Jan Myrdal, son of the famous couple Alva and Gunnar Myrdal, was both hated and loved during his long career.
The journalist Åsa Linderborg, former head of culture at Aftonbladet, refers to him several times in his newly published book The year with 13 months.
- He was a life-lover, which is a bit unusual for a Marxist.
He was very influential for the generations in the 60's and 70's.
Whatever one thought of him, one referred to Myrdal, she says.
"Like opening a window"
Ten years ago, the Jan Myrdal Society was founded in Varberg, which took over Jan Myrdal's private library with 50,000 books, many of which are barely available elsewhere.
Arne Andersson, chairman of the Jan Myrdal Society, opened his eyes to the controversial debater as a young man.
- When I was a teenager and worked in a workshop, I always longed to ride a bike and buy Aftonbladet and read what Jan Myrdal had written, he says and continues:
- It was like opening a window to the world and getting fresh air and good visibility.
When I told Jan Myrdal he said that was exactly how he thought it would be.
Acclaimed author
Kulturnyheter's literary critic Per Andersson agrees that Jan Myrdal was a talented writer.
- He was a fantastic writer.
He wrote fresh and hard, and his lyrics an intoxicating feeling, he says.
Åsa Linderborg also praises him as a writer.
Especially Jan Myrdal's descriptions of his own life.
- I take him with me as a writer.
When he writes about his childhood, it is absolutely terribly good, she says.
Controversy
But in addition to successful fiction writing, Jan Myrdal also has a number of controversial statements in his luggage.
As a radical left-wing debater with great influence in Sweden during the 60s and 70s, he took a stand for communist dictatorships, such as Pol Pot's government in Cambodia.
- He also defended the Maoist Chinese regime.
He fills me with enormously conflicting feelings, says Per Andersson.