On Collecting Stamps

by Håkan Lindquist

A journey to the town where he was born becomes a trip into the past: When Mattias hears about the death of a friend from his childhood days, he starts recalling the time with Samuel. Mattias was searching for a friend, while Samuel was longing for his big love, a young sailor on the edge of manhood. Samuel’s funeral leads Mattias back to an unanswered question. Why did he dedicate his life to a stamp collection instead of really living it? Finally an old letter of the passed away friend resolves a well kept secret ...

A poetic tale about truth and longing.

Genres: Swedish Literature, Gay, LGBT, Fiction

171 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

English version: Håkan Lindquist was born in Sweden. He lives in Stockholm and in Berlin. He has written five novels, many short stories, one opera libretto and several articles mainly on literature and art. He is currently working on a new novel.

German version: Håkan Lindquist wurde in Oskarshamn (Schweden) geboren, wo auch einige seiner Romane spielen. 1993 veröffentlichte er den Roman "Min bror och hans bror", der inzwischen in viele Sprachen übersetzt ist und im Deutschen unter dem Titel "Paul, mein großer Bruder" ein großer Erfolg wurde. 1996 folgte der Roman "Dröm att leva", der 2008 im Bruno Gmünder Verlag unter dem Titel "Ein Traum vom Leben" erschien, 2003 "Om att samla frimärken" (deutsch: "Der Briefmarkensammler, 2010 bei Bruno Gmünder).

Lindquist lebt in Stockholm und Berlin. Seine Werke sind in vielen Sprachen übersetzt worden. Augenblicklich arbeitet er an seinem neuen Roman. Mehr Infos über den Autor – auch auf Deutsch – gibt es unter: http://hakanlindquist.blogspot.com. Die E-Mail-Adresse des Autors lautet: hlq@comhem.se


Swedish version: Håkan Lindquist, född 1958 i Oskarshamn, Småland, är en svensk författare.

Reviews

[Josefine]

Det är lite sorgligt att det var Håkans för tidiga död som fick mig att äntligen plocka fram den här boken ur hyllan, där den stått oläst allt för många år. Å andra sidan är jag glad att ha läst den nu; en finstämd och vemodig berättelse som jag tyckte mycket om.

[Grady · Rating 5 out of 5]

`Mnemosyne: The state of faithfulness toward the first light, toward the earliest perceptions'

Håkan Lindquist is a Swedish writer living in both Stockholm and Berlin who has written five novels, numerous short stories, articles on art and literature and even an opera libretto. Why he is not better known in this country is truly a conundrum. His gift for creating characters and atmospheres is astonishingly vivid, and he combines this ability with a technique of weaving a story that is both visually beautiful on the printed page while proving that ideas for novels that may challenge perceptions about human behavior are exceptional fodder for fine literature. He deserves serious attention.

Samuel Gunnarsson is a middle-aged man who meets 12-year-old Mattias after a bike accident: Samuel's mother Carolina rescues Mattias, dresses his wound, and in the process Mattias meets Samuel. Upon hearing the lad's name Samuel states `Mattias. It means `gift from God'. Did you know that?.' Samuel and Mattias begin a warm and loving friendship in which they share a love for stamp collecting and books and butterflies and nature.

This delicate story is revealed by Lindquist in a manner of flashback thoughts, as the actual book begins about thirty years after their first meeting. Mattias returns to attend Samuel's funeral. He thinks about everything that Samuel told him over the years. About Samuel's loneliness and his one and only love, the beautiful sailor, William, and how Samuel seemed to compensate for his lonely state by dedicating his attention to stamp collecting. This memory story is offered in sensitive parcels in a sans serif font size smaller than that serif font that keeps us in the present: portions of the memory parcels are repeated throughout of the book as new meanings are revealed about the friendship. Mattias attends the funeral, meets a girl who had attended Samuel in Elephant House, an assisted living home where the sad Samuel spent his last years, visits Carolina whose senility precludes filling in the interval history and Mattias retraces steps of the places where he and Samuel frequented years ago, ultimately visiting their old hiding place in the bell tower of an old church, where he finds a letter addressed to him, written by Samuel, to be read after his death. Here Samuel reveals the dreadful secret that has tormented him all his life, secrets he could not share with Mattias when they were long ago friends.

Samuel is gay and senses that Mattias is also, but there is never any acting out on those attractions. Though warned by his mother about spending overnights with an older man with all the sexual implications she implies, Mattias and Samuel continue their special, warmly shared friendship until Mattias moves to Stockholm and letter correspondence, increasing infrequent, is all they have - until Samuel's death and Mattias' discovery of the soul of the man he deeply loved. Mattias recalls special dreams and memories he shared with Samuel. Mattias had asked Samuel `Have you been to Venice?' and Samuel replies 'Like von Aschenbach, you mean. In `Death in Venice'. No. I've mainly traveled with the help of books. Books and Stamps. And imagination. You can go quite far. Actually.' He smiled and looked at [Mattias] with his lovely eyes. `Very far. To beautiful places, where fantastic things happen...'

This luminous novel radiates love, and friendship, and longing, and a story about a man and a boy we will never be able to forget. Håkan Lindquist is an artist, a wordsmith who stands with the finest of contemporary writers. Highly recommended reading.

Grady Harp

[Tallulah Bankhead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lågmäld och vacker berättelse om vänskap och minnen.

[Vora · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beaucoup de poésie pour cette belle histoire d'amitié et d'amour. Hakan Lindquist est vraiment un auteur talentueux à l'écriture fine et juste, servi par une très bonne traduction. On en redemande.

[Stéphanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beaucoup de poésie pour cette belle histoire d'amitié et d'amour. Hakan Lindquist est vraiment un auteur talentueux à l'écriture fine et juste, servi par une très bonne traduction. On en redemande.

[ida · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5