The Reader Writes the Book

“Christopher Lindauer’s new book is learned and elegant.” —Aftonbladet

“Enjoyable without being pretentious, informative without being pretentious, imaginative without being confusing.” —Gutenberg-Posten

“A constantly thought-provoking and enjoyable read about the power of imagination.” —BTJ gives the book a 5 out of 5.

“Interesting without being pretentious, knowledgeable without being pretentious, and imaginative without being confusing.” —Gutenberg-Posten

“Christopher Lindauer writes beautifully about the collaboration between author and reader.”

What happens when we read?

Is literature something that exists only within the pages of a book, or does it arise from the direct interaction between the reader and the book? Does the book remain the same, or does it change with each new reading? And can two people read the same book?

Here, Christopher Lindauer approaches literature from a new and unexpected perspective, and it soon becomes clear: the reader is the one who writes the book. We readers are unreliable: we forget, and we remember incorrectly. We skip and omit, and we are happy to add details the author overlooked.

So, what does a shared creative reading mean for critics and translators, for those who seek out mysteries and for biblical interpreters? What did the grandfather write in Kierkegaard’s diaries? Do we read with our eyes or our ears? What books does the dictator have in his library? Did Oedipus really kill his father?

“The greatest value of Leandro’s book lies precisely in the open dialogues about the different ways of approaching the story it leads us to.”