Henning Mankell described The Serious Game as one of Sweden's lost classics. 'Söderberg wrote a contemporary novel. He wants the reader to look upon that time and to understand that love is not a secluded island, it is always affected by the 'big' world; by society; politics, disasters and scandals. Arvid, an educated and ambitious young man, meets Lydia, the daughter of a landscape painter; it is summer, they are young, and they fall in love. Lydia, however, has other suitors, and Arvid i...