I can't miss this day, even if Google misses. Yandex (one of Russain most popular search engines) has Pippy Longsttocking featured on the main page however!
I don't think I have anything absolutely special to say but I love her books and I think that's the most important. I lost count as how many times I read the novels about Karlsson, Pippi and Emil, the book is quite worn out! When I was 6 I finished Pippy for the first time and I remember crying because I did not want the story to end. Pippi came to be a real friend and I just did not want to say goodbye to her.
Then, last autumn, I bought several books by Astrid Lindgren that I never read before and I assure you it's not less lovelier to read her books when you are over 20 than when you are 6 or 7! She brings about your own childhood memories in such a simple and charming manner!
Astrid used to say she wrote mostly to entertain the "inner child" in herself and I think it's really wonderful she never properly "grew up". Later on her son remembered she could not sit still when her children were playing but always joined them in the game.
There was a very good documentary on her yesterday evening on the "Culture" channel. I saw bit and pieces from Junnibacken (sp-?), the museum dedicated to her books where she saw to it herself that children felt comfortable there, i.e. that they could play directly in the museum.
Astrid visited Russia several times, and - amazing - she never mentioned the fact she never earned anything from translations of her works published in Russia!!! That was very tactful of her and I think the visits here really meant to her as Russia was always a country where children's literature was treated seriously as really important.
They say Karlsson is the most popular of Lindgren's chracters here in Russia, maybe, due to the good cartoon every child knows here (there were loads of Karlsson toys in toyshops when I was small too) while Swedish kids prefer Pippy. I think that must be true, but I personally prefer Pippi too. Karsson is fun, but sometimes he struck me as awfully selfish (and that he is!) and I used to fly into passion with him when he would eat up all the sweets and not share anything with his friend. But I wanted a friend like Pippi who would always invent something or tell a story from her travels and make you a cup of coffee and a nice surprise hidden in a tree-hole or somewhere else in the old garden.
I also found out Astrid Lindgren loved "Anne of Green Gables" and read it a hundred of times as a child and had very warm and loving memories of the book later on. Maybe, Pippi inherited a bit of fiery temper and her fiery hair done in two plaits from Anne? I think it's a possible theory.
I'm toying with the idea of putting up a Russian Astrid Lindgren fan-site because we don't have any... That is, if I ever have time!
Happy Birthday to Astrid! I think she deserves every praise because her books are real treasures!
I put a lesser known of Astrids photos here, her and her son Lars. She had Lars when she was only 19 and unmarried (a scandal in 1920s), and she had to leave him with childcare while she was trying to earn at least something for a living (actually trying to make the ends meet)and it was only weekends that she could see her baby. Later on when she married her boss several years after she was able to give him a home but people also think that her own son's story is the reason why boys in her books are so vulnerable and lonely (Like in Karlsson or Mio, my Son). In yesterday's documentary it was said that the two major influences on her writing were her own idyllic childhood memories and the poignant story with Lars.
I think I wanted to say something else but I forget now!
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