Modern: A Story

Axel LundegårdProject Gutenberg · United StatesDec 2019

3.0

Word count: 361K words
Chapters: 37

Summary

Project Gutenberg was the first provider of free electronic books, or eBooks. Michael Hart, founder of Project Gutenberg, invented eBooks in 1971 and his memory continues to inspire the creation of eBooks and related technologies today.Modern: En Berättelse by Victoria Benedictsson and Axel LundegårdAuthor: Lundegård, Axel, 1861-1930,Language: Swedish, Class: PT: Language and Literatures: Germanic, Scandinavian, and Icelandic literatures, Release Date: Apr 25, 2005

Editor's review

Co-authored by Swedish writers Victoria Benedictsson and Axel Lundegård and written in Swedish, this work belongs to the Nordic literary tradition and is modest in length—a light entry point into Swedish-language literature in the original. Its value lies not in a grand plot but in how late nineteenth-century Nordic literature observed modern life and the individual's situation: the narration is restrained, and its portrayals of relationships and everyday scenes bear the marks of their time, conveying the tone and rhythm of Swedish society then. For readers studying Scandinavian literature it is a usable sample of the original text; for language learners it offers authentic, unadapted Swedish. Read it as a dual exercise in language and history: first grasp the narrative thread, then revisit diction and syntax to sense the tone that tends to be lost in Chinese translation. This electronic edition comes from a public-domain project and is easy to obtain, suitable for reading in segments during commutes or short sessions.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Intermediate and advanced learners of Swedish who want to engage with narrative texts in the original
Readers interested in late nineteenth-century Nordic literature and Swedish social life
Literature students studying Scandinavian literature who need samples of original texts
Readers who enjoy classic narratives with a gentle pace and finely drawn relationships

Not a good fit for

Complete beginners unfamiliar with Swedish who hope to follow the plot directly
Readers who prefer strong plots, fast pacing, or genre fiction
Classroom users who need detailed annotations and background introductions

Reading tips

Read one chapter through first to grasp the narrative rhythm, then look up words paragraph by paragraph, rather than getting stuck on vocabulary from the start.
Keep a basic Swedish grammar or dictionary at hand; for long sentences, split off the main clause before working out the modifiers.
After finishing, write a hundred-character summary in Chinese to check whether you have grasped the relationships and main events.
If the background is unfamiliar, read the relevant chapters of a general history of Nordic literature first, then return to the original.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

FAQ

Can I read this book without knowing Swedish?

You can try, but the reading experience will be noticeably limited. The original is in Swedish, with no inline notes or parallel translation. If you know no Swedish, consider using translation tools paragraph by paragraph, or start with Nordic literature available in Chinese translation; if you have some foundation, you can use it as language practice material.

Is this book suitable for learning Swedish?

It suits intermediate and advanced learners as extensive reading material. The text is a genuinely published literary work, with syntax and vocabulary more natural than textbooks and more reflective of late nineteenth-century written Swedish. But its vocabulary was not selected for teaching, so beginners may get discouraged; use a dictionary and limit how much you read at a time.

What should I note when reading the electronic edition?

This edition comes from a public-domain e-book project; it is a freely available electronic text, mainly plain text, and may lack the layout and notes of a print edition. Use reading software that supports dictionary lookup and annotation so you can record new words and questions as you go and organize relationships by section.

Comments

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About the author

Axel Lundegård Author · Swedish · 1861–1930

Axel Lundegård (1861–1930) was a Swedish writer born in Sallerup, Skåne, in 1861 and died in Stockholm in 1930. He is regarded as a representative of Swedish realist literature. He made his literary debut in 1885 with the short-story collection I gryningen (At Dawn), and his writing was influenced by Victoria Benedictsson. Four of his works are held in this collection: Modern: En Berättelse, Den bergtagna: En kärlekens tragedi, Elsa Finne I–II, and Äiti. These works centre on love, fate, and relations between men and women, combining realistic detail with attention to plot and psychological portrayal. Public information about his life and career is limited, and his place in literary history rests chiefly on these novels and short stories.