Hamilton
In 1986 Guillou published a novel about the fictional Swedish military spy Carl Hamilton. Guillou's fictional hero was originally drafted and trained to become an attack diver, but was later chosen for special training in California to become a U.S. Navy SEAL. He has a leftist background and was dubbed Coq Rouge by one of his superiors while he was temporarily working for the security police forces (Säkerhetspolisen). The first Coq Rouge novel came to be followed by another eleven books.
Several characters in the books are based on actual people. Jan Guillou himself is the basis of a character named Erik Ponti, which is also the name Guillou uses in the autobiographical novel Ondskan (literally: The Evil).
- The Coq Rouge novels
- Coq Rouge – berättelsen om en svensk spion (1986) (literally: Coq Rouge – the story of a Swedish spy)
- Den demokratiske terroristen (1987) (English translation: The Democratic Terrorist)
- I nationens intresse (1988) (English translation: In the interest of the nation)
- Fiendens fiende (1989; English translation: Enemy's Enemy by Thomas Keeland, 1992)
- Den hedervärde mördaren (1990) (English translation: The honourable murderer)
- Vendetta (1991)
- Ingen mans land (1992) (English translation: No man's land)
- Den enda segern (1993) (English translation: The only victory)
- I hennes majestäts tjänst (1994) (English translation: In Her Majesty's service)
The feminine "hennes majestät" in this case refers to the queen of Britain. - En medborgare höjd över varje misstanke (1995) (English translation: A citizen raised above every suspicion)
- Hamlon (1996)
- Madame Terror (2006)
- Men inte om det gäller din dotter (2008) (English translation: But not if it concerns your daughter)
A partial draft of an eleventh novel, along with Guillou's account on why it could not be completed, was published as Hamlon in 1995. Guillou stated that En medborgare höjd över varje misstanke was the last book and in order to make sure that Hamilton would never return, Guillou "banished" him from Sweden through a life sentence. Since he only intended to write about Sweden, no other book would be possible. However, when he was working on Madame Terror, he realised that he needed Hamilton to fill in a specific role. After Hamilton had been revived as a character, he made another major appearance in Men inte om det gäller din dotter, where his life sentence was lifted. Guillou thereby cleared the way for new appearances by Hamilton in future books.
- Film and TV adaptations based on Hamilton
- Code Name Coq Rouge, portrayed by Stellan Skarsgård (1989)
- Förhöret, portrayed by Stellan Skarsgård (television, 1989) (English translation: The interrogation)
- The Democratic Terrorist (TV series), with Humberto López y Guerra (1989)
- Enemy's Enemy, portrayed by Peter Haber (television miniseries 1990)
- The Democratic Terrorist (film), portrayed by Stellan Skarsgård (1992)
- Vendetta, portrayed by Stefan Sauk (1995)
- Tribunal, portrayed by Stefan Sauk (television, 1995)
- Hamilton, portrayed by Peter Stormare (1998, television miniseries 2001)
- Hamilton - I nationens intresse, portrayed by Mikael Persbrandt (2012)
Read more about this topic: Jan Guillou, Books
Famous quotes containing the word hamilton:
“Strew your gladness on earth’s bed,
So be merry, so be dead.”
—Charles Hamilton Sorley (1895–1915)
“Whatever an author puts between the two covers of his book is public property; whatever of himself he does not put there is his private property, as much as if he had never written a word.”
—Gail Hamilton (1833–1896)
“For the writer, there is nothing quite like having someone say that he or she understands, that you have reached them and affected them with what you have written. It is the feeling early humans must have experienced when the firelight first overcame the darkness of the cave. It is the communal cooking pot, the Street, all over again. It is our need to know we are not alone.”
—Virginia Hamilton (b. 1936)