A Moth to a Flame by Stig Dagerman review – Swedish menace
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/oct/23/moth-to-flame-stig-dagerman-review
First published in the late 1940s, this searing tale of bereavement and loathing feels all too relevant today
A Moth to a Flame, Swedish author Stig Dagerman’s most popular novel, was published in 1948 as A Burnt Child. That seems more on-the-nose than the current title for a book about the destructive effects of grief, abandonment and self-absorption on a tortured young man following the death of his mother.
The narrative viewpoint at first shifts between characters, but soon settles on 20-year-old Bengt. From the outset the tone is cool and dispassionate: Bengt is “the son”, widowed Knut is “the father”. Scenes of awkward family gatherings and the clearout of belongings make it look like a traditional story of bereavement and its aftermath, but the sky quickly blackens.
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