Karlson on the Roof
by Astrid LINDGREN
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Book Summary Information
Author: Astrid LINDGRENEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-07-03
ISBN: 0192727729
Number of pages: 176
Publisher: Oxford Childrens
Book Reviews of Karlson on the Roof
Book Review: Don't You HAVE to be Swedish ...
Summary: 5 Stars
... to understand why so many of Astrid Lindgren's characters are impertinent-but-yet-polite, rowdy-but-yet-not-violent, unruly-but-yet-orderly? The boy Smidge, the focal character of this tale, fits that description perfectly. His "imaginary friend" (who turns out NOT to be imaginary) is the embodiment of what Smidge himself would be if he weren't restrained by his loving family, his innocence, and his ineffable Swedishness. Karlson -- the boastful, deceitful, unreliable, selfish egotist who lives on Smidge's roof and who flies through his bedroom window to lure him into mischief -- is a kind of child Loki, a scamp who means to do more wickedness than he can achieve with Smidge at his side.
I was surprised to find the 'Karlson' books available in English translation. (An amazon-friend alerted me to this.) Lindgren wrote at least 40 or 50 books for children, many of them short and simple in diction like Karlson. My all-time favorite is her longer Mark-Twain-like "Rasmus på Luffen", which hasn't been translated. This translation of Karlson on the Roof is quite British in tone, rather than American, a fact that may make it less appealing to children and their parents in the USA. A really skillful parental reader might choose to 'improve' upon the idioms spontaneously. But, to be fair, Lindgren's Sweden was far closer to Britain culturally than to the Disunited States.
I bought this for a little grand-nephew but I had to sneak a reading of it for myself. Shopping for an edition, I was flabbergasted to discover that there are numbers of Russian translations of this and other Lindgren books! And that many of the reviewers and commenters are of Russian or Ukrainian roots, reminiscing about reading Lindgren in their native lands and hoping to sustain the tradition among their American children and grandchildren. I have a feeling that this should be 'meaningful' -- a source of insight into the Slavic Mind -- but I can't for the life of me say what it means. How on Earth do you render "Hejsan hopsan, Karlson" in Russian?
Summary of Karlson on the Roof
Imagine Smidge's delight when, one day, a little man with a propeller on his back appears hovering at the window! It's Karlson and he lives in a house on the roof. Soon Smidge and Karlson are sharing all sorts of adventures, from tackling thieves and playing tricks to looping the loop and running across the rooftops. Fun and chaos burst from these charming, classic stories.Children's Books
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