JÄGARNA I ARMENTIÈRES – THE HUNTERS IN ARMENTIÈRES

By Steve Sem-Sandberg

In The Hunters in Armentières Steve Sem-Sandberg collects four shorter and longer stories, all of them written parallelly with the work on the acclaimed novel W. Here the themes that occur in Georg Büchner or in his literary circumference variates. The final short story Oberlin, is a paraphrase of Büchner’s prosaic piece Lenz, which tells us about the older playwright’s mental breakdown in a secluded village in the mountains in Elsass in January 1778. A general theme is the individual’s longing for freedom, respect and self-value in the interaction with the demands on obedience and submission of an obsolete class society. A conflict where most of the time only violence or insanity offer possible ways out.

Published by Albert Bonniers Förlag 2020-08-07

Masterfully from the abysses of man […] In his new collection of stories, he continues to explore man in his darkness and his pursuit of clarity.
Tranås-Posten

… it can just as easily serve as a suitable introduction for those who want to read this incomparable author.
Vetlanda-Posten

It must be said that all four short stories are insanely well written. That Sem-Sandberg has made a literary success after another lately is obvious considering how good he is.
Barometern

It’s a staggering read.
Göteborgs-Posten

Every word in this meticulously drawn book evokes the same duality in me: horror and will to live, the longing to burn the whole of human history and to lift it to the light and start over, letter by letter.
Expressen

The reading experience is strong, as is usual for the author’s work, regardless of whether one considers the text to ask questions about its creation or provide answers to them.
Norrländska Socialdemokraten

The stroke is lighter than in W, the tempo faster. Has Sem-Sandberg ever been so playful, so inclined to mix high and low, black farce and sheer poetry? The quartet of case studies becomes a window that opens to a night of delirium.
Magasinet Vi

Steve Sem-Sandberg makes the classical tradition move.
Dagens Nyheter

Steve Sem-Sandberg

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Fiction