Swedish king clarifies view on Larsson

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STOCKHOLM, Sweden, May 7 (UPI) -- The king of Sweden denied he thought the late Stieg Larsson's best-selling crime novels set in Scandinavia were dreadful.

King Carl XVI Gustaf Saturday clarified the remarks he made to a Polish newspaper, saying it was the stories in Larsson's gritty tales that he thought were "horrible," not the quality of the books.

"I told the Polish journalists that the last book was quite unpleasant. Period, question mark, exclamation mark," the King told the Expressen newspaper. "Then it's up to each and every individual to understand what I mean."

The Local said Carl XVI Gustaf had told the Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza he wasn't keen on Larsson's books because of their violence and darkness, which put Sweden in an unflattering light.

"Maybe it's because Sweden hasn't been associated previously with the criminal world Larsson describes?" he was quoted as saying. "I'm not happy about this because Larsson's books are horrible, rather than joyful."