(1915-1997)
A Swedish novelist, short story writer, dramatist, and essayist, Ahlin differs from most of his literary contemporaries in that he has a religious outlook on life. He focuses on the dignity of each human being while simultaneously showing concern that each person should have opportunities to enhance his or her value to society. Brotherly love, understood as social equality, is an important desideratum for him. Opposed to the idea that art is an end in itself, Ahlin wants to draw the reader into his stories and have him or her identify with the characters, thus causing the reader's view of the world to be altered.
Ahlin had his debut with the novel Tabb med manifestet (1943; Tåbb with the Manifesto), in which the character Tabb recognizes that the ideas contained in Karl Marx's Communist Manifesto (1848) are false and that he should support egalitarian social democracy rather than a system that promotes a hierarchy of value. Inga ogon vantar mig (1944; No Eyes Await Me) is a collection of short stories; other volumes in this genre include Fangens gladje (1947; The Joy of the Prisoner), Huset har ingen filial (1949; The House Has No Annex), and Vaktpojkens eld (1986; The Watch Boy's Fire).
Min dod er min (1945; My Death Is My Own) deals with the destructive consequences of feelings of failure but also shows that such feelings can be overcome, albeit at times by extreme or even grotesque means. The novel Om (1946; If) exhibits strong anti-realism in that readers are constantly reminded by the narrator that they are reading a work of fiction. Jungfrun i det grona (1947; The Virgin in the Grass) is thematically related to Min dod er min in that it shows an average man may be able to accept himself as such through the love of a woman. Egen spis (1948; A Stove of One's Own) contrasts the pursuit of social and material ambition with true caring for others.Fromma mord (1952; Pious Murders) criticizes the kind of religiosity that leads some people to seek their own salvation without regard for the needs of other people.
The novel Kanelbiten (1953; tr. Cinnamoncandy, 1990) tells the story of a young girl with cinnamon-colored hair who grows up too fast, believing that a woman exists primarily through her relationship to the man in her life. The story was adapted for radio by Mia Tornkvist and broadcast in Sweden in 2004. Stora glomskan: Zacharias' forsta bok (1954; The Great Forgetfulness: Zacharias's First Book) has as its main character a 13-year-old boy named Zacharias, who is exceptionally attuned to other people. He also occurs in Natt i mark-nadstaltet (1957; Night in the Fairground Tent), in which he observes the marital tragedy of the characters Leopold and Paulina Dahl. At the end of his career, Ahlin returned to Zacharias in De sotarna! De sotarna! Zacharias' andra bok (1990; The Chimney Sweeps! The Chimney Sweeps! Zacharias's Second Book).
After publishing Bark och lov (1961; Bark and Foliage), a novel about the relationship between author and audience, Ahlin published no books for approximately 20 years. Then, after co-authoring a novel with his wife, he returned to his previous themes with Sjatte munnen (1985; The Sixth Mouth), which describes the love that an 11-year-old boy has for his father in spite of the father's many shortcomings. The novel Din livsfrukt (1987; Fruit of Your Life) shows that achieving a sense of self-worth is hard for the rich as well as the poor. Det florentinska vildsvinet (1991; The Florentine Wild Boar) considers the role played by love in the development of a budding artist. Ahlin published collections of his earlier essays in 1994, 1995, and 1996. His two plays, Lekpaus (1948; Play Break) and Eld av eld (1949; Fire of Fire), have received little critical attention.