Critics clash over Tone Schunnesson’s Ultravåld at Gothenburg Book Fair: badly written or one of the year’s best novels?

In one corner of the ring, Sydsvenskan's Maria G Francke, who praised the novel. In the other, "the critics' own internal auditor," Mikaela Blomqvist at GP, who hasn't wavered an inch from her assessment of Schunnesson's book.

It is badly written, it is sloppily written, said Blomqvist at the Gothenburg Book Fair, where the pair debated at GP's booth.

She has nothing against describing the book as “entertaining.” But comparing Schunnesson to Lars Norén, Émile Zola and the Russian masters is going too far, she said.

It's not great literature. That was what the critics claimed was really, really good literature - and it isn't.

Maria G Francke noted with amusement that they would not agree in the debate.

But the debate is invigorating. It is important to keep literature and books alive, she said, and was immediately rebuked by Blomqvist:

My goal is not to keep these books alive.