placed half-dollar sized hole in the back panel, I can connect to the TV without wires festooning from bookcase and television alike. (You can trust Paul on this because he builds beautiful custom entertainment centers as well.)

Organizing my books is very important since I sell used books and vintage Believer magazines online through my Destination: Books Alibris store. (See catalog of eclectic books here). Any online bookseller—even a small biz like mine—will tell you that searching for inventory while trying to fill an order kills your profit margins.

And moreover, this makes more financial sense than renting a storage room. As a bookseller, I still am a book shopper, but on a larger scale.

It’s one of the perks of the profession.

The Irony of Ian Frazier

Over 30 years ago, The New Yorker humorist Ian Frazier wrote a short piece entitled "Coyote vs. Acme", which later appeared in a Frazier collection by the same name.  The crux of the wonderfully executed joke was Frazier creating a “legal document” where Wile E. Coyote of Roadrunner fame, files a lawsuit against the Acme Company for negligence in the manufacture of their products, which continually malfunction. In short, there is a description of the cartoons written in legalese. Here's a sample:

"The sequence of collisions resulted in systematic physical damage to Mr. Coyote, viz., flattening of the cranium, sideways displacement of the tongue, reduction of the length of legs and upper body, and compression of the vertebrae from base of tail to head. Repetition of blows along a vertical axis produced a serious of regular horizontal folds in Coyote’s body tissues—a rare and painful condition which caused Mr. Coyote to expand upward and contract downward alternately as he walked, and to emit an off-key accordionlike wheezing with every step. This distracting and embarrassing nature of this symptom has been a major impediment to Mr. Coyote’s pursuit of a normal social life."

This same piece resurfaced last week in an article entitled “Lost Art” which appeared in the New York Times Magazine (4/14) Screenland column. The writer T.M. Brown writes that this short five-page piece inspired an animated movie that was made by Warner for $75 million, but then was killed by studio for financial reasons and has not allowed anyone to see it or purchase it.

At the end of the piece, Brown draws the ironic parallel. In Frazier’s satire, Wile E. Coyote is hamstrung that he has “no other domestic source of supply to which to turn”.  Likewise, the film’s creators have no recourse to see the film released as Warner has complete control of the work. They have no leverage.  

Fortunately, I still have my copy of the Frazier collection, which I paid $2.

Meep-meep

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To learn more about the writer Ian Frazier, see pages 80-82 in your The Book Shopper: A Life in Review hymnal. Available here.

Book Event at Tall Tales in Toco Hills

Not sure if this qualifies for a book tour, but your blog narrator will be at the Tall Tales Book Shop in Toco Hills, (2105 LaVista Rd #108 Atlanta) holding an informal Monster-in-a-Box workshop. It's just a different approach than your standard book reading-signing event. For more about A Father's Letters and what the deal is with a Monster workshop, visit murray-browne.com and look for the links. 

I will bring rare copies of my other books as well —The Book Shopper: A Life in Review and Down & Outbound: A Mass Transit Satire.

More Book-Film Connections

In keeping with a recent blog theme of Oscar movies and books, I was reminded of another book while I watched Jonathan Glazer's historical drama The Zone of Interest.  The plot centers around the mostly mundane domestic life of Auschwitz commandant's family whose garden backs up to one of the walls of the concentration camp.  It wasn't Martin Amis' 2014 novel that the film was "loosely-based" upon. (I have not read the book.) 

Instead, it was a book that I read last year, which made my 2023 Best Books Read list— Timothy Snyder's Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin (2010)*. Not only can you read my thoughts about the book there, but I added some extensive notes on a separate page, including some excerpts about Auschwitz. You can find those notes here. 

* a later 2020 edition includes Snyder's discussion about the 2014 invasion of Ukraine (Crimea).

 

 

More Poor Things

Encouraged by the editors of Tropics of Meta: Historiography for the Masses, I expanded my previous posting about Alasdair Gray's book Poor Things (1992) into the essay, "Re-Visiting Poor Things:  The Book vs. the Movie."

This is my eighth essay (listed here) for Tropics of Meta, but who's counting?