January talking meme

[scripsi]

verdande_mi asked: Favourite Swedish children's book?

It's always so hard to pick favourites! But after some consideration I think it must be a book, or rather three books by Astrid Lindgren. It’s very likely you know about this author and may very well have read something by her, like the books about Pippi Longstocking. But my favourites are the books about Bill Bergson, which probably are among her less known works, even in Sweden. Lindgren worked for a Doctor in Criminology during a period and the result became the books about the boy detective Bill Bergson (In Swedish Kalle Blomqvist); Bill Bergson, Master Detective (1946), Bill Bergson Lives Dangerously (1951) and Bill Bergson and the White Rose Rescue (1953).

ANd why do I love them. Well, first because they are very fun books, apart from the detective element. The book takes place during three summers, in the first Bill is thirteen years old. He and his friends are playing a game, inspired by The War of the Roses. He, a boy named Anders and a girl called Eva-Lotta (not sure what they are called in the translation) are The White Roses and three other boys are The Red Roses. They spy on each other,”duels” and try to steal each other’s important papers or a funnily shaped stone they have decided is a mystical object. The rule is that the group having the stone has to give the others clues on where it is to be found. This backstory is charming and the friendship between the children are wonderfully depicted. Bill is a dreamer, Eva-Lotta has a more straightforward approach and Anders is the leader. And though most of the children have secure middle class backgrounds, Anders comes from a poor background and has a father who is both drunk and abusive. In many ways the little town they live in is idyllic, but as an adult you realise that even so, Lindgren give hints that not everyone are kind and wonderful there.

These books have had an impact on children in Sweden in the way they play. When I grew up we played “Redwhite Roses” without knowing the game is sprung from these books. You play it like this: Form two teams. Team A closes their eyes and count two one hundred while team B hides a designated “treasure” and then hides themselves. Team A then has to find and capture members of team B for “Interrogation”. A captive must gives three clues to the treasure, two false and one true and after that s/he is allowed to escape and hide again. This goes on until the treasure is found and then the team switches. I can tell you this was a hugely popular game in my pre-teens when they teams were usually divided between boys and girls. you know, boys was icky, but if you had to chase and capture them, you had an excellent excuse to actually holding a boy’s hand. :)

Also, though Lindgren didn’t invent it, she popularized “The Robber Language”, the secret language the White Roses uses to communicate with each other. It’s quite simple, every consonant is doubled and you put a o in between. So scripsi would be soscocroripopsosi, for example. Written it’s quite easy to dechiffre, but when you speak it, especially when you can do it fast, a person who doesn’t know the secret is pretty clueless..

But I digress here, because these books really are detective stories. And they are not the kind of formulaic detective stories most of us read as kids. Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, the Famous Five, all builds on a similar formula. The Bill Bergson books has a vastly different plot in each book. In the first an old man is murdered and Eva-Lotta sees the murderer just before he commits the act, making her a target. in the second book a cousin to Eva-Lotta’s mother unexpectedly comes to visit. He is a rather unpleasant fellow, but even if the kids don’t like him, only Bill suspect there is something fishy going on. And he is right!. And in the last book the White Roses accidentally witness the kidnapping of a scientist and his small son and with no opportunity to call the police, follows them.

What makes these books so remarkable is that Lindgren makes her character’s real and especially Bill develops in the books. In the first book he dreams of being a detective and often disappears into a fantasy where he explains his brilliant sleuthing for an admiring invisible listener. His friends often makes a little good natured fun of him, but he also is intelligent and resourceful and really help solving the murder in the first book. And he also realises that murders in reality are awful and frightening, not just a mental exercise. In the last book the invisible listener is gone and Bill has a much more realistic approach. And the villains are real too. The murdered in the first book isn’t evil. He is desperate and afraid and that is what drives him to kill and then to try to kill Eva-Lotta. Cousin Einar in the second book is a liar and a coward who has managed to get himself into more trouble he can handle. And the villain in the last book, a man who has no problems in kidnapping and threatening a small child, or beat a teenager half to death, is probably one of the first psychopath in a Swedish detective story and he is terrifying!

I love these books for so many reasons and I can recommend them. They are a quick read, they are meant for children after all, but they are exciting too! Also, it was in these books I first heard the names of Hercule Poirot and Lord Peter Wimsey!

Comments

[evelyn-b.livejournal.com]

Oh no! I'm not supposed to be buying any new books, but now I want to read this! I guess I'll check at the library. Or exercise some self-control? not sure which.

[scripsi.livejournal.com]

LOL! I'm not sure if they are still in print, so perhaps the library is the best bet anyway. :) And if you ask me, then reading is always betterthan self-control. ;)

[a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com]

Ohh, I need these books!!

May I recommend 'Ronia, Robber's Daughter'? I think you'd love that one...

*HUGS*

[scripsi.livejournal.com]

Yes, you do!

I've red Ronia several times. :) In fact, i have read everything by Astrid Lindgren several times. :D *hugs*

[a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com]

Really need to revisit Lindgren. I'm so glad you have read Ronia..that is one of my favs!

*HUGS*

[scripsi.livejournal.com]

I like Ronja a lot, but it was her last published novel so I was on the verge of growing away from it when it came. But it's very good and it was made into a birliiant movie too. Apart from Bill Bergson I think I loved Mio My Son the most.

[thisbluespirit]

Oh, this is really interesting to hear!

[scripsi.livejournal.com]

I can recommend them very much. :)

[velvetwhip.livejournal.com]

Those books sound nifty.


Gabrielle

[scripsi.livejournal.com]

Thay are! :)

[dunderklumpen.livejournal.com]

Interesting! I like Kalle Blomkvist as well but it was never that big a hit in Germany. The space that book is filling on the swedish children books market was already filled in Germany by Erich Kästner. His book "Emil und die Detektive" is basically the same trope/genre. Fun fact btw... Emil i Lönneberga's name is Michel in Germany because the publishers were afraid that people would mix it up with the character of "Emil" from "Emil und die Detektive" which was already a huge success and established when Astrid Lindgren started publishing for the first time in Germany.

I love really all of Astrid's books. I grew up with them:) But my favorite is "Ronja Rövardotter".

[scripsi.livejournal.com]

I've never read Emil und die Detektive, though it was translated to Swedish in the 30's and have been published several times after that. I am fairly certain Lindgren was influenced by it too. :)

I love all but the books about Karlsson on the roof. I really disliked his character- such a bully. But apart from those, I love everything she has written. Ronja was published when I was starting to ougrow Lindgren, so that book wasn't part of my childhood the same way. I like it a lot though! And I love the movie too!

[dunderklumpen.livejournal.com]

Jag växte framförallt upp med Pippi, Emil, Bullerby och Madiken. Ronja upptäckte jag när jag var redan lite äldre. Och jag kommer ihåg att det fanns en tid där jag älskade Mio, min Mio jätte mycket. Jag tror det var efter jag hade sett filmen.

Jag älskar alla Lindgren böcker men också en hel del filmer och serier. En av dem visas nästan varje helg här på tyska teven.

[scripsi.livejournal.com]

Jag har aldrig sett Min min Mio filmen, antagligen för att den kom i mina sena tonår. Men boken älskar jag! Jag kommer fortfarande ihåg när min mamma läste den högt för mig och Mio sträcker upp sin hand för att bli räddad, men möts av en klo av järn, inte en varm hand. Det var både läskigt och facinerande.

[verdande-mi.livejournal.com]

I loved, loved this post ♥ Perhaps especially the re-telling of Bill and his friends playing the War of the roses game and how it has inspired real life play time too. It brought be back to my childhood. Thank you for sharing and answering so wonderfully.

I am very familiar with Astrid Lindgren, but I have not read the books about Bill Bergson. I loved Ronja, Emil, Madicken (and Abbe ♥), Lejonhjarte and Mio, Mio. And Pippi of course! Can't forget her :) :)

But my favourite children's book originally written in Swedish is Puttes äventyr i blåbärsskogen - my dream is to one day chance upon an old Swedish version of that book at a flea-marked. I absolutely loved it as a kid.

I plan on re-reading Lejonhjarte this year. It will be interesting to do so as an adult.

[scripsi.livejournal.com]

The Bill Bergson books are probably among her least read. Those and the YA novels about Kati.

I love everything by Lindgren, apart from the books about Karlsson on the roof. He was such a bully and I thought he was so mean!

Oh yes, Elsa Beskow! It's a lovely book! I have it and several others of her picture books. Are you familiar with this site?

http://www.antikvariat.net/

I have found a lot of old books there and have ordered from both Norway and Denmark without any problems, so it ought to work the other way round too.

I haven't read Bröderna Lejonhjärta in years and years. Perhaps I should re-visit it as well. :)

[verdande-mi.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the link :) It does seem to be geared towards the Nordic countries!

Karlsson was never my thing either, I only know parts of his song.

Whenever I was at the libary when I was in kindergarten I would head straight for Putte, always and always :D :D

I think Bröderna Lejonhjärta will be an emotional and good read as an adult as well.

[scripsi.livejournal.com]

As I understadn it, the site is a hub for independent antique book dealers in Scandinavia. I have only had very good experiences there. :)

I think Bröderna Lejonhjärta will be an emotional and good read as an adult as well.

I think so too! :)