Just another Big City?

As I read “Yesterday's News, a novel by Kajsa Ingemarsson, Stockholm didn’t seem any different than any other big city. According to Wikipedia, it’s Sweden and Scandinavia’s largest city. Ingemarsson uses streets and areas that I presume actually exist.

Stockholm is presented as a city, which has good areas as well as bad. One of the “good” areas mentioned is on a street named Rörstrandsgatan. Website Totally Stockholm mentions that this area is like a “Little Paris.”

Like many cities, Stockholm has its challenges in the novel: perceived crime, lots of one-way streets, congestion, and pollution. One of the main characters, Agnes in the novel, from a smaller town an hour away from Stockholm, discusses when she was younger, it was a nice place to visit, but even better to come home. After living in the city, she appreciated her hometown more.

The depiction of the city seems to be realistic. Probably like New York City, it’s a good place to visit, but I wouldn’t want to live there. I prefer living in a suburban area and commuting to the city.