Inevitably, they all reveal interesting motivations for their having concealed the truth. Unfortunately, most of the spouses report their spouses’ betrayal but a few do not and these are tested – successfully – with Kallocain and confess. They test out the drugs by telling test subjects to tell their spouses that they are spying against the government. (Bear in mind that this was written before sodium pentathol and other truth drugs were well known.) He makes it known to his bosses and he is given a temporary boss – Rissen – who may be or may have been his wife’s lover.

(Marriage is fairly fluid, with divorce being common and the children soon taken from the parents to be put in a military camp.)Īt the start of the book, Kall has invented a truth drug – soon to be named Kallocain – which seems to have few side effects. He is married to Linda and they have three children. The hero of the book is Leo Kall – the names are vaguely European but certainly not Swedish. Though there are hints of an enemy from outside, we learn little of this enemy till later into the book, though the propaganda machine has clearly suggested that the enemy may well have evolved from a different and inferior breed of ape. Everyone is expected to give up his/her free time to”voluntary” work such as military or police work. Everyone is entitled to the same living space, regardless of rank – one room for singles, two rooms for married couples. Every individual is subordinate to the state.

The story is set in a 1984-like country called Worldstate.

For what it’s worth, I preferred this book to 1984. Rather, they may both have had a common influence – Zamyatin‘s We. As this book was published eight years before 1984 and did not appear in English till eighteen years after the publication of 1984, it is unlikely that Boye or Orwell stole from one another. Home » Sweden » Karin Boye » Kallocain (Kallocain) Karin Boye: Kallocain (Kallocain)Īnyone reading this book will be immediately reminded of 1984.

Kallocain by Karin Boye