Jonas Jonasson

"The passenger was wondering why he had stolen a big gray suitcase on four wheels. Was it because he could and because the owner was a lout or because the suitcase might contain a pair of shoes and even a hat? Or was it because the old man didn't have anything to lose? Allan really couldn't say why he did it. When life has gone into overtime it's easy to take liberties, he thought, and made himself comfortable in the seat.”"

"For Allan's father, the whole thing had acquired a personal dimension since Lenin had forbidden all private ownership of land the very day after Allan's father had purchased 130 square feet on which to grow Swedish strawberries. ‘The land didn’t cost more than four rubles but they won't get away with nationalizing my strawberry patch,’ wrote Allan's father in his very last letter home, including ‘now it's war!’"

"Since his time as an errand boy, Allan had retained his interest in current affairs. At least once a week, he rode his bicycle to the public library in Flen to get updated on the latest news. When he was there he often met young men who were keen to debate and who all had one thing in common: they wanted to tempt Allan into some political movement or another. But Allan’s great interest in world events did not include any interest in trying to change them."