A Very Scandinavian Christmas: The Greatest Nordic Holiday Stories of All Time

by New Vessel Press (Editor), Hans Christian Andersen, August Strindberg, Selma Lagerlöf, Karl Ove Knausgaard

Overview

A smorgasbord of Christmas stories by writers from Hans Christian Andersen to August Strindberg to Karl Ove Knausgaard.
 
This collection brings together the best Scandinavian holiday stories, including classics by Hans Christian Andersen of Denmark; Nobel Prize winner Selma Lagerlöf, August Strindberg and Hjalmar Söderberg of Sweden; as well as the popular contemporary Norwegian author Karl Ove Knausgaard. These Nordic tales—coming from the very region where so much of traditional Christmas imagery originates—convey a festive and contemplative spirit laden with lingonberries, elks, gnomes, Sami trolls, candles, church spires, gingerbread, and aquavit in abundance. These unexpected literary gifts are sure to provide plenty of pleasure and hygge, that specifically Scandinavian blend of coziness and contentment.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781939931795
Publisher:	New Vessel Press
Publication date:	08/19/2021
Series:	Very Christmas Series , #4
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	173
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

Hans Christian Andersen (1805–1875) was a Danish poet and author. Born to a shoemaker and a washerwoman, Andersen worked as an actor and a tailor’s apprentice before becoming a writer. Although he wrote many plays, novels, poems, and travelogues, Andersen is best known for his fairy tales. His birthday, April 2, is celebrated as International Children’s Book Day. 
August Strindberg was a prolific writer who often drew directly from his personal experience. He wrote more than sixty plays and thirty works of fiction, autobiography, history, cultural analysis, and politics during his career, which spanned four decades. A bold experimenter and iconoclast throughout, he explored a wide range of dramatic methods and purposes, from naturalistic tragedy, monodrama, and history plays to his anticipations of expressionist and surrealist dramatic techniques. From his earliest work, Strindberg developed innovative forms of dramatic action, language, and visual composition. He is considered the father of modern Swedish literature and The Red Room has frequently been described as the first modern Swedish novel.

Editorial Reviews

"Looking for a last-minute gift that captures the spirit of Christmas? ... A Very Scandinavian Christmas: The Greatest Nordic Holiday Stories of All Time. This is the latest in New Vessel Press’s annual 'Very Christmas' series, following anthologies from France, Russia and Italy. Scandinavia is arguably ground zero for Yuletide, with its crisp weather, elk, gnomes and lingonberries. There are 18 stories, both by famous authors – Denmark’s Hans Christian Andersen, Norway’s Karl Ove Knausgaard and Sweden’s August Strindberg – and writers less well known beyond their borders."
—The Toronto Star

"They make Christmas stories seem relatively cool."
—The Drunken Odyssey

"A nice collection of modern and classic literature in one book ... A Very Scandinavian Christmas is a perfect book to read with a hot drink on a cold wintery day."
—ReadRantRock&Roll

From the Publisher