Product Description

From the 1960s to the 1980s, Sweden was an affluent, egalitarian country envied around the world. Refugees were welcomed, even misfit young Englishmen could find a place there. Andrew Brown spent part of his childhood in Sweden during the 1960s. In the 1970s he married a Swedish woman and worked in a timber mill raising their small son. Fishing became his passion and his escape. In the mid-1980s his marriage and the country fell apart. The Prime Minister was assassinated. The welfare system crumbled along with the industries that had supported it. Twenty years later Andrew Brown travelled the length of Sweden in search of the country he had loved, and then hated, and now found he loved again.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19662 in Books
• Published on: 2009-05-04
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Review
'... Mr Brown's prose is as clear and bewitching as the lake waters which he learns to fish ... Readers who know the Nordic countries will delight in the author's keen ear and eye for the nuances of language, landscape and social customs' - Economist' - he is a deft writer with a real descriptive talent and a humorous touch - this is an affectionate and insightful portrait, offering a much deeper understanding of the country than the usual, often politically motivated, tendency to stereotype' - Financial Times'Fishing in Utopia is a lament for a lost Eden. But it is more than that. Essentially it is a story of modern rootlessness and the search for something to believe in. The fact that that something turns out, absurdly, to be fishing only makes it more tragic. I can see it becoming a cult book, and not just among anglers' - Sunday Times 'His evocations of his early years in the country are miracles of sensuous recollection' - Telegraph

About the Author
Andrew Brown writes for the Guardian and is the editor of their website on religious affairs. He also contributes to Prospect and the New Statesman and writes and presents Analysis programmes for BBC Radio 4. His other books include The Darwin Wars and In the Beginning Was the Worm.

Customer Reviews

Wise and Balanced
The author spent some time in Sweden as a child,
and again in his 20's when he was married to a Swedish
woman,and working in a timber mill.When his marriage
broke up,after the birth of his son,he moved back to
England.
In this wise and balanced book he returns to Sweden to
explore his relationship with the country.As he endeavours
to define Sweden we learn of his childhood experiences,his
working class life in the timber mill.his fishing,and of
the desolate beauty of Northern Sweden.He considers Sweden's
'social experiment'-portraying its faults as the country,
like many others in Europe,tries to come to terms with
immigration and the disintegration of rural life.He does this-
respectfully-and despite its shortcomings,he regains his affection
for much of what is Swedish .A wonderfully written fascinating read.

sweden revisited
In this elegant book, Brown examines an all too easily forgotten European country. Revisiting his past and disillusionment with Scandinavian-style socialism , he returns to Sweden to find a flourishing society that is attempting to use their influence in Europe for good. A deeply enlightening and eloquent book that describes much about modern Sweden. Bit too much fishing though...

Drowning in excellence (sorry)
I already knew it was going to be good from the reviews I had already read, but how good and how rivetting I only discovered on opening the book. I read it in a few sessions and refuse to lend it to friends because I will want to read it again very soon. They can buy their own! I have a great personal interest in the subject but the superb writing ensures a wider audience than those with some connection to Sweden. Just read it.