Book Summary

"Wilful Disregard" by Lena Andersson is a story about love that examines its hidden facets with a precise and discerning perspective. The central character of the story is a woman named Ester Nilsson, who holds a respectable social position in society and enters into an emotional relationship with a man named Hugo Rask, whom she gradually becomes infatuated with. As time passes, Nilsson increasingly realizes that her feelings for Hugo are reciprocated and that an extraordinary bond has formed between them; however, this situation also has its darker aspects.

The protagonist becomes so consumed by her emotional relationship that she largely forgets herself, to the point where she may be experiencing an unhealthy and obsessive love. With her characteristic ups and downs, Andersson manages to evoke both sadness and excitement in her readers, ensuring that they do not experience a linear emotional journey and maintaining the allure of her work from beginning to end. Although some readers may not consider "Wilful Disregard" to be an exceptional work, it can still be one of the most thought-provoking, as it possesses psychological themes and cannot be easily labeled as clichéd.

Andersson’s valuable novel beautifully conveys to her audience how one can sometimes distance themselves from their true self, behaving in ways that gradually lead them to notice changes in their interactions with their authentic selves and others. This can result in them becoming strangers to themselves, creating idols out of others, and ultimately leading to their own or others' victimization. Anyone who reads this book from start to finish with appropriate focus will clearly grasp its straightforward and accurate insights and regard them as wake-up calls for self-awareness in various situations, including being in an emotional relationship. The absence of weak or heroic characters in "Wilful Disregard," along with the meticulous examination of emotions such as anger and hope, as well as the significant theme of self-denial, are other pivotal points that make it impossible to overlook such an extraordinary narrative.

About the Author

Lena Andersson is a prominent Swedish author and journalist born in 1970 in Stockholm. Educated in journalism, she has also studied philosophy and has received awards for her writings, including "Wilful Disregard," such as the Swedish Academy's Literary Prize and the August Prize. Andersson, who is now internationally renowned, has other notable works including " Duck City," "Acts of infidelity," and "Son of Svea." She has frequently mentioned her passion for skiing and had spent some time engaged in it. Previously, she worked as a sports journalist and currently holds a column for critiques in the newspaper Dagens Nyheter, where she writes various articles.

Who Should Read the Book?

This valuable book is recommended for those who enjoy reading novels with captivating stories and engaging beginnings and endings while also paying special attention to one of the most important psychological issues.

Book Quotes

It is the fragility of humanity that brings about love. But fragility alone is not enough. Self-reliance and a distanced self-reflection must complete it. Breaks lead to softness and gentleness, but sooner or later, what stirs that softness also breeds aggression. Absolute weakness, due to its own incapacity, makes love as impossible as steel-like strength.

Hope must be sown with hunger so that it does not mislead and confuse its host. Hope can only be extinguished with the help of ruthlessness. Hope is tyrannical because it binds and chains the hands and feet.

The fact that one speaks honestly and transparently about everything is itself a kind of contract. A totalitarian contract, a stifling responsibility, and a constraint imposed upon one another. The demand that one must abandon everything upon contact with another is a form of tyranny. The desire that one should never keep anything for oneself after contact is not only a petty-bourgeois wish but also a violation of respect for individual freedoms.

Human beings find it easier to cope with a definitive answer than with an ambiguous one. This relates to hope and its nature. Hope is a parasite in the human body that lives in complete symbiosis with the heart.

When expectations diminish, the slightest sign of hope brings joy.

Ester said, "I think the fundamental problem is that we interpret the actions of others behaviorally, from the outside and objectively. But we understand our own actions phenomenologically, from within our consciousness. This is the human dilemma.

The terrible separation between thoughts and words, appearance and essence of actions, reality and metaphor, and the things that flourish in this separation are the main themes of this story.

Flee by another path and never look back before the absurdity and futility of a relationship destroy you.

I perceived reality with a devastating precision and lived with the thought that the world is exactly what I have experienced.

The only weapon of the lover is to forget love. No matter how sticky and suffocating love may be experienced by someone whom it is directed towards, they will still be hurt by losing it; even if they have never desired it. This new indifference shifts the balance of power. The beloved fears appearing ridiculous and ordinary in the eyes of the former lover.

Talking is of no use. Because when desire and will are absent, there will be no commitment either. What is done out of pity holds little value for someone who hoped it would be done out of love.

Love needs words. For a short time, one can trust in the unspoken feeling, but in the long run, unspoken love and wordless love will not endure.