Kallocain

by Karin Boye, David McDuff (Translator), David McDuff (Introduction)

Overview

This classic Swedish novel envisioned a future of drab terror. Seen through the eyes of idealistic scientist Leo Kall, Kallocain's depiction of a totalitarian world state is a montage of what novelist Karin Boye had seen or sensed in 1930s Russia and Germany. Its central idea grew from the rumors of truth drugs that ensured the subservience of every citizen to the state.

"Despite the robot-like characteristics of the fellow-soldiers in Boye's nightmare city, she expresses her poetic genius in the use of symbols and imagery."—Signe A. Rooth, Scandinavian Studies

Author Biography: Karin Boye (1900–1941) was a Swedish poet and novelist whose suicide in 1941 amid the shambles of a war-racked Europe reflects the fate of a whole generation of writers. Her first novel, Astarte, appeared in 1931.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780241608302
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	06/06/2023
Pages:	192
Sales rank:	620,352
Product dimensions:	5.06(w) x 7.75(h) x 0.40(d)

About the Author

Karin Boye (1900-1941) was a Swedish poet and novelist whose suicide in 1941 amid the shambles of a war-racked Europe reflects the fate of a whole generation of writers. Her first novel, Astarte, appeared in 1931.

Editorial Reviews

"A fascinating novel of the 1984 and Brave New World genre."--Library Journal


"Despite the robot-like characteristics of the fellow-soldiers in Boye's nightmare city, she expresses her poetic genius in the use of symbols and imagery."--Signe A. Rooth, Scandinavian Studies

From the Publisher