Harry Martinson is widely regarded as one of the leading figures in twentieth-century Swedish literature. When he began publishing his works, critics and fellow writers alike quickly recognized his lyric gifts; in particular, his collection Nomad...

It remains to be seen if even a very considerable author like Harry Martinson will be able to make an impression on the English-speaking literary world—and, if not, it is not at all his fault …, yet it is beyond any discussion that he has been of great importance to the Swedish (and Scandinavian) literary world. Indeed, he has helped form a specific consciousness for an entire generation of his compatriots at large and not just the literary gourmets. (p. 478) The storyline of The Road is occas...

Hardly ever has a Swedish author led a life more fantastic than that of Harry Martinson; in Swedish literature no exoticism is more captivating than that in his autobiographical books and travelogues; and the tender devotion to Swedish nature expressed in his naturprosa is unsurpassed—which is apparent in such works as Svärmare och harkrank (1937), Midsommardalen (1938), and Det enkla och det svåra (1939)…. In later writings such as Utsikt från en grästuva (View fro...

The first thing one notices about Harry Martinson's poems is their precision and over-all exactitude…. Always the precision takes on its own life, moves from impression to expression but without disturbing its own clear-pond-like surface…. [His] attention to actual "things" is nothing less than reverence, the everyday magic that keeps banality out of the everyday and out of Martinson's poems. Thus he can write a difficult (borderline sentimental) Wright-like elegy l...