The Short Fiction of Hjalmar Söderberg

Hjalmar Soderberg was a master of the very short story, and this collection gathers the concise, ironic sketches that made his name in turn-of-the-century Sweden. Drawing on the pieces he called Historietter and later tales, the stories move through the streets, cafes, and drawing rooms of Stockholm, catching a chance meeting, a soured love, a small act of cruelty or regret, then closing before a word is wasted. Soderberg writes with cool detachment and a quiet undertow of sorrow, finding in minor incidents the large disappointments of ordinary lives. Elegant, skeptical, and often touched with dry humor, these stories show why he remains one of the most admired of Swedish prose stylists. The collection is available as a free PDF and EPUB edition.