The Red Room

August Strindberg’s novel The Red Room centers on the civil servant Arvid Falk as he tries to find meaning in his life through the pursuit of writing. He’s accompanied by a crew of painters, sculptors and philosophers each on their own journey for the truth, who meet in the “Red Room” of a local restaurant.

Drawing heavily on August’s own experiences, The Red Room was published in Sweden in 1879. Its reception was less than complimentary in Sweden—a major newspaper called it “dirt”—but it fared better in the rest of Scandinavia and soon was recognized in his home country. Since then it has been translated into multiple languages, including the 1913 English translation by Ellie Schleussner presented here.

First published 1879; the Read4Max reading text contains approximately 99,351 words arranged in 31 navigable sections.

The source metadata identifies Annotator: Ellie Schleussner; Translator: Ellie Schleussner.