What do you think?
Rate this book
El túnel de cristal
A sudden decision leads a boy to abandon his home and family and journey to Stockholm--where he changes his name and appearance--in order to come to terms with his own identity, dreams, and hopes
173 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1969
About the author
Maria Gripe
62 books206 followersMaria Gripe, born Maja Stina Walter (25 July 1923, Vaxholm, Uppland – 5 April 2007, Rönninge), was a Swedish author of books for children and young people, often written in a magical and mystical tone. In 1946 she married the artist Harald Gripe, who created cover illustrations for most of her books. His illustration career, in fact, began in connection with his wife's debut as author of I vår lilla stad ("In our little town"). Maria Gripe's first major success was Josephine (1961), the first of a series of novels that later included Hugo and Josephine and Hugo. During most of her adult life Maria Gripe lived in Nyköping, where an adaptation of her book Agnes Cecilia was filmed. After a long period of dementia Maria Gripe died at 83 in a nursing home in Rönninge outside Stockholm; her husband Harald had predeceased her by 15 years. Their daughter Camilla Gripe is also a children's author.
Much of her writing, particularly the later works, is suffused with a supernatural or mystical element. This change in her writing style from her less mature work was partly a result of the influence of Edgar Allan Poe, Charlotte and Emily Brontë, and Carl Jonas Love Almquist, and partly a reaction to violence in entertainment that had begun to gain ground in cultural expression; Gripe sought to manufacture plot tension in less overt ways. A prominent feature of Maria Gripe's writing is a respect for individuals and their unique characteristics, a trait which is especially perceptible in the social realism of the Elvis series, which she co-wrote with her husband Harald in the 1970s.
Gripe wrote 38 books, translated into 30 different languages, making her one of Sweden's most prolific writers. Her last published book is Annas blomma ("Anna's Flower", 1997). Several of Gripe's books have been filmed, such as Glasblåsarns barn (The Glassblower's Children), Agnes Cecilia: en sällsam historia ("Agnes Cecilia: a singular history") and the "Shadow" series, directed by Anders Grönros in the 1990s. Kjell Grade directed Hugo and Josephine in 1967, while Kay Pollak filmed Elvis! Elvis (Elvis and his friends) in 1976 and Flickan vid stenbänken ("The girl on the stone bench") became a television series in 1989. Dramatized versions of Tordyveln flyger i skymningen ("The dung-beetle flies at dusk"), Agnes Cecilia, Tanten ("The Aunt") and Svinhugg går igen ("The backbiter bitten") have been produced as radio serials. She also wrote the original Swedish television script for Trolltider ("Magic Time", 1979).
Stockholm University Literature professor Boel Westin praised Maria Gripe to a writer for Svenska Dagbladet, declaring that her Shadow books presented an exciting narrative that enabled readers to feel as if they were participants: "She has meant a lot. She renewed children's prose."[1]Literary researcher Ying Toijer-Nilsson, who wrote a biography Skuggornas förtrogna ("Confidant to shadows") of the author, echoed the remarks, saying that she would miss "the warm and humorous human being who was Maria Gripe." The biographer continued: "She has done a lot for the children's book world, and she got her readers to think about philosophy, about the world and about death." Toijer-Nilsson pointed out that Gripe's books also have "a significant tendency to support the social advancement of women." Her books have won many awards, including the Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 1974, and she was the 1979 Swedish winner of the Dobloug Prize for Swedish and Norwegian fiction.
Much of her writing, particularly the later works, is suffused with a supernatural or mystical element. This change in her writing style from her less mature work was partly a result of the influence of Edgar Allan Poe, Charlotte and Emily Brontë, and Carl Jonas Love Almquist, and partly a reaction to violence in entertainment that had begun to gain ground in cultural expression; Gripe sought to manufacture plot tension in less overt ways. A prominent feature of Maria Gripe's writing is a respect for individuals and their unique characteristics, a trait which is especially perceptible in the social realism of the Elvis series, which she co-wrote with her husband Harald in the 1970s.
Gripe wrote 38 books, translated into 30 different languages, making her one of Sweden's most prolific writers. Her last published book is Annas blomma ("Anna's Flower", 1997). Several of Gripe's books have been filmed, such as Glasblåsarns barn (The Glassblower's Children), Agnes Cecilia: en sällsam historia ("Agnes Cecilia: a singular history") and the "Shadow" series, directed by Anders Grönros in the 1990s. Kjell Grade directed Hugo and Josephine in 1967, while Kay Pollak filmed Elvis! Elvis (Elvis and his friends) in 1976 and Flickan vid stenbänken ("The girl on the stone bench") became a television series in 1989. Dramatized versions of Tordyveln flyger i skymningen ("The dung-beetle flies at dusk"), Agnes Cecilia, Tanten ("The Aunt") and Svinhugg går igen ("The backbiter bitten") have been produced as radio serials. She also wrote the original Swedish television script for Trolltider ("Magic Time", 1979).
Stockholm University Literature professor Boel Westin praised Maria Gripe to a writer for Svenska Dagbladet, declaring that her Shadow books presented an exciting narrative that enabled readers to feel as if they were participants: "She has meant a lot. She renewed children's prose."[1]Literary researcher Ying Toijer-Nilsson, who wrote a biography Skuggornas förtrogna ("Confidant to shadows") of the author, echoed the remarks, saying that she would miss "the warm and humorous human being who was Maria Gripe." The biographer continued: "She has done a lot for the children's book world, and she got her readers to think about philosophy, about the world and about death." Toijer-Nilsson pointed out that Gripe's books also have "a significant tendency to support the social advancement of women." Her books have won many awards, including the Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 1974, and she was the 1979 Swedish winner of the Dobloug Prize for Swedish and Norwegian fiction.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
January 16, 2023
a mi me gusto que se yo
July 16, 2019
It was a weird book but i really enjoyed the way it was written. Maria Gripe is one of my favourite authors specially for the magical or mystical part of her books and the way she introduces this.
This book helped me a lot, while reading it I felt really identified with the character but It felt quite slow at the beginning or there were some part where the main character took a lot of time talking about the way the moon reflects in the water (maybe I am dumb and I didn't noticed a secret meaning ??? idk).
This book helped me a lot, while reading it I felt really identified with the character but It felt quite slow at the beginning or there were some part where the main character took a lot of time talking about the way the moon reflects in the water (maybe I am dumb and I didn't noticed a secret meaning ??? idk).
September 23, 2023
no sabría que decir del libro como tal porque siento que quiero decir mucho, pero no encuentro la forma de hilar todo. lo que si puedo decir es que me gustó. hay partes (muchas) en las que coincidí con las divagaciones del protagonista.
es una lectura que en un futuro espero releer y ver si es que hay algún cambio en las cosas en las que coincido con el protagonista y cuales son.
es una lectura que en un futuro espero releer y ver si es que hay algún cambio en las cosas en las que coincido con el protagonista y cuales son.
May 2, 2024
Creo que la premisa es buena, pero la ejecución no fue la correcta. Un libro repleto de cavilaciones y divagaciones que terminan siendo un dolor de cabeza. Hay buenas reflexiones y momentos, pero estos son escasos. Una historia que se siente sin rumbo la mayor parte del tiempo, con personajes que no llegan a desarrollarse del todo.
June 26, 2021
Empieza muy bien, pero enseguida deriva en una historia deslavazada y sin sentido, repleta de personajes errantes que tuvieron la mala suerte de topar con una escritora incapaz de dotar de sentido a sus vidas.
December 22, 2023
Un libro extraño, a medio camino entre un diario y las memorias del protagonista narrando su adolescencia desde que se fugó de casa y todas las experiencias que vive a lo largo de esa etapa vital. Una historia de búsqueda de uno mismo.
April 30, 2025
La importancia de irse de casa, sin solo irse, sino siendo acto
January 3, 2015
https://www.facebook.com/escribadeava...
De esta autora sueca había leído anteriormente "Los escarabajos vuelan al atardecer " y "La hija del espantapájaros" así que cuando vi este libro a 500 pesos (un dólar más menos), nuevo, en una feria del libro, no lo dudé y lo compré.
Un chico al cual nunca le sabremos su verdadero nombre, se sentía fuera de lugar en su núcleo familiar, esto se debía a que le corregían en exceso su actuar para que no terminara "como su abuelo", cosa que lo molestaba de sobremanera, ya que así, no sabía cuál era su verdadera personalidad. Al cumplir los 14 años, haciendo todo lo que sus padres lo obligaban, simplemente un día decide no volver a casa, toma un tren que lo deja en Estocolmo, se inventa una identidad y se agrega un par de años, trabajó mucho tiempo en muchas cosas, pero será gracias a una chica ciega (Tessi) quien le enseñará poco a poco a encontrar su verdadero yo. Tessi, al ser no vidente, siempre le preguntaba a nuestro protagonista sobre cómo él veía las cosas, algo que él nunca antes se había preguntado a sí mismo. Con el tiempo descubre que él si se parece a su abuelo, pero en cosas que su familia nunca reconoció, sino más bien en cosas que el mismo descubrió con el paso de los años.
Suscríbete a mi blog http://escribadeavalon.blogspot.com
Da "me gusta" a mi facebook http://facebook.com/escribadeavalon
De esta autora sueca había leído anteriormente "Los escarabajos vuelan al atardecer " y "La hija del espantapájaros" así que cuando vi este libro a 500 pesos (un dólar más menos), nuevo, en una feria del libro, no lo dudé y lo compré.
Un chico al cual nunca le sabremos su verdadero nombre, se sentía fuera de lugar en su núcleo familiar, esto se debía a que le corregían en exceso su actuar para que no terminara "como su abuelo", cosa que lo molestaba de sobremanera, ya que así, no sabía cuál era su verdadera personalidad. Al cumplir los 14 años, haciendo todo lo que sus padres lo obligaban, simplemente un día decide no volver a casa, toma un tren que lo deja en Estocolmo, se inventa una identidad y se agrega un par de años, trabajó mucho tiempo en muchas cosas, pero será gracias a una chica ciega (Tessi) quien le enseñará poco a poco a encontrar su verdadero yo. Tessi, al ser no vidente, siempre le preguntaba a nuestro protagonista sobre cómo él veía las cosas, algo que él nunca antes se había preguntado a sí mismo. Con el tiempo descubre que él si se parece a su abuelo, pero en cosas que su familia nunca reconoció, sino más bien en cosas que el mismo descubrió con el paso de los años.
Suscríbete a mi blog http://escribadeavalon.blogspot.com
Da "me gusta" a mi facebook http://facebook.com/escribadeavalon
Read
September 2, 2020En pärla!
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews