“You who have the power over your child
and can get rid of it
or take it away
reject it, expose it”
– Gunnar Ekelöf, translated by Robert Bly
Adrian stands by a railing, gazing out over the snow-laden streets. Nothing is distinct, nor clear. From the vantage point of eternity, reality is conditional. Truth is conditional, as are facts, someone’s inner workings. Everything dissipates, dissolves into an in-between, into a white void.
Twenty-four years earlier, Adrian is already a tormented soul. As an aspiring writer, Adrian studies literature at the university in Stockholm, where he meets Kristian and Johannes. They possess the vitality and charisma that Adrian lacks. They draw Adrian into a new world, where their days are spent at Café Valand, drinking liqueur and contemplating literature. At the turn of the millennium, everything and nothing is allowed; when Adrian and Kristian rent an apartment together, Kristian finds himself developing intense sexual feelings for his friend, while Adrian enters into a doomed relationship with the anarchic Elena.
The years pass, and society changes as fascism slowly darkens the map of Europe. Kristian and Johannes recede into secure middle-class lives while Adrian drifts aimlessly from place to place. With solitude as his only companion, Adrian loses himself to his poetry. His obsession with his never-ending elegy turns into a disillusioned analysis of the great poet Gunnar Ekelöf’s writing, where he sees themes touching on abortion and the loss of a child – nuances of his own grief over a life that did not come to pass.
Adrian is a wistful Künstlerroman and a portrayal of a city at the threshold of the new millennium. In his fourth novel, Maxim Grigoriev has composed an antifascist allegory combined with a devastating reflection of a life not lived and the terrible persistence of what could have been.
Extra Materials
Sweden, Albert Bonniers Förlag
Author
Reviews
“[Grigoriev] moves gracefully between the focus of psychological realism on the characters’ innermost emotional and intellectual life, and the more lyrical elements that connect thematically with the novel’s recurring quotes from [Gunnar] Ekelöf. Once again, Grigoriev inherently places himself within the rich narrative tradition of the European Künstlerroman.”
– BTJ (SE)
“A wide-ranging bildungsroman and portrayal of Stockholm with intellectual depth.”
– Borås Tidning (SE)
“I am among those who have greatly appreciated Grigoriev’s critically acclaimed novels Europe and The Rain. The prose’s slightly hypnotic rhythm and how the elegiac tone suddenly switches over to dark social criticism. Adrian is a continuation – but Grigoriev has now decided to take even larger risks. It is exceptionally good.”
– Dagens Nyheter (SE)
“To read Adrian is to realize how the novel changes with the nuances of the prose. How gently the words fall alongside the snow over Stockholm, how entwined the prose becomes when it touches upon contemporary politics and societal issues. […] then are passages in the novel where the words and sentences become real, physically tangible.”
– Expressen (SE)
“Grigoriev writes incisively about how literature studies as a discipline is slowly killing itself, about the sellout of public utility, about class and segregation, and how Swedish fascism can be summed up with the word cozy – amongst else. […] Moreover, Grigoriev’s prose is exquisite, at once warm and clear-sighted and free of cynicism, despite the portrayal of cultural decline.”
– Göteborgs-Posten (SE)
“The plot of Maxim Grigoriev’s new novel is simple – but Adrian unfolds into a rich novel of ideas […]. Grigoriev knows how to create memorable protagonists and Adrian is no exception. The gap between his inner life and how he is perceived by the outside world is harrowing. […] With Adrian, Grigoriev continues to cement his position in Swedish literature as our most prominent European intellectual.”
– Svenska Dagbladet (SE)