Spare me the heart of gold and I might consider it.

The problem with books and films about curmudgeons is that almost inevitably, there must be some form of redemption.

But why can't we curmudgeons just be ourselves, without conforming to society's norms about behavior, or even worse, storytelling?

And isn't it about time someone made dog owners obey the damn rules?

A Swedish Curmudgeon Wins Hearts, On The Page, And Now On Screen, by Lynn Neary (NPR Morning Edition)

 ... Ove is the kind of guy most of us try to avoid; he picks fights with storekeepers and prowls his housing complex making sure gates are locked and garbage has been properly stowed. He loves to make sure people are following the rules — especially dog owners.

But it is the gradual unfolding of Ove's life story that has made the novel by Fredrik Backman so popular. It was already a best-seller in Sweden when it landed on the desk of Peter Borland, editorial director at Atria Books.

"I'd never heard of it, I knew nothing about it," Borland recalls. He took A Man Called Ove home to read over the weekend and fell in love with the novel.

"Ove is such a curmudgeon at the start of the book," Borland says. "Then, as you gradually come to understand more about him, and learn his back story and figure out why he is the way he is, you just sort of melt."

Scandinavia: Social democracy and the dignity of work ... "driving the policies that facilitate it."

Dignity? At work? It seems as though Americans have determined to make entry-level jobs as unrewarding as possible, perhaps as an impetus for pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps, and whatever.

Social democracy and the dignity of work: The U.S. must learn from Scandinavian “utopias” for Bernie’s revolution to move forward, by David Dayen (Salon)

Sweden and Denmark provide the roadmap for the U.S. and progressives in how to treat workers

... You understand more about Sweden by seeing men with strollers in Stockholm neighborhoods at 2:00 in the afternoon than by reading any white papers on social spending. Those men have an expectation of work/family balance that allows them to bond with their offspring and be an equal partner in child-rearing. The policy comes after that expectation takes hold in the public consciousness ...

... Every single receipt in Denmark and Sweden breaks down the percentage of payment that goes to taxes. And the public also sees what they get in return. Central Copenhagen is engaged in a 3-year construction effort to build more subway lines. In Kongens Nytorv, one of the city’s main squares, people are invited to step onto a riser and watch the construction in progress. Connected to the riser are reams of information about the cost of the operation, and how it will impact individual commutes. All cities try to tout their local improvement projects, but perhaps only in Denmark are you invited to watch workers working, and receive a direct cost-benefit breakdown of their labor.

Kurt Wallander and Nordic Noir.

Detective fiction isn't my bag, but I've seen a few of the Kenneth Branagh episodes of Wallander, and my curiosity currently has an eyebrow cocked. I may need to look into this, after finishing the other 15 books currently stacked atop the table.

After all, Nero Wolfe's Archie Goodwin and Inspector Morse are great favorites.

Detective fiction: A farewell to Kurt Wallander (probably), by N.E. (The Economist)

LONG before Stieg Larsson and Jo Nesbo turned Nordic Noir into a global brand and staying in to watch foreign dramas on television became a global obsession, Detective Kurt Wallander stumbled through the streets of a small town in Sweden. A middle aged, ordinary man, he gave readers an appetite for flawed detectives working cases in cold climes where the finger of responsibility is usually pointed at society.

The Wallander novels, created by Henning Mankell (who sadly passed away last year), have sold tens of millions of copies all over the world. The character has been incarnated into two separate Swedish television series, as well as a British version—the final series of which will air on the BBC in May. Mankell opened the door for multitudes of other writers from the region, and his Wallander encouraged small screen manifestations of Nordic Noir that we see in the shape of “The Killing”, “The Bridge” and “Follow The Money”.

What is remarkable about Wallander— and key to his popularity—is just how unremarkable he is.