It is true that Ekelöf occasionally may appear "absurd" in his later poetry, but to call him "absurd" is inaccurate. He is beyond categorizations of that type. Whether he would approve of the most recent offshoots of the "absurd school" is questionable. Whatever "absurdism" he has is by no means absolute…. Disbelief and skepticism are in fact more typical of Ekelöf than mysticism and absurdism. Skepticism requires an observant, analyzing mind, which is precisely what he has at his disposal. With all his outward success, and with all his analytical ability, however, he finds little but meaninglessness around him. (p. 18)

By being interested in fundamentals Ekelöf has had to make some painful reductions, he has had to start from scratch, without any expectations at all…. Instead of the superstructures, so typical of our civilization, he has often investigated substructures, basic conditions and concepts. The outcome...