Lena Andersson

Ester Nilsson är poet och essäist och en förnuftig människa i en förnuftig relation. En dag får hon en förfrågan om att hålla ett föredrag om konstnären Hugo Rask. Från och med nu ska hela hennes tillvaro hänga samman med denna till sin avsikt helt oskyldiga begäran. I publiken sitter konstnären själv, hänförd, och de två möts för första gången efter föreläsningen. Ett slags kärlekshistoria inleds mellan Ester Nilsson och Hugo Rask, banal i sin enkla grymhet, storslagen i sin fullständiga hängivenhet

Egenmäktigt förfarande - en roman om kärlek

"I never thought a book about anxious Swedish intellectuals engaged in a philosophical back and forth would grip me like an airport read, but here we are. Jenni recommended this book as 'perfect, just read it' and she was right. From the very first page I was deep in the headspace of our protagonist, Esther, a woman willing to destroy her life for a man who barely acknowledges her. This slim volume explores the power dynamic cultural capital and fame bring to a relationship, and the lengths we're willing to go to in order to imagine we're getting what we want. Jenni said: 'I want to give this to every person I know who is in a one sided relationship. This will snap them right out of it.'" --Lena Dunham Ester Nilsson is a sensible person in a sensible relationship. Until the day she is asked to give a lecture on famous artist Hugo Rask. The man himself is in the audience, intrigued and clearly delighted by her fascination with him. When the two meet afterward, she is spellbound. Ester's life is then intrinsically linked to this meeting and the chain of events that unfolds. She leaves her boyfriend and throws herself into an imaginary relationship with Hugo. She falls deeply in love, and he consumes her thoughts. Indeed, in her own mind she's sure that she and Hugo are a couple. Slowly and painfully Ester comes to realize that her perception of the relationship is different from his. She's a woman who prides herself on having a rational and analytical mind, but in the face of her overpowering feelings for Hugo, she is too clever and too honest for her own good. Bitingly funny and darkly fascinating, Willful Disregard is a story about total and desperate devotion, and how willingly we betray ourselves in the pursuit of love.

A Novel about Love

Willful Disregard

Ester Nilsson är tillbaka. Och hon har inte lärt sig någonting. Fem år efter Hugo Rask träffar Ester skådespelaren Olof Sten. Redan vid det första mötet känner hon igen sin kropps reaktion: hon håller på att bli handlöst förälskad. Olof gör ingen hemlighet av att han är gift med Ebba Silfversköld, men börjar samtidigt träffa Ester. De inleder en relation, som samtidigt inte är en relation enligt Olof. För han är ju gift, och säger sig inte ha några planer på att lämna Ebba. Men vad gör han då hos Ester? Ester köper en bil så att hon kan köra Olof kors och tvärs över landet, till teaterföreställningar och kärleksmöten. Somrarna blir outhärdliga för Ester, för på sommaren umgås gifta män med frun. Ester Nilsson har blivit älskarinna. Men Olof Sten är märkligt ambivalent och hoppet om att han ska lämna, det finns där. Utan personligt ansvar är den fristående fortsättningen på Egenmäktigt förfarande. Med skarp blick och mycket humor tar sig Lena Andersson denna gång an älskarinnans roll i vår kultur och de djupt rotade föreställningar som styr tresamheten

Utan personligt ansvar

'A novel of heartbreak told with intellectual rigor. It gripped me from first page to last. Fantastic!'Alice SeboldWhen Ester Nilsson meets the actor Olof Sten, she falls madly in love.Olof makes no secret of being married, but he and Ester nevertheless start to meet regularly and begin to conduct a strange dance of courtship. Olof insists he doesn't plan to leave his wife, but he doesn't object to this new situation either . . . it's far too much fun.Ester, on the other hand, is convinced that things might change. But as their relationship continues over repeated summers of distance, and winters of heated meetings in bars, she is forced to realize the truth: Ester Nilsson has become a mistress.To read Acts of Infidelity is to dive inside the mind of a brilliant, infuriating friend - Ester's and Olof's entanglements and arguments are the stuff of relationship nightmares. Cutting, often cruel, and written with razor-sharp humour, Acts of Infidelity is clever, painful, maddening, but most of all perfectly, precisely true.Praise for Wilful Disregard'Gripped me like an airport read . . . perfect' Lena Dunham

Acts of Infidelity

En februarikväll skjuts landets främste statsman till döds på öppen gata. Polischef Rolf Utterström tar kommandot över spaningarna men ingen gärningsman grips och mordet förblir ett öppet sår i nationen. I Koryféerna en konspirationsroman fortsätter Lena Andersson att utforska teman som knyter an till hennes tidigare berättelser om folkhemmet och dess upplösning.

Koryféerna. En konspirationsroman

Sveas son

'Lena Andersson's Wilful Disregard is a story of the heart written with bracing intellectual rigor. It is a stunner, pure and simple.' Alice Sebold, author of The Lovely BonesWinner of the August Prize 2013On the day that Ester Nilsson, a poet and a sensible person in a sensible relationship, meets renowned artist Hugo Rask, her rational world begins to unravel. Leaving her boyfriend and her past behind, Ester embarks on what is sure to be the greatest love story of her life.It's a shame no one else agrees.

Wilful Disregard

roman

Var det bra så?

en berättelse om folkhemmets upplösning : roman

Dottern

Widerrechtliche Inbesitznahme

Studie i mänskligt beteende

Grupptillhörighet är inte politik

Winner of Sweden's most prestigious literary award, a novel about an otherwise sensible woman's descent into the obsession and delusion of unrequited love. Ester Nilsson is a sensible person in a sensible relationship. She knows what she thinks and she acts according to her principles. Until the day she is asked to give a lecture on renowned artist Hugo Rask. The man himself sits in the audience, spellbound, and when the two meet afterwards, he has the same effect on her. From then on Ester's existence is intrinsically linked to that day, and the events that follow change her life forever. Bitingly funny and darkly fascinating, WILLFUL DISREGARD is a story about total and desperate devotion and about how willingly we betray ourselves in the pursuit of love.

A Novel About Love

Ester Nilsson er 31 år. Hun er poet og essayist og er en normal person i et normalt forhold. En dag i juni får hun en forespørsel om å holde et foredrag om kunstneren Hugo Rask. I publikum sitter kunstneren selv, henført, og de to møtes for første gang etter forelesningen. Fra nå av er livet hennes forandret. Et slags kjærlighetsforhold utvikler seg mellom Ester Nilsson og Hugo Rask. For Ester blir det altoppslukende, og hun gir mer enn det skal vise seg at hun får tilbake. For denne romanen fikk Lena Andersson Augustprisen i 2013. Den har fått svært god mottakelse i Sverige.

en roman om kjærlighet

Rettsstridig forføyning

Du är alltså Svensk?

When Ester Nilsson meets the actor Olof Sten, she falls madly in love. Olof makes no secret of being married, but he and Ester nevertheless start to meet regularly and begin to conduct a strange dance of courtship. Olof insists he doesn't plan to leave his wife, but he doesn't object to this new situation either . . . it's far too much fun. Ester, on the other hand, is convinced that things might change. But as their relationship continues over repeated summers of distance, and winters of heated meetings in bars, she is forced to realize the truth: Ester Nilsson has become a mistress. To read Acts of Infidelity is to dive inside the mind of a brilliant, infuriating friend - Ester's and Olof's entanglements and arguments are the stuff of relationship nightmares. Cutting, often cruel, and written with razor-sharp humour, Lena Andersson's Acts of Infidelity is clever, painful, maddening, but most of all perfectly, precisely true. 'A novel of heartbreak told with intellectual rigor. It gripped me from first page to last. Fantastic!' Alice Sebold

Like diving into the mind of a brilliant, infuriating friend, this novel dissects the experience of "the other woman" with tremendous wit and insight. When Ester Nilsson meets the actor Olof Sten, she falls madly in love. Olof makes no secret of being married, but he and Ester nevertheless start to meet regularly and begin a strange dance of courtship. Olof insists he doesn't plan to leave his wife, but he doesn't object to this new situation either...it's far too much fun. Ester, on the other hand, is convinced that things might change. But as their relationship continues over repeated summers apart, and winters full of heated meetings in bars, she is forced to realize the truth: Ester Nilsson has become a mistress. Ester's and Olof's entanglements and arguments are the stuff of relationship nightmares. Cutting, often cruel, and written with piercing humor, Acts of Infidelity is clever, painful, maddening, but most of all perfectly, precisely true.

A Novel

Sottomissione volontaria è il racconto di quanto siamo disposti a ingannare noi stessi nel nostro desiderio di essere amati. In un crescendo di tensione la relazione tra Ester e Hugo assomiglia sempre di più non a un amore fra un uomo e una donna, ma al legame asfittico fra il potente e la schiava d’amore. Lena Andersson ha vinto nel 2013 con Sottomissione volontaria l’August Prize, il più prestigioso premio letterario svedese. Ester Nilsson è una poetessa e saggista ma, sopra ogni altra cosa, è una critica e ammiratrice dell’artista Hugo Rask, che reputa un genio. Ed è proprio per Hugo, quando lo incontra a una conferenza di intellettuali svedesi, che Ester perde completamente la testa, interrompendo la sua relazione con il fidanzato e intrecciando con l’artista una storia complicata e cervellotica, tragica quanto universale, fatta di continui allontanamenti, riavvicinamenti, inganni e abusi di potere. Non importa che Hugo non sia veramente l’essere umano assolutamente perfetto che Ester si era immaginata; e non importa nemmeno che la tenga a distanza con scuse inverosimili. Ester lo bracca, lo stana, lo ama, rischiando di rinunciare completamente alla propria dignità. La loro relazione infatti assomiglierà sempre di più non a un amore fra un uomo e una donna, ma al legame asfittico fra il potente e la schiava d’amore. In un crescendo di disperazione e crudeltà, ma anche di brillante ironia, Lena Andersson compone un ritratto disincantato e realistico dell’ossessione e della lotta per l’emancipazione di una donna. Sottomissione volontaria è il racconto di quanto siamo disposti a ingannare noi stessi nel nostro desiderio di essere amati, ma anche di quanto sia difficile non sfruttare la debolezza delle persone. «È una bomba, pura e semplice». Alice Sebold, autrice di Amabili resti «Un romanzo sull’amore brillante e tagliente come un rasoio». Aftonbladet

Sottomissione volontaria

From one of Sweden’s most astute cultural critics, a razor-sharp comedy of the progress and ruin of the industrial welfare state, told through the story of a single family. Ragnar Johansson is born in 1932, a transformative moment in Swedish history. He has Swedish social democracy flowing through his veins—convinced it lifted humankind out of the dark ages and into modernity, he cherishes it. At times Ragnar despises his mother, Svea, whose perpetual baking, scrubbing, and canning represent the poverty of the peasantry. Ragnar, for his part, hails the efficiency of washing machines and prefab food. Once he has children himself, he raises them in accordance with his values, standing in the ski track supporting his daughter Elsa as she works hard to become one of the best skiers in the country. While Svea is a relic of the past, Elsa represents hope for the future. In time, however, Ragnar realizes that the world is changing. Is his golden age coming to an end? In Son of Svea, Lena Andersson offers a characteristically funny, wise, and moving family chronicle about the social transformations that unite and divide us, and about finding the courage to be true to oneself.

A Tale of the People's Home

Son of Svea

Il nuovo romanzo dell'autrice di Sottomissione volontaria La protagonista è sempre Ester Nilsson che, cinque anni dopo l’infelice conclusione della storia con l’artista marpione Hugo Rask, raccontata in Sottomissione volontaria, si butta in una nuova avventura. Stavolta con l’attore Olof Sten, personaggio meno carismatico di Rask, ma anche più disponibile e apparentemente più “onesto”. Olof infatti non fa mistero di essere sposato (anzi, parla sempre della consorte in termini molto elogiativi) ma cede comunque all’attrazione esercitata da Ester, che diventa a tutti gli effetti la sua amante. Il guaio è che Ester anche stavolta non accetta questo ruolo e cerca di convincere Olof (e in primo luogo se stessa) che sono fatti l’uno per l’altra e che quindi lui dovrebbe lasciare la moglie per lei. Cosa che puntualmente non succede, nonostante i tentativi sempre più serrati di Ester, come sempre maestra di logica e di dialettica. La storia si protrae stavolta per ben tre anni e mezzo, fra alti e bassi, addii e ricongiungimenti, fino al colpo di scena finale. Lena Andersson riesce anche stavolta a colpire nel segno illustrando un rapporto di coppia fondato sulle illusioni di una delle parti, e sulla debolezza e sostanziale vigliaccheria dell’altra. O, se vogliamo, l’insanabile diversità della visione dell’amore nella donna e nell’uomo. Il tutto raccontato con intelligenza e l’abituale sicurezza narrativa.

Lena Andersson

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