The pseudonym "Philo Vaihinger" has been abandoned. All posts have been and are written by me, Joseph Auclair.

Friday, May 30, 2014

Cryptic quarrels in novels

Lennart Kollberg to Gunvald Larsson in "The Abominable Man," very near the end.

"Keep your peace in front of men and slander them behind their backs," Kollberg said. "Do you know what that is, Larsson?"

Gunvald Larsson looked at him for a long time.

"This isn't Moscow or Peking," he said then, with unusual severity. "The cabbies don't read Gorky here, and the cops don't quote Lenin. This is an insane city in a country that's mentally deranged. And up there on the roof there's some poor damned lunatic and now it's time to bring him down."

"Quite right," said Kollberg. "For that matter, it wasn't Lenin."

"I know."

"What the hell are you talking about?" said Malm nervously.

Neither of them even looked at him.

So what the hell were they talking about?

Yes, I know, it's about Larsson saying it was a mistake for Beck to go up onto the roof alone and Kollberg, who never liked Larrson, defending his friend Beck's decision.

Malm could see that, too.

But what the hell . . . . ?

Cabbies, Gorky, and Lenin - or not Lenin - in Peking and Moscow?

Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo, 1971.

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