Step 1 on the road to Swedishness: Astrid Lindgren

[kattahj]

It's really a weird feeling to have half my friends list mourning and knowing I can't even remotely share that feeling. And I'll stop talking about that right now, because otherwise I'll end up saying something incredibly offensive

Comments

[irian]

I've never read the Pippi Longstocking books because for some reason bookstores over here don't stock them... But at least I've heard of she with the red pigtails and stripey socks. Lol.

[kattahj]

You only have to read them if you plan to go over here. it'll be the first thing anyone asks you about. *nods seriously*

It's a cult. The cult of Lindgren.

[irian]

Hehe. If I ever go to Sweden, I'll make sure to read the books beforehand so that the cult members will not go after me with pitchforks and torches.

[kattahj]

Do that. If you read enough books beforehand, you might even get groupies.

[love2loveher]

Is your friend's list mourning over Christopher Reeves, or something else that I've missed? If it's Superman, I have to tell you I've been biting my tongue all day. I have a stupid little issue with Superman, and it's not worth saying, so I'm not, unless provoked in just the right way...

[kattahj]

We'll bite our tongues together.

Or, you know, mail me, and we can vent in private. ;-)

[blanche_]

I must say that I enjoyed reading ths post. It seems incredible, but when you think about it it's so true. I don't think I have ever met someone that disliked Astrid Lindgren. Or at least someone who dared to say it out loud. *lol*

[kattahj]

Yeah. I've encountered criticism of her works, but never to the point where they actually diss Astrid Lindgren as a writer. They can dislike *one* book, or one aspect of her books, but it's still always "Astrid is our friend. Astrid would never hurt us" as a bottom line.

[lilith_morgana]

It's really a weird feeling to have half my friends list mourning and knowing I can't even remotely share that feeling.

I wonder if this public mourning thing isn't essentially non-Swedish (possibly non-European as well) because I never get it. And my offensive comment of the day is that to me, it seems fake. Which is why it bugs me in the first place.

That aside, lovely guide to the Swedes! Whenever I mention that while I liked Astrid Lindgred as a child (and wrote a litt.vet essay about her) I do not think she should have the Nobel prize in literature people look at me with that expression: oh, what a snob!

[kattahj]

I wonder if this public mourning thing isn't essentially non-Swedish (possibly non-European as well) because I never get it.

Well, a lot of people seemed to genuinely mourn Anna Lindh, but of course, that was a murder. And I know I was shocked for days about Glenn Quinn. So I'm not foreign to the thought of mourning a celebrity, as such. I just never seem to mourn the same celebrities as everyone else.

I mention that while I liked Astrid Lindgred as a child (and wrote a litt.vet essay about her) I do not think she should have the Nobel prize in literature people look at me with that expression: oh, what a snob!I don't think she should have gotten the Nobel prize either. Setting a precedence like that would mean having to award children's lit writers quite a lot, as I see it. And besides, I kind of like that I've never read the ones that are awarded - that way they can become discoveries. But of course, that's not the purpose of the prize

[lilith_morgana]

But of course, that's not the purpose of the prize... :-)

I'm starting to think it is, actually. :) I had read Coetzee before, though. Which was a surprise.

And yes, brainwashed is the right word. Fed on Karlsson and pilutta dig.

[kattahj]

Yup. She started writing in the 40s, which means three generations at least so full of Lindgren memories they can't get away from it. My mother still get dreamy-voiced every time she talks about "Rasmus". (She even uses his special curse, "fy bubblan", which I don't know anyone else who does.)

Of course, not all the memories are good. My heart bled for poor Emil, whose dad was so mean to him when he never meant to do anything bad. I couldn't even watch the TV show, had to hide in another room... :-)

[kattahj]

I also have a copy of the German translation of Kati i Amerika, which I haven't got all the way through reading yet.

Wow, that's quite impressive, even though you haven't read it. While her children's books are highly lauded, her girls' books are long since forgotten. I've read them (at least five or so of them) but I rarely encounter anyone else who has.