Kristian Wedel is an editor at Göteborgs-Posten and has written several books about Gothenburg.
Here he lists three memorable depictions of Gothenburg:
Collected Works (2020), by Lydia Sandgren
Kristian Wedel believes that it is not possible to get around Lydia Sandgren's August Prize-winning debut book Collected Works if you are going to talk about Gothenburg depictions.
- It is impossible.
If Gothenburg burned down or disappeared, one could build up at least large parts of the city with the help of her book.
That's how it feels anyway, he says.
The book revolves around the publisher Martin Berg who sinks into a dizzying life crisis.
- She writes about some tram journeys that I as a tram traveler think are irresistible.
2. In the Red Room - short story from Samlade skrifter (1915), by August Strindberg
It is thus not the novel The Red Room, but a short story with almost the same name: In the Red Room.
In it, the main character Johan comes to Gothenburg in 1872 to apply for a job as an actor - something that Strindberg himself did.
When Johan arrives, he feels that Gothenburg is a much better city than Stockholm.
The short story has a well-known quote that reads: "Here Stockholm would have been located, here by a bay of the North Sea, while now the capital was a hook away by the lake Baltic Sea".
- It is probably the most quoted by Strindberg in Gothenburg.
You can see it in restaurants, on shirts and in different contexts.
It is not so strange that Gothenburgers have loved this quote, says Kristian Wedel.
3. The Dream of a Life (1978), by Sun Axelsson
According to Kristian Wedel, the trilogy A Own Life by Sun Axelsson is an undeservedly forgotten book series, with the titles: The Dream of a Life, Honey Wolves and The Season of the Night.
The books are autobiographical and In The Dream of a Life, Sun Axelsson writes a dreamlike picture of Gothenburg.
- She writes a lot about Slottskogen.
It is one of the most beautiful depictions of Gothenburg that I have read, says Kristian Wedel.