Linda Boström Knausgård, „Copil de octombrie” ["Oktoberbarn"/"October Child"], translated from Swedish by Roxana-Ema Dreve, București: Pandora, coll. “Anansi Contemporan”, 2023, 168 p.

Abstract

After the micro-novel Bine ai venit în America (Velkommen till Amerika/ Welcome to America), this year saw the publication of a new translation of a text by Linda Boström Knausgård, Copil de octom­brie (Oktoberbarn/October Child). Both titles were translated from Swedish into Romanian by Roxana-Ema Dreve, at Pandora Press. Copil de octombrie deals with themes such as isolation, loneliness, mental health, but perhaps the most important aspect Knausgård’s novel touches is the relationship with the people around her, with her own family and with those closest to her. As noted in other reviews, the main thrust of the book concerns the traumatic experience lived by the protagonist, Linda, in a psychiatric asylum. Linda is subjected to electroshock therapy, a brutal treatment that is still being applied in Sweden today. The whole asylum is portrayed as a factory, where people suffering from mental illness are brought to be cured and reintegrated into society. It is important to consider the term factory used throughout the novel to describe the institution, as it shows the dehumanising nature of what happens there. In fact, the doctors, the nurses and almost the entire medical staff are acting precisely at the opposite pole of empathy, a crucial quality in the doctor-patient relationship.