Claire C Thomson

The reader is struck by the sheer volume of Bergman’s arbetsböcker or workbooks, the A5 spiral blocks in which he wrote drafts: some sixty of them dating from 1938 to 2001 are preserved.

But You Are Swedish, Aren't You? is an absurd, rollicking yarn whose hilarious dialogue draws on contemporary political and business jargon and philosophy-lite to satirize (mostly male) power, and yet offers insights into the human heart.