Fishing in Utopia: Sweden and the Future that Disappeared

I have to say, fishing is not that interesting to me. Thus, although this book was well-written, I found parts of it a little bit of a drag. Nonetheless, the discussion of how Swedish society and culture evolved over time was very good. The author does not overgeneralise from his own experience, which I appreciated. He recounts his life in Sweden and later visits to it lucidly and with a pleasant sense of wonder. Britain is only referred to briefly as a point of comparison, and does not come off well. I think the title is rather misleading, as the word utopia appears nowhere in the text and there is no consideration of whether Swedish politics is or was utopian in nature. The book includes some thoughtful discussion of socialist show more policies and their implications in Sweden, though. It was worth reading, but I still don’t understand the appeal of fishing. show less

I put it in Travel Writing, although to Brown it's more of a journey into his past, a quest for the home he used to know, for home in general, a quest for identity - his and the Swedish people's.
I'm rather glad Mr Brown takes us along. What a multifaceted and genuine, always understandable but never too simple or stereotyped of a country that is as long as it is hard to understand sociologically.
And how marvellous for a writer to be able to convey the magic of fly fishing to someone who has never given a damn about casting a rod - metaphor or not.

There were bits of this book that just made me go "aww" and call my mum and my brother to chat and reminisce and discuss - my grandparents lived in Nödinge and we all spent a lot of time in that part of Sweden when I was a kid (I grew up in Kungälv - the city of Club Hangover fame). I absolutely loved Brown's description of Sweden of the 70s and 80s and he is more right about the mood than he might even realize himself. OK, the fishing-bits appealed mainly to my brother who is a fly fisher, but I do recognize the landscape and the sounds and smells of my homeland. I may be biased since this is the time and place of my childhood and I concede that there is a slight inconsistency in the writing (and some typos: it's "Jantelagen," not show more "Jäntelagen"), but I really like this book - it will definitely be recommended to fellow Swedes. Also, Brown's comparing listening to nyckelharpor to watching pterodactyls mating was the best simile I've heard in a long time! show less

This book tells Andrew Brown's story of living in, and experiencing of, Sweden. It is also a book about fishing. An odd combination maybe, but an interesting one none the less. The book is warm, friendly, funny and moving. Sometimes it is all four of these at the same time. Brown takes us from intimate details about his personal life in southern Sweden through sojourns up to the very northernmost points of the country. In these respects, 'Fishing in Utopia' is a joy to read.
But.
I have problems with this book. I have problems with understanding Andrew Brown. I also have a problem with all the fish.
You see, I had expectations with this book. I have my own relationship with Sweden and the people there and, somehow, I wanted Brown to have show more the same. However, he seems too preoccupied with race and immigration for me. Its a red flag. He seems to me to be a man who struggles with changing nature of Sweden. He wants it to be like it was in the past, even though he didn't seem to like it so much back then anyway. Hm. My experience of Sweden and of Swedish people is that it is a multicultural country which is proud to embrace all people, and that is what I love about it. Disappointingly, Brown does not seem share this sentiment and, for me, that spoiled the book. That and all the fish.

As a side note, and I don't like to moan but, there were at least four typos in the version I got from the library. Come on people... show less

A book that succesfully manages to be both about fishing and and overview of Swedish society and politics in from the 1970's until the present day. It covers the author's life and his times living in Sweden and revisiting it after a couple of decades of social shift. Both these times occur in UK stereotypes of the country -- the modern social democracy, as well as IKEA and Absolut.

Having visited Sweden a couple of times, the book is interesting and useful to fill in some of the background to explain the way the country feels. I'd recommend it to anyone with an interest in the country now, but quite apart from that it stands well as a fine piece of nature writing and honest memoir.

i had contacts in Sweden in the 80's and although I admired Sweden at the time more than Mr Brown his description rings true. I didn't find it grumpy, his views are probably tempered by his own experiences and I quite liked the fact that he avoids being polemical and can admit that sometimes he was wrong. I thought the book illustrated the fact that you don't know what you've got till its gone. What Sweden retains is wilderness, though I skipped the fishing. I've just come back from a visit to the south (Wallender and Millenium country, I wonder if he has read recent Swedish detective fiction) but next time we will go north.

He didn't like small-town Sweden when it was socialist and he likes it even less when it's capitalist. Much of what he says about the countryside seems to apply to Finland too, particularly the culture of masculinity and being outdoors.