Written during WWII, The Snake is set in a nervously neutral Sweden on military alert. Dagerman, an army conscript and anarcho-syndicalist, uses the day-to-day setting of military service as a backdrop for an exploration of social justice and the psychology of fear. The first part of the book, Irene, is about a young woman who works at an army camp and is drawn to Bill, a sadistic soldier. In the second part, We Can't Sleep, anxiety-infused experiences of Dagerman's alter ego, Scriber, and fellow conscripts are laid bare. In the last chapter, Scriber spells out his vision for how to conquer fear with an absurd disastrous ending. This is Dagerman's first novel, published when he was 22 years old. It took reviewers by surprise: "So powerfully and convincing a debut, that it is unsurpassed by any other Swedish author in this century", exclaimed Olof Lagercrantz, the editor of the daily Dagens Nyheter.
Author
Stig Dagerman was one of the most prominent Swedish authors during the 1940s. In the course of five years, 1945-49, he enjoyed phenomenal success with four novels, a collection of short stories, a book about postwar Germany, five plays, hundreds of poems and satirical verses, several essays of note and a large amount of journalism. Then, with apparent suddenness, he fell silent. In the fall of 1954, Sweden was stunned to learn that Stig Dagerman, the epitome of his generation of writers, had been found dead in his car: he had closed the doors of the garage and run the engine. Dagerman's works deal with universal problems of morality and conscience, of sexuality and social philosophy, of love, compassion and justice. He plunges into the painful realities of human existence, dissecting feelings of fear, guilt and loneliness. Despite the somber content, he also displays a wry sense of humor that occasionally turns his writing into burlesque or satire.
