Books in Brief: On Being Swedish

On Being Swedish: Reflections Towards a Better Understanding of the Swedish Character, by Paul Britten Austin, (U. of Miami Press, 182 pp., $5.95) We need more like this. Subjective, a combination of sociology, social history, literary analysis, art criticism, all filtered through a keen and sensitive intelligence to give us a feeling for what Lionel Trilling calls the buzz and hum of implication, the stuff which lies behind the history and sociology of a society and gives it its unique flavor and characteristics, the stuff which is carefully squeezed out of most contemporary scholarly works. Married to Ingmar Bergman’s sister, Austin is an Englishman who lives in Sweden. As a British expatriate, in love with his adopted country as perhaps only an expatriate can be, his views are especially valuable to Americans attempting to understand what is a very different sort of culture, for Austin provides a look at one European society through the eyes of a member of another. This double distillation lends perspective, distance, and therefore a measure of objectivity. A fine book for anyone curious about such things as Swedish sympathy for American deserters, or for anyone planning a first trip to Sweden.

JC

About the Author

J. R. Coyne Jr.

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On Being Swedish: Reflections Towards a Better Understanding of the Swedish Character, by Paul Britten Austin, (U. of Miami Press, 182 pp., $5.95) We need more like this. Subjective, a combination of sociology, social history, literary analysis, art criticism, all filtered through a keen and sensitive intelligence to give us a feeling for what Lionel Trilling calls the buzz and hum of implication, the stuff which lies behind the history and sociology of a society and gives it its unique flavor and characteristics, the stuff which is carefully squeezed out of most contemporary scholarly works. Married to Ingmar Bergman’s sister, Austin is an Englishman who lives in Sweden. As a British expatriate, in love with his adopted country as perhaps only an expatriate can be, his views are especially valuable to Americans attempting to understand what is a very different sort of culture, for Austin provides a look at one European society through the eyes of a member of another. This double distillation lends perspective, distance, and therefore a measure of objectivity. A fine book for anyone curious about such things as Swedish sympathy for American deserters, or for anyone planning a first trip to Sweden.