THE CITY OF MY DREAMS

Author: Per Anders Fogelström
Year: 1960
Publisher: Albert Bonniers Förlag
Language: Swedish 

“Mina drömmars stad” (“The City of my Dreams”) is the first of five books in Per Anders Fogelström’s classic Swedish epic informally known as the “City”-series, which unfolds the grand tale of Stockholm across several generations, from the second half of the 19^th century to the middle of the 20^th. In this first book, we find ourselves in the company of Henning Nilsson, a poor farmhand turned worker after having forsaken the countryside and to seek his fortune in the city. Industrialisation is well underway and the smoky and clattering leviathan of the expanding urban production machine hungers for labourers to man its factories, warehouses, ports, railways, and road constructions. Henning, undeterred by his youth and unimpressive physical strength, tries his luck in several different trades but in the end, dedicates his life to the rough and relentless port as a docker, compensating with commitment what he lacks in physique.

Through Henning’s experience, Fogelström takes us on a journey to a Stockholm of yore, to a time where this city began its long and cumbersome transformation from a provincial backwater on the northern outskirts of Europe to the regional metropolis it is today. The Stockholm of a century and a half ago, was a place barely recognisable, a forsaken accumulation of crumbling shacks and dilapidated huts, housing the most wretched of humanity such as impoverished workers, thieves, prostitutes, beggars, drunkards, and vagabonds. In these odious circumstances, man and women were grappling daily with the cruel game of survival as the meagre coin they earned stretched only to cover a fraction of their most acute wants.  It is a dark, filthy, and miserable world where despair clings to every cobblestone.

“The city was ruthless. It offered no quarter to the fearful. Every moment demanded courage.”*

Children hold a place of particular significance in Fogelström’s prose, commanding his devoted attention and meticulous care. It seems like the writer takes great pains to ensure that every facet of the proletariat is laid bare so that no one goes unaccounted for, no matter how young. The poverty and decay are examined from every conceivable angle and retold in unmasked detail.

And yet, Fogelström does not seek to cast us into despair. Although there is no effort to gloss over the squalor, his narrative glimmers with the humble brightness that Stockholm could offer even to the poorest of its flock. Amidst a world where there is no shortage of souls who wish to take advantage of Henning Nilsson and where employers who underpay and overwork him are legion, he still finds true friendship and love. Little by little, Fogelström reveals to us how a man of character and steadfast resolve can carve out room for himself even in a city where the surroundings, the customs, and the very way of life seem alien. In so doing, he reminds us how happiness may find even the most destitute of men.

Each character is crafted with exquisite precision. There is Henning’s friend Tummen, a man who knows everyone worth knowing, and can land a job, a room, or a bottle when they are needed the most, all the while nursing grand dreams of a workers’ revolution. Then there is Lotten, the washerwoman’s daughter, who, despite her scant means, insists on a home kept immaculate and clothes always in order, as if defying her poverty with each stroke of her broom. Annika, the daughter of a brutish coalman, pours every ounce of herself into the ambition of marrying out of her class. And Klara, with the unmistakable spark in her eye, who drifts into prostitution for the sake of convenience and learns to bear its bitter consequences.

Though the novel makes little reference to the precise era in which it is set, there are subtle clues strategically scattered throughout the narrative. Here and there, the reader will find the telltale imprints of historical figures, institutions, and events accurately woven into the story collectively, each serving as a timestamp for the reader to make note of. For example, August Strindberg’s novel “The Red Room” was published in 1879 and made a huge impact. Fogelström writes:

“Soon she left again. Lying down, Henning glanced at the book. ‘The Red Room – Scenes from the Life of an Artist and Writer’”

(For more on The Red Room, see my review from January 2023)

The title, finally, “Mina drömmars stad” is exquisite. It encapsulates the dual nature of desire, the fervent hopes and lofty dreams of those who abandoned the fields and farms of rural Sweden in search of a brighter existence in Stockholm, and the poignant yearning for a future forever out of reach, an imagined paradise that for many never quite arrived. The Swedish poet Lars Forssell, ten years Fogelström’s junior, captured the illusions that some rural dwellers harboured for the rapidly expanding capital city at the time.

“The streets in Stockholm are made of gold – I think. Purple drapes hang from every house.
No man will another indebted hold – I think. No one’s poor like a lowly louse.”*

It seems that in the end of the day, dreams were all that the city was able to deliver. And ultimately shatter.

*My own translation from the Swedish original