Suna’s Comments (group member since Apr 18, 2011)

Suna’s comments from the The Astrid Lindgren Reading Group group.

I'm perfectly fine with postponing a bit, in my enthusiasm I don't want to commit to too many things and then do none of them properly!

How about starting the first Pippi book halfway through May, I can post a reminder closer to the time?
And in the meantime we can have casual discussions on anything Lindgren if we have time...

Fantastic, thank you so, so much!

By the way, I found a line in one of my book reviews, which sums up Astrid Lindgren prefectly for me:

Astrid Lindgren is my reading fairy godmother, my patron saint of the bookshelf.

I'd forgotten I wrote that, but it's true: I think she is the sole reason I love reading so much.
I learned to read at a very early age but having Lindgren's books read to me and then reading them myself really set me properly on the path towards books.

I adore Seacrow Island!

Madicken has a very special place in my heart because I used to identify with her: She's an emotional powder keg - whether for joy or sorrow - , impulsive, with a fierce sense of (in)justice, and mixes being a girl very well with doing tomboyish things, like balancing on roofs!

Bolderburen (I can't get used to the words Noisy Village) is also wonderful.

But as an adult I think my all time favourite is possibly Ronja the Robber's Daughter: There are such strong female archetypes in that story and I resonate much stronger with that now.

It's also very magical but mostly uses facets of nature to make it so, even though there are trolls and other mythical creatures.

It has such a strong message of loyalty and friendship without - in my opinion - ever becoming whiney or preachy...

And, it manages to be witty, sad, dark and joyous all at the same time!

No, no I meant to read all three, I haven't read them in years!

I know them as Pippi Langkous komt thuis (Pippi comes Home), Pippi gaat aan Boord (Pippi Goes on Board) and Pippi in Taka-Tuka Land.

I'm having the devil of a time finding Dutch versions on Goodreads to review, but I will get them in English from the library, which will be new for me.

I'd love to hear what your favourite Astrid Lindgren book is:

When did you first read it?
How did it affect you?
What does it mean to you and why?
Have your preferences changed as you got older and re-read them?
Has your loyalty shifted to different characters over the years?

In order to get the ball rolling and because Gundula is on the Pippi Longstocking books right now, I was wondering if we should begin there:

Pippi is Lindgren's most well-known creation and I'm assuming it will be the book that is not only the most familiar but probably also the most easy to acquire from a library/purchase point of view?

Hah, I have yet to work out umlauts, french accents grave and tegu and how to make a link the title of a book, rather than having it show up as Http//:www etcteras.

Guess I better learn now I'm a grown up moderator...

Abigaiiiiiil??!

Hej Alla! Hello Everyone!

I'm Suna, avid Astrid Lindgren reader and your fellow moderator...

Having grown up in the Netherlands I know Astrid Lindgren's books from their translations in Dutch, which I treasured and re-read over and over again.
The books came to vivid life for me during some summers spent in Scandinavia and roaming the Swedish countryside I knew so very well from the Emil, Saltkrakan and Madicken books.

I have moved all over the world since and have lost most of my original collection; I had them all and mourn their loss deeply!

It's erratic but I'm in the process of learning Swedish so I'm hoping to read her work in the original in the near future.

Gundula has read most of the books in German, so eventually I hope to be able to divide our bookshelves by language.

I really look forward to comparing translations, discussing censorship (we've already had a rant about this elsewhere!), and best of all, sharing our love for someone whom I consider to be one of the most important voices in childrens' literature the world over.

Hi Abigail and Gundula! Nice to see you're here and in Gundula's case, I look forward to sharing the moderating, I'm none too experienced myself!...^^