Read and discuss Scandinavian literature in translation as part of our Nordic Book Club, now online! Each month we select a novel from some of the best Nordic literary voices. Discussions have typically taken place the last Tuesday of the month at Scandinavia House but will now be taking place bi-weekly as an online meeting. Register here to sign up for the meeting; registrants will receive a web link to where the meeting will take place.
Book club participants will all appear online at the start of the meeting when they log in so that they are able to take part in the conversation. For participants who would prefer not to be visible onscreen, see an easy tutorial online here on how to set a profile image that will appear onscreen instead.
On July 28, we’ll be discussing The Book of Eels: Our Enduring Fascination with the Most Mysterious Creature in the Natural World, Swedish author Patrik Svensson’s #1 International bestseller which has been one of USA Today’s “5 Books Not to Miss,” Forbes’ “Best Summer Reads for Those Stuck Inside Working Remotely,” and the LA Times’ “21 New and Classic Books to Keep You in Touch with the Natural World.” Remarkably little is known about the European eel, Anguilla anguilla. So little, in fact, that scientists and philosophers have, for centuries, been obsessed with what has become known as the “eel question”: Where do eels come from? What are they? Are they fish or some other kind of creature altogether? They remain a mystery. Part H Is for Hawk, part The Soul of an Octopus, The Book of Eels is both a meditation on the world’s most elusive fish—the eel—and a reflection on the human condition.