Astrid Lindgren – was soll man sagen?! Eine großartige Autorin, die vielen Kindern und Erwachsenen prägende Momente und große Freude mit all ihren beliebten Büchern und Geschichten bereitet hat. Aber dahinter steckte zudem auch eine wirklich toughe, kluge und kämpferische Frau, die nicht nur zu Kriegszeiten Schicksalsschläge und arge Momente zu bewältigen hatte. Ich bin auf diese Biografie „Astrid Lindgren – Ihr Leben“ aus dem Pantheon Verlag, verfasst von Jens Andersen, eher zufällig durch das zuvor von mir gekaufte Hörbuch der Tagebücher von Astrid Lindgren („Die Menschheit hat den Verstand verloren: Tagebücher 1939 -1945“, HörbucHHamburg HHV GmbH, eingelesen von Eva Mattes) gestoßen. Und ich muss sagen, Astrid Lindgren fasziniert. Die vorliegende Biografie offenbart viele unbekannte Szenen aus dem Leben der Autorin und hat mich wieder einmal in einen unerwarteten Lese-Bann gezogen. Der Autor Andersen schafft es, ein breites Bild der Frau und Autorin zu zeichnen und offenbart die unbekanntere Seite von Astrid Lindgren. Auch die Kehrseite des Ruhms, mit dem sich Astrid Lindgren mehr und mehr konfrontiert sah, wird hier auf ganz besondere Weise beleuchtet. Ebenso wie das immerzu beständige Bemühen um einen persönlichen Kontakt zu ihrer Leserschaft. Interessant und manches Mal auch sehr verblüffend. Der Schreibstil des Biografen ist sehr eingängig und die Erzählungen sind leicht und schnell zu lesen. Hier und da gab es kleinere inhaltliche Wiederholungen, weil sich die Passagen nicht chronologisch aufbauen. Ich habe dieses Buch sehr, sehr gerne gelesen und kann es einfach nur weiterempfehlen. Deshalb ganz klar 5 Sterne!

For more reviews, check out my blog: Craft-Cycle

I am so torn in how to rate this book. While there were aspects that I absolutely loved, others things haven't aged well.

One thing I loved about this short, fun, whimsical book is that each chapter reads like a short story. There isn't necessarily a plot that goes all the way through and instead it chronicles some of Pippi's strange adventures. I enjoyed this aspect and it made for a nice reading experience. I could see this working well as a bedtime story, reading a chapter each night. The book doesn't have any sort of moral or lesson. It is just a fun read.

It was also refreshing to see a character like Pippi. She does whatever she wants and is heavily flawed, but in general tries her best. Yes, she lies, is "impolite" to others, and can be quite grating at times, but she is also brave, strong, and isn't afraid to go after what she wants even if it means offending people. She doesn't let bullies get in her way and show no fear when she has to step in and save the day. It's nice to see a female character who isn't so caught up in being nice all the time.

However, some things haven't aged well. With the various translations and versions removing certain racist words/scenes, it's difficult to determine what version contains what. In the version I read (which from what I understand had been updated to remove some obvious racism), there were still a lot of odd assertions about various cultures. It can be argued that at least most of these are lies and Pippi trying to tell interesting stories, but given that this is a children's book it can be very confusing. Some such assertions are how people in Egypt walk backwards and everyone in the Belgian Congo tells lies all day. The stories have the feel of much of old literature that talks about far away places, but these odd inclusions are just kind of cringey read in a modern context.

Also, the inclusion of the children playing around with and firing guns in the final chapter is certainly problematic.

So while I loved the book, there were still instances that made me pause. Overall, I thought it was good, but there are still some rather outdated things. Because of that I settled for 3 stars. Parts of the book were great, but there were still some areas that may not be a good fit for modern readers.

Love, love, love Pippi! This is by far my favorite childhood series. Pippi and her shenanigans always make me smile. The narration was good, not great. But the story more than made up for it.

Sound familiar?

"1940

9 FEBRUARY. What a world, what an existence! Reading the papers is a depressing pastime. Bombs and machine guns hounding women and children in Finland, the oceans full of mines and submarines, neutral sailors dying, or at best being rescued in the nick of time after days and nights of privation on some wretched raft, the behind-the-scenes tragedy of the Polish population (nobody’s supposed to know what’s happening, but some things get into the papers anyway), special sections on trams for “the German master race,” the Poles not allowed out after 8 in the evening, and so on. The Germans talk about their “harsh but just treatment” of the Poles -- so then we know. What hatred it will generate! In the end the world will be so full of hate that it chokes us."

And that's just for starters -- we haven't even gotten to the concentration camps yet, though there has already been much suffering; chiefly in Finland and Poland.

I'm reading the book in German; source of the English excerpt quoted above HERE.  Highly recommended, both the book as a whole and (as a taster) the verbatim excerpts provided on HistoryNet and in the Telegraph review.  Lindgren was an astute observer and analyst; she did not miss a single important event and development, and she uncannily distills them down to their essential importance.  E.g., here's the beginning of her final entry, on New Year's Eve 1945 (which I haven't gotten to yet, of course, but which you'll see if you read the excerpts on HistoryNet or in the Telegraph review, and which is referenced verbatim in the introduction of this book -- at least in the German version):

"Nineteen forty-five brought two remarkable things. Peace after the Second World War and the atom bomb. I wonder what the future will have to say about the atom bomb, and whether it will mark a whole new era in human existence, or not. Peace doesn't offer much hope of sanctuary, overshadowed as it is by the atom bomb."*

Almost 50 years of post-WWII world history, acutely foretold in three concise sentences.  What a remarkable woman.

________________________

* Final sentence my own translation; not contained in the excerpts made available online.

I prefer the second book to this one, but it was alright. It didn't seem at all familiar to me, so I don't think I ever got around to reading this one even though I own it. It's slightly uncomfortable at times with the way they refer to the natives of the island... And Tommy can be quite the bully to his sister sometimes! Also, there's a girl called Moana. :)