Details of Astrid Lindgren's Famous Tales That Only Adults Think About

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Astrid Lingdren's books were popular with Soviet parents and remain popular with Russian ones. In childhood, they are read so easily that if something managed to surprise, they immediately flew out of my head. After all, you have to have time to follow the plot! And only adults begin to notice what they did not see in childhood.

The kid and Karlson who lives on the roof

Children see in the book only funny tricks, many adults see the toxic use of his friend Kid by the flying man. But some of the adults notice that the relationship between the Kid and Carlson is evolving, as is the attitude of the Kid towards the antics of a friend. The kid is less and less likely to support the most insane fun of Carlson and more and more often is ready to look for a way to correct the harm from them, so the stories end up with a happy end over and over again. He begins to notice that Carlson is boastful and often selfish. But … he forgives him, as the elder forgives the younger. In general, the Kid is outgrowing his boyfriend-friend before our eyes.

Because of this, a whole theory appeared that Carlson only seems to the Kid, he is the embodiment of his childish, mischievous side of nature. Who nailed it? Carlson, who lives on the roof. And over time, the boy Svante Swantesson learns to tame his friend, correct the situation and still love him, as they love a part of themselves. True, this theory does not fit the fact that parents and many other adults at least once see Carlson live.

Modern adults jokingly call Carlson a "cyborg" for a motor with a propeller implanted in him, but for children of the past - which is obvious if you read a lot of Scandinavian fairy tales - Carlson was more like a little troll. Not only in the sense that one can put into thinking about his pranks, but, first of all, in folklore, something like an imp. In this light, Carlson's story about his grandmother's vacation looks very funny. The Swedes, like the Russians, have their own damn grandmothers, and you can go to them. By the way, Carlson's inhuman nature also explains his behavior.

Another unusual detail is that Carlson does not have a first name and, possibly, a surname. After all, the word "Carlson" simply means "son of Karl", that is, it can be a patronymic. His rooftop house is quite similar to the troll dwellings on the tops of the cliffs, which are very difficult to climb. Among the Scandinavian trolls, by the way, there are flying ones! True, the propeller is already a pure invention of the writer.

The Kid's family is not poor. Each child has his own room, the parents have a separate bedroom, and to all this there is also a living room (where fourteen-year-old sister Bethan kisses with her boys). They eat Svantesons with silverware and when adults need to rest, they can afford to hire a housekeeper. The Kid himself is not as lonely as many think - he has two constant friends, the boy Christer and the girl Gunilla. The Kid is thinking of marrying Gunilla when they grow up.

Despite the fact that Carlson constantly spoils everything and annoys everyone, he has a peculiar sense of justice, only very childish. Where he takes something or cheats, he leaves a coin. Since he does not know the value of money at all, he is not embarrassed that it is a coin of small value in the 5th era. By the way, some of his pranks are directly related to the desire to restore justice. He makes fun of the parents who left the baby unattended at home, scares the crooks and annoys the housekeeper who is too cruel with the Baby.

Peppy Longstocking

Many believe that Pippi Longstocking belongs to the troll tribe. This would explain the inhuman strength of her and her father, as well as the usual wealth of the trolls, accumulated mainly in gold coins. True, troll children are usually described in fairy tales as terribly ugly - but in the middle of the century, too freckled children, which Pippi was from the book, in Europe, even in Sweden, were just considered funny and ugly. It was even possible not to add other details to make Pippi's appearance unconcentrated, but she dresses like a representative of a non-human race - in fairy tales, they often have strange clothes. Pippi has only one dress, made of multi-colored patches, that is, as if completely consisting of patches, unpaired stockings and unusually large shoes. And she, of course, behaves strangely (often does something "the other way around" in the most literal sense) and in unusual ways restores justice - again, like otherworldly creatures in Scandinavian folk tales.

Like Carlson, she is constantly talking nonsense, composing fables on the go and adjusting reality to herself (like with a lemonade tree). Only Carlson is selfish, and Pippi is amazingly good-natured and altruistic. But in the same way he does not understand why it is necessary to live according to human rules. For example, going to school.

An adult reader will pay attention to the fact that the father, Captain Ephraim, who has briefly reappeared in his daughter's life, plays with the children practically naked - in a grass skirt without an underwear. More inappropriate for fiddling with children, especially when you consider that everyone is actively moving and physically interacting, and it is difficult to imagine. But the Swedes are a little more relaxed about nudity than the Russians. Although in general such naked games are not welcome, the naked body itself is not necessarily naked for the sake of debauchery - in this form, many traditionally, for example, swim in nature in the summer, without embarrassing observers. Unsurprisingly, children playing with the captain find him funny, out of place, rather than embarrassing and intimidating.

Peppy really does not want to grow up, and in one of the scenes in the book, the children see her taking a pill for growing up, and then going to bed. Many adults find the scene intimidating - it looks like a suicide. But Lindgren could not stand adult hints in children's texts, so this is most likely Peppy's next invention, like a lemonade tree (in which she herself puts lemonade).

Roni, the robber's daughter

The adaptation of this book by Japanese animator Goro Miyazaki sparked a new wave of interest in it. Unlike almost all of Lindgren's other books, this tale takes place in the Middle Ages. Two only children into two gangs of robbers decide to be brother and sister to each other, despite the fact that their parents are at enmity. This is Roni's girl and Birk boy.

An adult reader will be very puzzled to understand that the wife of the chieftain Mattis Lovis is too good manners to think that she was born and raised in a band of robbers. Did Mattis lure her out of the village or the noble castle? Or maybe he got it as a trophy when he robbed the rich people passing by? However, Undis, judging by the way she raised Birk, is a stranger in a band of robbers.

Perhaps the clues are hidden in the names of this woman. Although the name "Lovisa" is a modification of the name "Louise", it resembles the French word for "she-wolf" and sings to Lovisa's daughter a strange protective lullaby called "Wolfsong". At the same time, the name Undis is similar to the word "undine" - this is the name of a type of nymph or mermaid, which, by the way, is capable of giving birth to a child from a person.

Both gave birth to very unusual children (as happens with otherworldly creatures who conceived from earthly men). Roni looks like a little drudah, and it’s hardly just because her father, like drudos, is dark-haired and curly - she just feels something “forest”, inhuman. Birk is able to resist the call of the creatures from the fog and thanks to this he saves himself and saves Roni. At some point, both of them, as in fairy tales about children of fairies and nymphs, run away from home into the wild world. Is it any wonder that they are the ones who ultimately get the mountain of silver that Bald Per once received from a rescued gray dwarf and which he, a man, did not seem to dare to use?

The books of this writer can be discussed endlessly. Suicide propaganda, disrespect for fathers and other sins for which Astrid Lindgren is reproached