The Fly Trap by Fredrik Sjöberg (Particular Books)

The astounding success of Helen Macdonald's H Is For Hawk has undoubtedly moved the literary spotlight onto an elusive genre of books that has so far managed to remain pleasingly unclassifiable but richly rewarding. They are supremely erudite books, but also clear-headed, thoughtful and sometimes brutally honest. They cover, in various combinations, travel writing, nature, literature, science, history and personal memoir and they have been written by some of my favourite authors. W.G.Sebald and Jonathan Raban come to mind immediately and for me, anyway, have set the standard for this kind of multi-disciplined writing. In recent years Robert Macfarlane and now Helen Macdonald have been rightly lauded and it seems that Katharine Norbury with The Fish Ladder is about to join their exalted company. There are doubtless others I haven't heard of or read yet and for as long as the public's interest is piqued there will surely soon be, if there aren't already, a seemingly endless succession of inferior imitators who will be enthusiastically promoted, flatter to deceive and muddy the waters so to speak. Before that clamour though I'd like to wave my flag for this little gem of a book which has already been enthusiastically reviewed, notably in the Guardian - http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/jun/14/fredrik-sjoberg-hoverflies-the-fly-trap and by Malachy Tallack, founder of the excellent Island Review at Caught By The River – http://www.caughtbytheriver.net/2014/09/the-fly-trap-fredrick-sjoberg/. Apparently a 'best-seller' in its native Sweden, The Fly Trap is a wry, amusing and wholly delightful meditation on islands, solitude, travelling in the wilds of Burma, hoverflies, and the life and exploits of an obscure and possibly mad Swedish naturalist named Reneé Malaise who designed the fly trap of the title and which Fredrik Sjöberg uses to catch his beloved hoverflies. Sjöberg is an expert on Swedish hoverflies and has identified over two hundred different species on his small island of Runmarö alone and in part this book is about obsession and the virtues and pitfalls of blocking out the rest of the world to pursue one's own, often lonely, specialist path. But of course it is a lot more than than just that. A philosophy for a saner way of life underpins Sjöberg's dry, humourous prose and his self-effacing honesty is endearing and captivating. I started reading it on a train journey from London which, for once, wasn't nearly long enough. Mr.Sjöberg has joined my, albeit limited, gallery of Swedish heroes along with Kurt Wallander and Freddie Ljungberg.