Sweden Books

I was loaned this book by a friend of mine who is German. She was given this book by her mother and read it when she was a child in Germany. Years later she found it in a used book sale here in the states (her current residence) and fell in love with it again. She lent me this book, and I have to say it was wonderful. I learned so much reading this book everything from Napoleonic history to early French fashion. Desiree is a delightful character and her life is fascinating. I recommend this book for anyone. It is a light easy read. I was sad when I finished it because I wanted the story to continue.

"Desiree" is the (mostly) true story of Desiree Clary, silk-merchant's daughter of Marseilles, who becomes involved with the Bonapartes, rises with them to the heights of power, survives Napoleon's downfall and ultimately becomes Queen Desideria of Sweden, the first Bernadotte Queen. Desiree herself tells her story in diary form, although it isn't as annoying as the diary form usually is, and the reader experiences events of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries as Desiree did--as a series of domestic events. That these events occur in royal households and that Desiree is a major player in them could be accidental, but one quickly realizes that Desiree is a remarkable woman and these are no accidents.

The tone is intimate, and one feels as though Desiree is confiding in the reader as a friend. Annemarie Selinko is a virtuoso; even in translation not one word of this amazing story rings false. You will find yourself thinking of Desiree long after the end of the book. I read this first at sixteen, and found the historical information invaluable in a college history course (not the reason to read it, but it doesn't hurt).

I've since read the Josephine B. books, and a wonderful novel based on the life of Josephine Bonaparte called "The Emperor's Lady" by F. W. Kenyon (available used on Amazon), which I also heartily recommend, but "Desiree" is the platinum standard by which to judge historical novels/fictionalized biographies.

It is simply wonderful.

I love this book (as well as the movie to this book) and not all of the book is fiction! There was a woman named Desiree Clary she was the first love/fiance of Napoleon Bonaparte. She married one of his marshals, Jean-Baptise Bernadotte whom was elected to become King of Sweden in the early ninteenth century. Desiree's and Jean-Baptise's descandents are still on the throne of Sweden to this day.

I would also like to add that the author has done a brillent job in writing this book! She wrote the book so well, that it's diffucult to distinguish the line between fact and fiction in this book!

Annemarie Selinko's "Desiree" is one of the best novels about France during the first Empire. It is definitely my favorite novel about Napoleon, told from the point of view of his cast-off fiancee, the enchanting Desiree Clary. Selinko's characterizations and descriptions are based on meticulous research, making this book one of the finest of the historical fiction genre. Feisty Desiree becomes a queen in spite of herself, and in spite of Napoleon, through a course of events that are almost unbelievable, but true. Many famous historical figures are brought to life, especially the fascinating, glamorous Josephine. The fortune-telling scene is one of my favorites in the book. Well-written, gripping, romantic and an unforgettable love story, "Desiree" is a book to own and read often. It is goes well with two other novels about the same era, almost as if they were a trilogy, Norah Loft's "A Rose for Virtue" and Elena Vidal's "Madame Royale."

I'm a certified anglophile, when it comes to history. This is probably because I am one-half Angelo Celtic and so the history I read about when I read about England, Scotland and Ireland, is in some sense my own. It is a basic human urge to understand where we come from after all. Anyway, this is my way of saying I don't "get" France. I can't speak French (and so in books when there's some French thrown in I'm just lost) and I don't know anything about French history (except a little where it bumps up with England.) For most of the historical fiction I read about France, which has events that occurred so long ago it doesn't seem to matter that I have no knowledge, this doesn't effect my enjoyment of the book. But when we get into the French revolution and the whole Napoleon thing it seems I have to know something to get the book. Happily, this book explains everything so well that I can report if you know nothing about the after events of the French revolution (like me) you will not only be able to enjoy the book but you will actually learn things!

This is a fake diary kept for about forty years by (real person) Eugenie Desiree Clary, one time fiancée of Napoleon and later Queen of Sweden and Norway (obviously many events happen between the two titles.) I know nothing about the real historical person of Desiree, but the character is an amazing women. Smart, resourceful, bold, courageous, romantic, sweet, funny...kind of a perfect main character. She meets Napoleon's older brother Joseph when getting her older brother out of jail and invites him to dinner to meet her older unmarried sister Julie. Joseph brings Napoleon along with him and soon because of the girls' large dowries and the impoverished state of the Bonaparte's, Julie and Joseph are married and Desiree and Napoleon are engaged.

But we all know that Napoleon marries Josephine. So the majority of the book (told by Desiree remember) revolves around Desiree's own love story with a General Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte (a great character and lovely romance) and of course what happened in France under Napoleon. Like I said this book is an education about what happened to change a republic into an empire (perhaps we could be looking for parallels to today's United States?)

Desiree's life is fascinating but what also makes this book interesting is the portrait painted of Napoleon-a very different one from other view points about him (say as in "The Josephine Bonaparte collection" by Sandra Gulland which presents him as...well as a very different kind of man. Josephine also) The Napoleon of this book is selfish, arrogant and so conceited and entitled he's unbearable (as Desiree says at one point, "can you believe I was going to marry him?") I suppose the view presented in this book is more in tune with the traditional historical view of Napoleon (little-man syndrome and all) but then I don't know much about it.

I want to be clear on the fact that the romance in this novel is NOT between Desiree and Napoleon but between Desiree and her husband Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte. In fact once you past page 100 it's pretty obvious that the only emotion Desiree feels towards Napoleon is some nostalgia and contempt and fear.

Anyway, this is a great book. It has engaging characters, history that's real and understandable (even by one with no knowledge such as me) and an enchanting narrator who has an inspiring sense morality, especially about government. My only complaints are that sometimes the diary entries are very far apart chronologically and there is little explanation of what happened in between the dates and so often times I had to re-read entries a couple time to get a sense of continuity. A history book may have been helpful here but I eventually figured out what was happening/had happened in between the entries. Also there are so many characters, often with similar names that a character index really would have been helpful.

Other than that this book is pretty perfect. It's a real treasure and I heartily thank the kind person who recommended it to me as one of the best of the historical fiction genre.

Five stars.

I love Absolut ad's and have always wanted to get one. They are expensive new , so I got an used copy from an amazon seller. It came quickly and I flipped through the book for about 20 min when it arrived 2 days later. I love all the ads and they are all so clever. I might not get some of the modern art ones, but I love the city ones in particular. Anyway, I got this book for my new house and new coffee table book, I think it is one of the best hardcover coffee table book (marketing story book) ever.

Compulsory addition to the coffee table library. An excellent example of a clever, consistent, cutting edge branding campaign helping to position a generic product at the top of consumer mind. Absolut genius.

If you like the Absolut ads, this is a good book for you. It's what you'd expect - big pictures of the Absolut ads with explanations from the ad agency guys who made it happen. A fun coffeetable book.

Absolut is one of the best selling vodkas in the world and the advertsing for it is second to none. In this fabulous book were are told the inside story behind the marketing and selling of this tasty treat. The paper is first grade and the pictures are outstanding to say the least. Absolut original with a bottle looking like a Roman ruin is probably my favorite one but there are so many nice advertising ideas that have become stupendous posters. Absolute Enivironment is also a nice one. This is a good coffee table book and a nice gift for the person that likes vodka and to read.

This is a wonderful, informative, and beautiful book.
This book is about the Absolut Vodka advertising campaign. How it began, and what it is about. There are many beautiful, and breath taking images which makes you see the entire light of the campaign which looks so simple from the outside. Now, you get the inside looks and it isn't simple at all but an amazing experience.
WOW!!

This well-written novel, though dated, tells the story of three young pastors coming to grips with how ministry works - and doesn't work. Highly Recommended.

During the years of its reign as the Established Church of Sweden, the Evangelical Lutheran Church grew increasingly abusive, unresponsive, liberal, and divorced from the lives of the common Swedish peasants. But, during the 18th century, the Pietism movement came to Sweden, calling people to individual piety and personal holiness. The Church of Sweden reacted vigorously against the movement, resulting in split congregations, persecution, emigration, and, finally, reform.

In this wonderful book, Swedish Lutheran Bishop and author, Bo Herald Giertz (1905-98), collects three stories (really novellas) that each tells the story of a pastor, learning to properly serve God and his fellow men. They are stories of learning God's holiness, but also His love and grace.

Overall, I found this to be a powerful and extremely moving read. The power of the stories keeps you reading, wishing you could be in the very churches that you read about. Now, the author was an unabashed advocate of the Lutheran Church, and the book contains a vigorous defense of the Lutheran Church's liturgy and theology. But, it is such a powerful look at serving God and serving man that I think it is a book that Christians of all sects should read.

This is a powerful book, one that is certainly a classic of Lutheran literature, and should be considered a classic of Christian literature for all believers. I give this book my highest recommendations!

This is an excellent book and much needed for evangelicals in our day. Although this is laden with some Lutheran thought that I theologically disagree with (being a Reformed Baptist), so that a small amount of discernment is required, from my point of view, the thrust of the book is about Christ alone as the sole foundation of our hope and the distinction between Law and Gospel. For one who generally does not read novels, this book is welcome both for these theological reasons and for the interest in the stories themselves. There is much comfort in this book for wounded souls and much to awaken the seasoned believer to about the nature of grace in comparison to our lowly condition.

This book was commended by a good friend who is also I believe one of the few remaining orthodox pastors in his church body. The treatment it provides of issues such as "simul sanctus et peccator" (at the same time saint and sinner), the long-ignored Office of the Keys ("Whatever sins you bind on earth will be bound in heaven"), Christ Only, the individual's mode of "participation" in justification, and a host of other doctrinal issues was tremendously refreshing. The Hammer is relentless, and the Gospel is sweet. The orthodox views of Christ, of Scripture, of Salvation, of Sanctification, and of Christian life are all made new as the morning. I loved it!

Bo Giertz' The Hammer of God should be read by anyone entering the pastorate. The book is divided into three novellas, each set in a different era in a particular area of Sweden. Each novella basically follows the same story: A nominally Christian pastor recently graduates from a modernist university and gets assigned, against his desires, to a country parish. He soon undergoes a kind of conversion experience as he is faced with the realities of parish life, especially with the existential questions of his parishoners, and finds that despite all his formal training, his faith is only nominal at best and he really doesn't know anything about God, until a simple parishoner witnesses the truth of the gospel to him. Newly converted and aware of his own sins, the preacher then begins to passionately preach the law of God bringing some revival to their churches, but as those revivals petter off, he is surprised to find that he is only half-converted, because he must also learn about the doctrine of justication by faith alone, which is the necessary complement to the law, and the heart of the gospel. At the same time, he discovers the richness of Lutheran orthodoxy over and against other modernist, pietistic and anabaptist movements happening around the parish.

Over all, I thought this was a really good book, and I would recommend it to anyone, even to those who are not Lutheran (I'm still a Baptist). Unfortunately, this particular edition is riddled with typos, more than I've seen in any book by a major publisher. So I can only give it 4 stars, rather than 5.

My wife remembers this book from her childhood and is one of her favorites. It is one of those timeless books that thrills all children. We read it to our grand kids and they love it. This same story could be in any country. Kids are the same everywhere.

This is a book most kids and adults can realate to.Its a book about friendship and celebration.(Such a wonderful read with great illustrations) I recommend this book for ages 8 and up because of challanging vocab.But a great read aloud for all ages!

I'm an American mother living in Germany. I grew up with Pippi Longstockings - but never had much exposure to the other wonderful stories. Though the English title is a little silly, this book is so wonderful...a nostalgic look of childhood in truly the most innocent of days - it is so well liked in Germany - and is on just about every child's shelf here in Germany with other stories from Astrid Lindgren. I have reccommended it often to my friends in the states and it has been well received. This year (2007) we celebrated her 100th birthday with no small oversight - she is the best loved children's author of all time in this part of the world. I can only hope that some publisher rekindle Lindgren's charm and make the children of the South, North and Middle Farms along with Michel - Lola - Madita - Kalle and Karlsson more accessible in America.

I bought the book because of the Author - I grew up on her books and my girls listen to each chapter with great pleasure

My own son is nearly out of high school and will no longer sit on my lap to let me read to him. Imagine! The rascal! But I have two boys, children of my cousin, and a niece, who are beginning to appreciate my reading talents. Their mothers have not been slow to recognize my utility on that front.
Astrid Lindgren was famous in America, years ago, for her Pippi Longstocking books. I think those are still common in bookstores. As an ex-boy reading to a boy, I enjoyed Lindgren's Rasmus books much more, and I loved the "Noisy Village" series. Lindgren's children's books are deliciously old-fashioned and rustic. Rasmus is the Huckleberry Finn of Sweden, and the five children of Noisy Village might remind English readers of Tom Sawyer and Little Women melded together. I read all these books in Swedish, and I'm just becoming acquainted with them in English for my young relatives. The translation is good - not quite as idiomatically piquant as the original, but attractively brash and blunt. Boys will enjoy the stories as much as girls. The target age for hearing these stories is about four to six, and quick-to-read children will be able to handle them at seven.
Life in a village in oldtime Sweden was little different from life in rural areas of the Upper Midwest before TV. Parents also may feel the pull of that good-natured, fundamentally decent community. There are no tickets to the past, however, except in books.

This one is a keeper. I bought it after living in Sweden for a bit over 4½ years. There were things about living in Sweden that I was having trouble appreciating; sometimes there was an underlying "cultural current" that wouldn't decode for me. After the first read, Robinowitz & Carr's book gave me some more pieces to the puzzle I was holding. Subsequent readings have added more pieces.

I strongly recommend purchase of your own copy of this book for reference and note-taking. Any culture is a set of unwritten rules. The authors have done an excellent job of capturing much of that which is unwritten. The book starts with a brief history of Sweden - which helps to give a perspective on modern Swedes and Swedish culture. In following chapters they go on to give a good overview of modern Sweden and some of the more visible aspects of Swedish culture. A part about the Swedish flag is typical of the kind of information they give (Swedes seem to use their flag to declare their Swedish identity in contrast, Americans might be said to give the US flag a loyalty). The chapter on a cultural value/belief/behavior called "Jantelagen" was particularly valuable as it helped me to better understand behaviors and to "release the right responses" during the course of daily living activities (Edward T. Hall writes about releasing the right responses in "Understanding Cultural Differences").

Other chapters give clear and easy to read descriptions of a number of important social and business values, beliefs and behaviors. I figure that the amount I spent on this book is nothing in comparison to the value it has returned. Time invested in reading has saved me time later as I more quickly understood unspoken parts of "messages". If you're going to have more than a superficial, touristy kind of contact with Swedes - in Sweden or anywhere else in the world - you'll likely be glad for the advice this book offers.

I have been married to a Swede for 25 Years and have been regularly visiting her friends and family for that time. This book offers a nonjudgemental evaluation of why Swedes are the way they are and, of course, why they are not like us. I read this book just before a business meeting and enjoyed observing the differences in culture during the meeting. I plan to read this on the plane every time I go. It is too easy to mistake their fluent English for cultural similarity.

Lagom bok. Writing a book is easy. Getting it "just right" is the hard part. Lagom, as the authors of Modern-Day Vikings tell us is the Swedish delight of getting things in the right proportion, including what is fitting and appropriate, no more, no less, and, in this case, writing a bok about one's people without being either overbearing or falsely modest.

Not too many of us, I suspect, have learned Swedish history other than as an appendix to what other great powers were about in times past. So the authors have been kind enough to sketch on the canvas of a single chapter the flow of events that take us from prehistory through Viking times to the unique, modern day Swedish model of society.

History helps us understand culture and behavior and even allows us to see what triggers the stereotypes we acquire about others. "Sex, suicide, socialism and spirits," as the authors point out, are the false headlines most of us have absorbed about Swedes because we had so little familiarity with the real article. A Swedish friend of mine in her 50's complains that living in France she is still looked on as a svenska flicka ("loose Swedish girl") by some-not by me, of course. Too many Bergman films in my youth have left me still surprised to find so many cheery Swedes.

We learn how Modern Day Vikings value themselves and their history. Swedes appreciate modesty and above all, equality to a fault. They have wholesome homegrown virtues to bring to the marketplace of cultures, and, like all peoples in the great modern global exchange, these are being weighed and measured by the world of competition and the challenge of sustainability. In particular the Swedish smörgasbord of values is being rearranged by a new generation who are leading their country and the world in world-class digital entrepreneurship.

As for the welfare state, that has brought so many to exclaim, "It would never work here," they are probably right. There is a time and place for everything and the time and place for this unique social triumph was Sweden in the middle 1900's. The challenges of immigration and multiculturalism are taxing this system and calling for a fresh wave of creativity in Swedish politics. There are no easy solutions, but one suspects that the Swedish combination of fairness and self-sufficiency will express themselves in fresh socially responsible solutions.

Readers who want to get to the do's and don't's of living and working with Swedes will be amply rewarded in the second half of the book, particularly if they are patient with the first half. They will look at Swedish communication styles manners and business behaviors with far more insight having delved into the authors' careful descriptions and illustrations of Swedish values in action, which like the nordic seasons have both bright and equally dark sides. Going to work or going to dinner, there is no shortage of solid prescription and attention to detail. Robinowitz and Carr are careful to simplify what can be simplified, identify rules where they exist, and to point out, that, as in any culture, taking a good look at what the other guests are doing can help you figure out whether to take your shoes off or not.

Finally, you don't have to be on your way to Sweden to have an excuse to read this book. Robinowitz and Carr, whose rich experience of Swedish culture comes from both living inside of it and seeing it at a distanc have made Modern Day Vikings a good book to curl up with in any season.

I am a Swedish citizen who has lived in the US for almost 20 years. I go home to Sweden regularly and feel that I am still Swedish. This book was most enjoyable to me as I recognized many "features" of the Swede. I laughed out loud many times. My husband, who is American, knows Swedish and has also lived in Sweden. He enjoyed the book too and we found ourselves reading parts of chapter out loud to each other. One of my supervisors has Swedish ancestry and I bought the book for him. He has a slightly different take on the book. He likes it but looks at it from a more serious and investigative perspective. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in how people in the world look at the world.

I picked this book up when I started dating a Swede and was pleasently surprised (both by the book and the girl!). Since Swedes generally speak very good english it's often easy to forget that they do have differnt traditions and culture. The book is a great introduction to some of those differences and leads to a lot of fun conversations.

I skipped the chapter on business dealings but the rest of the book was well worth the price.

This novel was recommended to me by fiddler Colm O'Riain and poet Pireeni Sundaralingam, both much more cosmopolitan than I. They keep in better touch with great European writing. It's as wonderful as they said it would be, and hard to describe because Vittula is truly another world, a least as Niemi portrays it. Picture kids at the far end of nowhere trying to make out the Beatles on short wave radio and practicing on broomstick guitars. Picture winter-goofy Scandinavian men with too much to drink, too long in the sweathouse, and too little to shoot at--in a funny/weird sort of way! Really, this book will take you to place you'll remember more vividly and strangely fondly than most of the places you've actually been. Take Me With You When You GoNutty to Meet You! Dr. Peanut Book #1

This is one of those gems that would never have been published in the US unless it came in with some momentum and buzz from afar. It describes adolesence, dipping deeply into the well, stringing together a series of vignettes that are well tied together. I'm a 54-year old businessman, parts of the book were agonizing and I actually found myself squinting through my fingers in raw embarassment. The wedding chapter was tremendous.
jk

Growing up anyplace isn't smooth, it isn't describable exactly. If you search your memories later, trying to ask why you did something, you can't, for the life of you, remember why. You just did it. Things happened. You tried to get to China. You mimicked the rock stars when you thought you were alone. You might even have licked cold locks---if you grew up in northern climes--- and got your tongue stuck. You were never the hero of your own legend. Well, folks, this novel captures that confusion perfectly. I've never set foot in Sweden, let alone in its far north by the Finnish border, where all the growing up takes place. But now I feel I know what it was like. Niemi's description, magical realism and all, gives you such joy, such interest, that I assure you, you will read POPULAR MUSIC IN VITTULA as quickly as you can. I haven't laughed out loud over a book so much for years. Hey, I even laughed in the Boston subway like some kind of weird, public transport cackler. But I didn't care. Kids fight in the woods with B-B guns, try to start rock bands to impress girls, experiment with sex and alcohol, get up the teacher's nose, visit scary old healers, watch the grownups pass out at huge drinkups, and dream of fast cars. In the very end, things turn out quite differently, but that's really familiar too. Most of the themes are hardly unique to the area, but it's Niemi's genius that he makes you feel it exotic and familiar at the same time. It's contemporary writing at its best and I think all readers in English owe a vote of thanks to the translator too.

You've got to have a strong stomach for a couple sections, say for example, if large piles of dead mice are not your forte. If you have ever seen Kaurismaki films like "Leningrad Cowboys Go America" or "The Man without a Past", you will recognize the same deadpan Finnish humor in Niemi's novel, whose characters are mainly from the Finnish minority in Sweden's rural north. I could recount a scene or two for the surfing reader, try to "deconstruct" whatever, go literary if I could, but your best bet would be to read the book. You will not regret it.

If you're looking for a funny and tender coming-of-age story set above the Arctic Circle, this is the book for you! It's set in Pajala, a small town in the remote Tornedalen region of Sweden, far north and near the Finnish border. The semi-autobiographical story is told through a series of twenty self-contained short stories that take Matti roughly from age 5-15 or so from the mid-'60s to mid-'70s. One is immediately given a taste of the book's style in the prologue, in which the adult Matti manages to freeze his tongue to a metal plaque atop a Nepalese mountain. He only manages to free himself (and live) by using his urine to break the bond, which then launches him into the story of his youth. The broad outlines of his experiences are similar to those of any other boy growing up in a remote place forty years ago. Life was boring and filled with hard work, some things were manly (hunting, work, fighting, hockey, eating, drinking, machines), and everything else is "women's work." If you're not good at manly things, well... at a minimum you won't fit in very well.

Of course, Matti is a little outside the mainstream, but manages to make his way with best friend Niila by his side. Where the book shines is in the the specifics of his childhood, in which wacky antics shine with humor and pathos, and magic realism rears its head every now and then. Some of the events covered include: discovering rock and roll music via the Beatles, a summer job as a mouse hunter, a raucous arm wrestling contest, an equally grueling sauna endurance contest, a sermon in Esperanto, a mind-boggling teenage drinking contest, tall tales of family prowess, a will reading degenerating into a brawl, starting a band with a cardboard guitar, the vagaries of a fundamentalist Christian sect (Laestadianism), first sexual encounters, and a BB-gun war. And let's not forget the transsexual hermit magician... All these individual parts are quite entertaining, even if they never quite add up to a complete hole. It's an amusing, and sometimes very funny look at growing up rural which would probably resonate much more with other remote cold climate dwellers than the average reader. A welcome oddball addition to the coming-of-age genre.

Note: The book was a runaway bestseller in Sweden, selling one copy for every twelve Swedes! Naturally, the book has been adapted as a film--which was co-written and directed by an Iranian who immigrated to Sweden as a teenager!

Usually, it's my husband who keeps me awake laughing at whatever book he's reading in bed. This time, it's my turn! This is the first book in years that has made me laugh out loud over and over again. Yes, it's crude in spots -- but that shouldn't surprise anyone who has spent time with teenage boys. The amusing stories are just part of the author's arsenal of techniques for conveying the sense of living on the very scary edge of reality that comes with growing up.

I'd give a special award to the translator for the freshness of the language. I put this book in a class with the works of Tom Robbins and John Barth and will be looking for more from Mikael Niemi.

Fascinating book, very worthwhile. Tons of well organized and documented information. Wonderful and thorough reference.

I've made armor using the diagrams of existing armor types from this book. I didn't much care for some of the strapping arrangements described, so I designed my own. (Hey, this is the armor the regular fighters left behind - Wisby was defended by the teens and the oldsters to judge from the age of the bodies. This suggests the men of prime fighting-age were elsewhere, with their primary armor.) It worked, well, and protected me in combat. And the illustrations and text were clear, clear, clear.

This book has a very special meaning to me since I'm from the town of Wisby(nowdays spelled Visby). Born and raised on the island Gotland and lived most of my life thete. I'v built several of these coats of armour and so far everyone I've tried on have been of satisfatcion. The book is so far the best resource book I've ever found. I have for a long time tried to find the first edition, but IF you can find it somewhere it's incredibly expensive. So jus imagine my joy when I saw there was a reissue! And very soon I'm going to be proud owner of this masterpiece...
The book is really easy to use and have exceptional drawings and scetches. Transforming the scale of the objects in the book to original size is really easy and there's a lot of information i general. At last a recommendation for all you SCA-fighters out there. Try out armour no.6 and no.9 because they give very good protection and are comfortable to wear.

This book has a very special meaning to me since I'm from the town of Wisby(nowdays spelled Visby). Born and raised on the island Gotland and lived most of my life thete. I'v built several of these coats of armour and so far everyone I've tried on have been of satisfatcion. The book is so far the best resource book I've ever found. I have for a long time tried to find the first edition, but IF you can find it somewhere it's incredibly expensive. So jus imagine my joy when I saw there was a reissue! And very soon I'm going to be proud owner of this masterpiece...
The book is really easy to use and have exceptional drawings and scetches. Transforming the scale of the objects in the book to original size is really easy and there's a lot of information i general. At last a recommendation for all you SCA-fighters out there. Try out armour no.6 and no.9 because they give very good protection and are comfortable to wear.

This book contains a wealth of knowledge about medieval armour and the effects of weapons. The pictures are fantastic, skeletons buried in their armour, rarely does one get to see how armour was actually worn. The breakdowns and detail of actual armour construction is immaculate and enables any competant armourer to reproduce the examples shown. The detail from an archeologist's point of view was a little too in depth for my interest but if you are that way inclined then great. Only issue I have is the "analysis" of some of the wounds seen, Mr. Thordeman seems to imply that this battle was unusual in some way, that the combatants fought with unusual fury. He sites one incident of one combatant having both legs severed by a single blow as an indication of some great fury and intensity. I only disagree as there are very few examples of medieval battle wound pathology to compare the Wisby corpses. It seems that the author is looking at the battle from too detached a viewpoint, forgetting that killing was the purpose of the people who showed up to battle that day. This is a small detail but supposition as to the mental states of combatants, by someone who has no first hand experience of battle is unproductive. Otherwise a great book.

A bus pass
A postcard
A German grammar book
A potted plant
A packet of seeds
A page from a songbook
A record
An empty plastic box
A package of condoms
A wadded-up sheet
A frayed American flag
A black notebook
A wrapped package with a curly ribbon
A movie ticket
A razor blade and a bottle of blue pills

What could a sixteen-year-old Swedish boy have to do with all those objects? You'd be surprised.
This book is told by a teenage boy. Is he a boy? He has loved before, but he has yet to get his license or experience the "real world". He goes nameless throughout the entire story, which adds to the constant question of manhood or childhood. And what does a movie ticket and a wrapped package with a curly ribbon have to do with it?
The book starts with him spending a night alone, reviewing the past year in his mind as a movie starring himself and a girl. The girl. Like most teenage boys, he has fallen in love. She, however, was not in love.
The novel focuses on this boy and the objects that still connect him to his past lover. He feels a burning desire to rid himself of those memories. What to do with the bus pass? The record? The sheet?
This book will keep you up at night. You'll be wide awake at 3 a.m., gnawing at your fingernails. Why did he have to destroy the that? Why did he need to get rid of it? Every obstacle this boy goes through will have an impact on your entire day. Why? Why won't he listen? Why won't he move?! WAKE UP!

A bus pass
A postcard
A German grammar book
A potted plant
A packet of seeds
A page from a songbook
A record
An empty plastic box
A package of condoms
A wadded-up sheet
A frayed American flag
A black notebook
A wrapped package with a curly ribbon
A movie ticket
A razor blade and a bottle of blue pills

What could a sixteen-year-old Swedish boy have to do with all those objects? You'd be surprised.
This book is told by a teenage boy. Is he a boy? He has loved before, but he has yet to get his license or experience the "real world". He goes nameless throughout the entire story, which adds to the constant question of manhood or childhood. And what does a movie ticket and a wrapped package with a curly ribbon have to do with it?
The book starts with him spending a night alone, reviewing the past year in his mind as a movie starring himself and a girl. The girl. Like most teenage boys, he has fallen in love. She, however, was not in love.
The novel focuses on this boy and the objects that still connect him to his past lover. He feels a burning desire to rid himself of those memories. What to do with the bus pass? The record? The sheet?
This book will keep you up at night. You'll be wide awake at 3 a.m., gnawing at your fingernails. Why did he have to destroy the that? Why did he need to get rid of it? Every obstacle this boy goes through will have an impact on your entire day. Why? Why won't he listen? Why won't he move?! WAKE UP!

This is one book that I could read over and over. I read Heart's Delight in one day, and loved it so much. This is actually a book that was translated from sweedish, into English.

The main character in this book is about 17, and is heartbroken by his true love, for which he calls "Heart's Delight". A mysterious redhead, who he sees every week on the city bus to school. Eventually, they get to know eachother, and fall in love. Later, the book talks about teenage sex, and how beautiful it was for him the first time, with heart's delight.

It's later in the book that you find out what happens, which drives the boy to commit suicide. The only one who can save his life is Heart's Delight, also known as Ann-Katrin.

This book is writen beautifuly, you should definently read it.

Heart's delight is the name of a plant. It's also called Lemon Balm, and it gives off a faint hint of-- you guessed it-- lemon. It is also the nickname the young man in this book gives to the girl who he thinks is the love of his life. Ever since the young man first saw her he has been in love, but now he only wants to get her out of his mind. To do this, however, he must first destroy every bit of her she has left in his life.
"Heart's Delight" is a story about love and falling out of love. I recommend this book to anyone who needs to feel really sad. This is not the sort of book that will leave you satisfied with the world.

By far, the best book ive ever read. Not your usual sappy teen love story where girl meets guy and they end up happily ever after, or the typical drama of a teen couple having sex and getting pregnant. this novel is unique and lovely, beautiful ,yet sad love story, it will make you cry. i especially reccomend it to all you girls who think that boys have no emotions. wonderful story, anyone who has a true love, or has had a true love and lost it, should read thsi book. Nilson writes beautifully without being overabundant with words, he used the right amount and the right words, great writing style, has even inspired me to begin writing.

A great success both with grown-ups of Swedish descendence and their grandchildren (hard for a Dane to admit). A Swedish "Paradise Lost".

This is an amazing book that gives so much information on the environmental features of Sweden that adults as well as children will be fascinated by the tale.

This is a wonderful book--This edition has BEAUTIFUL illustrations. Nils has one harrowing adventure after another and he also changes from a selfish boy to one who treats animals and other people with care and concern. All this while also teaching the geography of Sweden--an added bonus. It does involve him being bewitched until he learns his lesson so if you have strong feelings about this sort of fantasy you wouldn't want it, but to those who are OK with fairy tale level fanstasy you should find it enchanting.

It's a wonderful, kind-hearted tale. I readed in Russian and am delighted to find it in English. Will pull children in as well Harry Potter did. In my opinion it's an even better book. It's kinder for one, and it celebrates nature.

Nils is a typical troublemaker in a village in southern Sweden who pulls the tails of cats, throws rocks at geese etc. Then he finds a gnome and teases him as well, but the result is that he is shrunk to the size of a sparrow so all the creatures he was mean to can get their own. Too ashamed to show his new self to his family, he travels with the wild geese on their annual migration to Lapland.

What follows is a picaresque and description of the natural world of Sweden from the south to the north in terms of the environment, the animals and the life that they lead. The flock of geese is a matriarchy led by the experienced and assertive Akka. In his travels, Nils learns helplessness and helping others and has many adventures involving magic flutes, a castle with rats and an underwater city. He also learns respect and admiration for the animals and the natural world.

This is a children's story with some features rarely found in other books (such as the matriarchy and the focus on the natural without too much "magic" - although the animals do talk) which makes it memorable.

I had never heard of Bjorling until several months ago one late evening when the local classical music station played some of his arias. I had missed the intro to the work and couldn't figure out to whom this incredible and unique voice belonged; I knew I'd never heard anything remotely like it. You have to hear Jussi only once to want to listen endlessly to his voice. (Needless to say, my opera CD collection is expanding exponentially.)

So it was a great pleasure to discover this excellent biography, which illuminates not only his life but also the opera world from the 20s through the 50s. His early life and training from his father are particularly interesting if you wonder how such a great talent was discovered and developed. (The only question in my mind not answered is the extent to which his children inherited the incredible musical talent that was in his family for generations; that they perform is mentioned but never elaborated on.) The book is well documented with quotes from his peers, and the authors do a splendid job of presenting the entire person with his strengths and weaknesses in a very objective way that holds the reader's interest from beginning to end.

Jussi was an impeccable artist with a a magnificent voice and superb musicianship. This book details his careeer as a flawed man and a magnificent artist with a voice which cannot be rivaled. Ever.

In a world where most opera biographies are either useless, gushy fan magazines or vicious, gossipy garbage, this loving yet warts-and-all account of the life of the great Swedish tenor Jussi Bjorling (1911-1960) is a standout. Although the book is written primarily by his widow Anna-Lisa, there is additional, exhaustive research and editing by Andrew Farkas (who also co-authored an Enrico Caruso biography with Caruso's son). Many of Bjorling's colleagues are also interviewed, and reviews of both his live performances and opera recordings are extensively quoted. As a supplement, there is also a 58-page listing of Bjorling's performances (933 in opera and nearly twice as many concerts and recitals) at the end of the book. The cover shows Bjorling as Romeo in `Romeo et Juliette', perhaps his greatest role.

Anna-Lisa Bjorling, who was married to Jussi for 25 years, was herself a fine soprano who often partnered her husband in concert. As of this writing she is still alive at 92. Although Anna-Lisa clearly loved Jussi very deeply, she is still capable of being objective about him when required. She is a wonderful writer, providing vivid portraits not only of Jussi, herself, and their children, but just about everybody they ever came into contact with, as well as of life in Sweden in general. After reading this book, I felt like Jussi and Anna-Lisa were old friends.

Bjorling had not only what was probably the most beautiful tenor voice to ever come out of a human throat, but also a nearly perfect technique, a superb sense of style, and the ability to truly stir the souls of his listeners. While he had a reputation for being a very poor stage actor, this was at least occasionally exaggerated. Although Bjorling died tragically young at the age of 49 of heart failure, he had a magnificent and very long career which lasted 45 years, 32 as a tenor. He is probably the only opera singer whose recording career (which began when he was 9!) lasted from acoustic to electric to LP to stereo recordings. He made his stage debut at 19 as Don Ottavio at the Royal Opera, Stockholm, after having studied first with his father, his principal singing teacher, and then at the Royal Opera School with the Royal Opera's director, baritone John Forsell. His career expanded to Europe and the rest of the world very quickly. He made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 1938, and with the exception of the WWII years and several years in the 1950s due to fights with Rudolf Bing, he remained there until his death. He concentrated on about 10 or 15 Italian and French operatic roles, and was also an avid recitalist with several hundred songs in his `inventory'.

Unfortunately, Bjorling is nearly as famous in operatic circles for his alcoholism as for his glorious singing, and I think that is appalling. In fact, the one thing this book makes very clear is that although the disease was a tragedy for him personally and traumatic for his family, it had comparatively little effect on his actual career, at least outside Sweden. Working actually kept him from drinking. Anna-Lisa offers considerable proof that many of the stories about Jussi's drinking were exaggerations, gossip or outright lies, most tellingly in the true story of the cancellation of the `Un Ballo in Maschera' recording under Sir Georg Solti, which was a product of producer John Culshaw's malice. Nearly all his colleagues also defend him on this regard. As far as I'm concerned, the only people who have any right discussing Jussi's alcoholism are Anna-Lisa and his children, as they are the only ones who really had to deal with it. ....

Overall, Jussi comes across as a beautiful human being - simple, warmhearted and lovable, a wonderful husband and father, adored by almost everybody who worked with him or knew him. The book is full of stories about his kindness and generosity to colleagues. He was also an avid pike fisherman who loved westerns and was unbeatable at arm wrestling. He basically had only three serious flaws as a human being: impulsiveness that on occasion bordered on irrationality, stubbornness, and what Anna-Lisa calls, for lack of a better term, a deep inner restlessness - the inner demon that drove him to drink.

I only wish `Jussi' could have been longer. A year before it was published, I spoke with leading Bjorling authority Cantor Don Goldberg, one of the book's proofreaders. He told me that the first draft was 1100 pages. As the final copy is only 520 pages, I wonder what was cut besides the many laudatory comments from colleagues that were considered repetitive. I was surprised that there wasn't more information about Jussi's brothers once they reached adulthood, especially Gosta, who was so close to Jussi that they had an almost telepathic relationship. And while this book does full justice to such fundamental influences on Jussi's singing as his father, John Forsell (who emerges as quite a character!), and Tullio Voghera, I would have liked a bit more on Nils Grevilius, who conducted nearly every recording Jussi made before 1950. There is also virtually nothing about Hjordis Schymberg, the fine Swedish soprano who partnered Jussi over 100 times in Stockholm. More mention of his recordings besides the complete opera sets would have been welcome, although I am aware that his recordings are covered in the companion volume `A Jussi Bjorling Phonography'. Finally, while I am aware this would have added to the price of the book, there are so few color photos of Bjorling that I think they should have had one on the cover.

`Jussi' is essential reading for anyone with any interest in good music, let alone opera. It is the definitive biography of one of the most magnificent singers and human beings ever to appear on an opera or concert stage. If you haven't heard this man sing, remedy that immediately!

Using painstaking research, Mr. Farkas helps readers understand the demons that followed this troubled musical genius. I always revered this extraordinary man; I now feel that I know him. Thank you, Mr. Farkas Carol P. (JBS member...attended Washington conference but never met you)

That Jussi Bjorling was a man beset by demons from within, against which he frequently lost battles, is a revelation to those of us who only thought of him as the greatest tenor of the 20th century. Anna-Lisa does justice to his memory by openly discussing his problems. But of equal importance, she depicts a warm, friendly man whose life was his family and his singing. He was a loving and devoted husband and father, and, simultaneously, a consummate professional who took enormous pride in his craft. He achieved a level of success that will remain the standard for future generations of singers. The heights of adoration he engendered in his fans and colleagues, combined with the critical praise he enjoyed, will probably remain unequalled. His passing created a void that will NEVER be filled.