Short stories
Thanatos
Not translated into English
Per Hallström · 1900
Synopsis
A collection of short stories shot through with the motif of death, announced by the title, the name of the Greek god who personifies it. Each story gives its own image of death, in a prose attentive to the inner life of the characters, and some of them are set in Italy. There is no common plot: the link between the texts is this single motif, which gives the book its name.
Context
The collection appeared in Stockholm in 1900, in 253 pages, and was reissued as early as 1901, then in 1907, in 1908 and in 1922; the manuscript is held at the university library in Lund. It comes after the Italian stays of the late 1890s, which the author made partly thanks to a travel grant obtained in 1899. Critics rank it, with Purpur and Briljantsmycket, at the forefront of his work, and consider its pictures of death remarkable.
Who it is for
A book of about two hundred and fifty pages, in Swedish, made up of independent stories; it has not been translated into French or English.
Prizes and reception
Together with Purpur, the collection for which its author is chiefly appreciated, who counts among the masters of the Swedish short story.
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