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"The Horrific Sufferings of the Mind Reading Monster Hercules Barefoot: His Wonderful Love and His Terrible Hatred"
The English title of this book is not only a mouthful, but also it pretty much sums up the book. The Swedish title is shorter and manages to say that this is the story of a fantastic, enormous, but yet in some respects monstrous love. ('Vidunderlig' means fantastic, but 'vidunder' means monster.)
This is a book that spans a century and most of Europe. It will take you to, among other places, bordellos, monasteries, a travelling freak show and the Vatican. Eventually it will also take you to the USA.
It is difficult to imagine Hercule Barefoot, and especially difficult to see him as a monster since we to a large extent are allowed inside his mind. Again we are reminded of the importance of not judging a book by its cover or a person by his or her appearance.
In Swedish the prose of this book is exhilarating. Vallgren is generous with the words, but still he doesn't drown you in them. Instead they bring you along the story like a frisky brook in springtime, painting vivid pictures of the people and surroundings the book puts you in contact with. Both the writing style and the story brings to mind books like "Forest of Hours" by Kerstin Ekman or "The Perfume" by Patrick Süskind and writers like Gabriel Garcia Marques and Robertson Davies.
I enjoyed this book immensely.
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