BOOKPATHS

Sweden

Stieglarsson.com offers Millennium Trilogy maps of Stockholm and Hedeby.

Sweden

Richard Rogers finds “the sound of silence in [Stieg] Larsson land.”

There is also no doubt that this global literary success has had a knock-on effect for Sweden's appeal as a travel destination. ‘We get calls every week from people who have read the Larsson books,’ says Chris Graham, director of travel specialists Simply Sweden. ‘So many people have read them now and the films have been really popular back in the UK, so it's a great way to get people interested in the country.’

Sweden

John Blake considers Stieg Larsson, “the man behind The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo."

The righteous indignation that runs through Larsson's trilogy -- anger at men who brutalize women, disdain for corrupt industrialists and hate groups -- comes from Larsson's own political activism, [Barry] Forshaw said.

‘He was a man who thought the world could be better,’ Forshaw said. – from “The Man Behind The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” by John Blake, CNN Website

Stockholm, Sweden

Helen Rumbelow takes a look at Stieg Larsson’s Stockholm.

Some people go to Stockholm to wonder at the royal palaces and the Vasa, the 17th-century warship that is one of Europe’s archaeological treasures. Not us. We have been touring the crummy part of town for hours, knee-deep in snow, looking for a woman who goes by the description of a ‘tattooed bisexual computer hacker with intimate piercings’”. – from “Secrets of Stieg’s Stockholm,” by Helen Rumbelow, The Times

Sweden

Swedish crime writer Camilla Camilla Läckberg chooses her “top 10 Swedish crime novels.”

Scandinavian crime fiction has become a great success all across the world and rightfully so. Sjöwall & Wahlöö ushered in a whole generation of Swedish crime writers, many of whom are now available in English. I think ours is a tradition that has much in common with English crime writing: there's a very similar care for setting, characters, and psychology. These are some of my favourites – I hope some of them will become yours. -- Camilla Läckberg, The Guardian

Mårbacka: the Home of Selma Lagerlöf, Värmland, Sweden

Visit the Mårbacka website for information on visiting the home of Swedish author Selma Lagerlöf (1858-1940).  Lagerlöf is best known for her novels Gösta Berling´s Saga and The Wonderful Adventures of Nils.  She was the first Swede to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature and the first women elected to the Swedish Academy. “In her last will and testament Selma Lagerlöf prescribed that Mårbacka should be preserved as a memorial estate and be shown to the public as it was the day she died.”  Visitors are invited to tour the house, including the library where “many of her famous novels were written,” the garden she helped create, enjoy a bite to eat in The Café, and make Selma Lagerlöf-related purchases in the gift shop.

Faro, Sweden

Danielle Pergament takes readers to “the enchanted island that [Ingmar] Bergman called home.”

“Like Bergman, Faro is remote. Getting to the island, off the eastern coast of Sweden, takes a plane, a train or a bus, a car and two ferries. Which is exactly what made it so appealing to the reclusive Bergman.” – from “The Enchanted Island that Bergman Called Home,” by Danielle Pergament, The New York Times

Sweden

Paul Binding honours Astrid Lindgren’s centenary.

“My friend Sonja told her: ‘Sweden wouldn't be Sweden without you, Astrid!’ And that is how her country still feels. There were commemorative events earlier this year in Vimmerby at her favourite cherry-blossom time, there will be further ones, on her actual birthday, 14 November, there and in Stockholm. Here, Oxford University Press has issued a handsome edition of a new translation of Pippi Longstocking, of which they were the original British publishers. Astrid Lindgren, like Ingmar Bergman, is a gift from Sweden to the whole world.” – from “Long Live Pippi Longstocking: the Girl with Red Plaits is Back,” by Paul Binding, The Independent

Uppsala, Sweden

Richard Conniff follows in the footsteps of Linnaeus.

“Linnaeus mapped out eight walking routes…and it's still possible to walk the same routes and see the landscapes he knew. Sweden protects its open spaces, so the countryside around Uppsala is a mix of fields and forests, with the view back to Uppsala dominated by the pink, turreted castle and the brick spires of the cathedral (where Linnaeus is buried).

For the 300th anniversary of Linnaeus's birth, the city has restored these walking routes and trained guides to lead tours.”  -- from "A Vast Garden of Knowledge, Still Blooming Today, by Richard Conniff, The New York Times

Celebrating National Children’s Book Week -- Bookpath: Astrid Lindgren Värld, Vimmerby, Sweden

Vimmerby, Sweden celebrates Astrid Lindgren, the author of Pippi Longstocking and other well-loved children’s books at Astrid Lindgren Värld. “This is where all her stories come true.” Paths take visitors to Villa Villekulla, Katthult, Bullerbyn, and other settings from Lindgren’s books. Along the way children and parents will meet Pippi Longstocking, the Brothers Lionheart, Rasmus and Paradis-Oskar, and other Lindgren characters. Astrid Lindgren’s own story is explored in The Astrid Lindgren Centre, created for her 90th birthday.

Astrid Lindgren Värld is open from mid-May to early September. For information and online children’s activities, visit the Astrid Lindgren Värld Website.

Related Websites

Astrid Lindgren’s Vimmerby
Lindgren was born on November 14, 1907 “on a farm on the outskirts of Vimmerby.” Follow in her footsteps with help from Vimmerby Turistbyrå.

Junibacken in Stockholm, Sweden
Another place to “explore the worlds of Astrid Lindgren’s well-loved books for children.”

“Way out at the end of a tiny little town was an old overgrown garden, and in the garden was an old house, and in the house lived Pippi Longstocking. She was nine years old, and she lived there all alone. She had no mother and no father, and that was of course very nice because there was no one to tell her to go to bed just when she was having the most fun, and no one who could make her take cod liver oil when she much preferred caramel candy.” -- from Pippi Longstocking, by Astrid Lindgren

“What would Vimmerby be without Astrid? What would Astrid be without Vimmerby? Thank you Astrid." – Christina Thorstensson, Vimmerby Turistbyrå