About us
Do you like reading classic novels or poetry? Each month we will select a classic work and have an in-person discussion around it. Anything from Austen to Zola is fair game.
Naturally, the definition of "classic" is subjective. A good collection of free, public domain ebooks can be found here. Classic of course doesn't necessarily need to be public domain, or even "old", but it would be best to have some convenient way to read it without requiring a purchase. Luckily the Stockholm public library has a very good collection of novels in English.
The discussion will be in English; being classics however, most (if not all) of the works we'll read will have a Swedish translation, and they will typically be available at the public library.
The works will be chosen by committee, so if there's a particular book you'd like to read, that can probably be accommodated.
Upcoming events
3
One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
Kungsholmens Bibliotek, vid S:t Eriksplans (T), Stockholm, SEPlease be mindful that you need to reserve your spot for this event through the library website. The real count of attendees is on the library website and NOT on Meetup
https://biblioteket.stockholm.se/evenemang/classic-literature-bookclub-3Venue:
Kungsholmens internationella bibliotek
Sankt Eriksgatan 33
Level 2 Studierum
Ask library staff if unsure
You are welcome to bring your own fikaOne Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Alexander Solzhenitsyn
In May we will be discussing your thoughts on the short novel “One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich” (1962) by Alexander Solzhenitsyn.
"The first published novel from the controversial Nobel Prize winning Russian author of The Gulag Archipelago.
In the madness of World War II, a dutiful Russian soldier is wrongfully convicted of treason and sentenced to ten years in a Siberian labor camp. So begins this masterpiece of modern Russian fiction, a harrowing account of a man who has conceded to all things evil with dignity and strength.
First published in 1962, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is considered one of the most significant works ever to emerge from Soviet Russia. Illuminating a dark chapter in Russian history, it is at once a graphic picture of work camp life and a moving tribute to man’s will to prevail over relentless dehumanization." (text from amazon.se)
20 attendees
Kallocain by Karin Boye
Kungsholmens Bibliotek, vid S:t Eriksplans (T), Stockholm, SEFor this event you need to book your spot (for free) via the Kungsholmens library website
https://biblioteket.stockholm.se/evenemang/classic-literature-bookclub-4The real count of attendees is on the library website. You're welcome to bring your own fika.
We meet in the study room on the 2nd level of the library, ask staff if unsure.Karin Boye was a prominent Swedish writer in the first half of the twentieth century. Outside of Sweden she is known primarily for her 1940 dystopian novel Kallocain.
From Goodreads: “This is a novel of the future, profoundly sinister in its vision of a drab terror. Ironic and detached, the author shows us the totalitarian World-state through the eyes of a product of that state, scientist Leo Kall. Kall has invented a drug, kallocain, which denies the privacy of thought and is the final step towards the transmutation of the individual human being into a 'happy, healthy cell in the state organism.' For, says Leo, 'from thoughts and feelings, words and actions are born. How then could these thoughts and feelings belong to the individual? Doesn't the whole fellow-soldier belong to the state? To whom should his thoughts and feelings belong then, if not to the state?'
As the first-person record of Leo Kall, scientist, fellow-soldier too late disillusioned to undo his previous actions, Kallocain achieves a chilling power and veracity that place it among the finest novels to emerge from the strife-torn Europe of the twentieth century.”
There are several copies available at the Stockholm public library. SVT produced a miniseries in 1981; available (in Swedish) on SVT play.
5 attendees
Dune by Frank Herbert
Kungsholmens Bibliotek, vid S:t Eriksplans (T), Stockholm, SEvenue for the event Kungsholmens internationella bibliotek
Sankt Eriksgatan 33
2nd level- study roomFor this event you need to book your spot (for free) via the Kungsholmens library website.
https://biblioteket.stockholm.se/evenemang/classic-literature-bookclub-5The real count of attendees is on the library website. The Meetup event itself might disappear from the app in June since we are transitioning to the library website.
You're welcome to bring your own fika.Dune by Frank Herbert (1965)
From Goodreads
Set on the desert planet Arrakis, Dune is the story of the boy Paul Atreides, heir to a noble family tasked with ruling an inhospitable world where the only thing of value is the “spice” melange, a drug capable of extending life and enhancing consciousness. Coveted across the known universe, melange is a prize worth killing for...When House Atreides is betrayed, the destruction of Paul’s family will set the boy on a journey toward a destiny greater than he could ever have imagined.
Several copies available at the Stockholm city council library
1 attendee
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