Doctor Glas

Hjalmar Soderberg. Anchor Books, $14 (160pp) ISBN 978-0-385-72267-4

First published in 1905, Doctor Glas is considered to be Swedish novelist Hjalmar S derberg's masterpiece. The beautiful young wife of the repellant Reverend Gregorius confides to Glas that her sex life is making her miserable and begs for his help. Smitten with her, he agrees, even though she already has another lover. He does intervene, but when it becomes clear that the Reverend will not give up his ""rights,"" Glas begins planning his murder. Arranged in the form of a journal, this fascinating, deeply moral (yet never moralizing) novel, trans. by Paul Britten Austin, offers the voyeuristic thrill of reading over the doctor's shoulder as he wrestles with his conscience.

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