Hjalmar Bergman
Hjalmar Fredrik Elgérus Bergman was a Swedish writer and playwright.
Biography
The son of a banker in Örebro, Bergman briefly studied philosophy at Uppsala University but soon broke off his studies and took up the life of a free writer. He married Stina Lindberg, the daughter of actor and stage producer August Lindberg and Augusta Lindberg, and sister of Per Lindberg. Up to his father's death in 1915 Bergman was heavily sponsored by the family patriarch; after the old man died from a stroke it turned out that the family business had become highly indebted and Bergman was forced to start making money out of his writing and court readers in a more outgoing and more entertaining manner. He rose to the challenge and in the following ten years reached the peak of his work.Much of his output takes place in a small town in mid-Sweden, which is growing into a parallel universe in a Balzacian manner. The shameful secrets of a dozen of interwoven families gradually come out of the closet as the stories grow increasingly symbolic. A pessimistic outlook is always counterbalanced by a grotesque humour - indeed, in a book like Markurells i Wadköping the latter almost succeeds in completely shading the former. The fictional town Wadköping is modelled on the author's hometown Örebro, and on Västerås, where he finished secondary school, there is for instance, like in Västerås, a bishop in Wadköping, but none in Örebro. When Örebro in 1965 opened its open-air museum featuring 19th century city life, it was named Wadköping.
After an unsuccessful bout as a manuscript writer in Hollywood, Bergman's alcoholism and narcotics abuse took over, from which he died prematurely; his final novel Clownen Jac mirrors his awareness of his drift into self-destruction as well as his belief in the honesty and purpose of artistic spectacle.
Works
Maria, Jesu moder Solivro. Prins af Aeretanien Blå blommor Savonarola Amourer Hans Nåds testamente Vi Bookar, Krokar och Rothar Loewenhistorier Komedier i Bergslagen, I - III Mor i Sutre Marionettspel En döds memoarer Markurells i Wadköping Herr von Hancken Farmor och vår Herre Eros begravning Swedenhielms, 1923 Jag, Ljung och Medardus Chefen Fru Ingeborg Flickan i Frack Jonas och Helen Kerrmans i Paradiset Lotten Brenners ferier- ''Clownen Jac''
Adaptations
Hans Nåds Testamente, Markurells i Wadköping Fathers and Sons- ''Markurells i Wadköping''
As Holger Brate
- ''Falska papper''