Sweden at the turn of the previous century. Arvid, an ambitious and well-educated young man, meets Lydia, the daughter of a landscape painter, during an idyllic summer vacation and falls in love. Lydia, however, has other suitors, and Astrid is frightened of being tied down by his emotions. Trapped inside loveless marriages of convenience, they struggle in later years to rekindle the promise of their romance with bitter and tragic results. **Hjalmar Soderberg**, born in Stockholm, in 1869, was one Scandinavia's leading modernist writers. __The Serious Game__ is Sweden's most celebrated and enduring love story. Each of the four essays reprinted here was written for a specific occasion and together comprise only the smallest selection from a larger corpus questioning commodity and energy-intensive economies. The essays are presented thematically instead of chronologically to offer a better view of the sweep of Illich's argument. In the first two,'War against Subsistence'and'Shadow Work,'Illich reveals both the ruins on which the economy is built and the blindness of economics which cannot but fail to see it. The second two essays,'Energy and Equity'and'The Social Construction of Energy,'unearth the nineteenth century invention and subsequent consequences of'energy'thought of as the unseen cause of all'work'whether done by steam engines, humans, or trees. The science of ecology relies on this assumption and, as Illich explained, unwittingly fuels the addiction to energy. The close dance of energy consumption and economic growth is characteristic of not just industrially geared societies. After all, energy consumption steadily increases even in so-called post-industrial societies, fueling the fortunes of Google and Apple no less than Wal-Mart. Arvid, An Ambitious And Educated Young Man, Meets Lydia, The Daughter Of A Landscape Painter, One Summer And Falls In Love. Lydia, However, Has Other Suitors, And Arvid Is Frightened Of Being Tied By His Emotions. Years Later, Now Trapped Inside Loveless Marriages Of Convenience, The Two Struggle To Rekindle The Promise Of Their Romance With Bitter And Tragic Results--page 4 Of Cover. Hjalmar Söderberg ; Translated From The Swedish By Eva Claeson. Arvid and Lydia fall in love as young adults, but don't commit to each other. Years later, they are both trapped in loveless marriages and try to rekindle their love
