HomeGroupsTalkMoreZeitgeist
Search Site
This site uses cookies to deliver our services, improve performance, for analytics, and (if not signed in) for advertising. By using LibraryThing you acknowledge that you have read and understand our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Your use of the site and services is subject to these policies and terms.

Results from Google Books

Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.

Sommarboken by Tove Jansson
Loading...

Sommarboken (original 1972; edition 2001)

by Tove Jansson

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingConversations / Mentions
2,9671314,644 (4.15)1 / 501
"This brief novel tells the story of Sophia, a six-year-old girl awakening to existence, and Sophia's grandmother, nearing the end of hers, as they spend the summer on a tiny unspoiled island in the Gulf of Finland."--Publisher's description.
Member:Sorrowsap
Title:Sommarboken
Authors:Tove Jansson
Info:Stockholm: Bonnier, 2001; 191, [1] s. : ill. ; 18 cm 2. utg. i Bonnier pocket
Collections:Your library
Rating:*****
Tags:None

Work Information

The Summer Book by Tove Jansson (1972)

Recently added byMamaWat, metoth, Slim1960, BJT104, private library, PCSlibrary, FlynnNewman, senatorforlife
  1. 41
    Moominpappa at Sea by Tove Jansson (Jannes)
    Jannes: Janssons kärlek till den finska skärgården är mycket tydlig i båda dessa böcker som trots sina ytliga olikheter har mycket gemensamt.
  2. 20
    Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury (Jannes)
    Jannes: Interconnected stories abour childhood and endless summers. Bradbury is more fantastical, while Jansson leans more to the realistic and understated, but both books runs over with wonderful and lyrical prose, and both captures a sense of childhood and summer i a way that is very rare.… (more)
  3. 00
    The Year of the Hare by Arto Paasilinna (jonathankws)
  4. 00
    Melodia della terra: Giamilja by Cingiz Ajtmatov (cometahalley)
  5. 00
    First Teacher by Chinghiz Aitmatov (cometahalley)
  6. 00
    IL TÈ E L'AMORE PER IL MARE by Fazil Iskander (cometahalley)
  7. 00
    Suddenly in the Depths of the Forest by Amos Oz (cometahalley)
  8. 00
    A Bird in the House by Margaret Laurence (Cecilturtle)
    Cecilturtle: A similarly constructed series of connected short stories told through the eyes of a young girl.
  9. 00
    The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa (pitjrw)
    pitjrw: Unusual, beautiful relationships between the old and young
Loading...

Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.

» See also 501 mentions

English (118)  Swedish (2)  German (2)  Dutch (2)  Italian (2)  Danish (1)  French (1)  Finnish (1)  Norwegian (1)  All languages (130)
Showing 1-5 of 118 (next | show all)
A lovely book about coming of age (both for the child and the grandmother) over the course of a summer spent on a tiny island. ( )
  jemisonreads | Jan 22, 2024 |
I read this book for a book club I got in (Laufey's BookClub), and overall I really enjoyed this book. I think I should reread the last couple of chapters since I read them on a ride back home late at night, and I was very tired. My favorite chapters were The Cat and The Tent. It didn't have an overarching plot and loads of description, so I struggled a little bit, but the characters warmed up to me. I see a lot of myself when I was young in Sophia, especially her curiosity. The grandmother had a lot of similar traits to my grandmother, and I can imagine us both having similar conversations like the one's grandmother and Sophia had. I'll definitely share this book with her. ( )
  ogre_apple | Dec 22, 2023 |
This would be a great book to read to kids, at least for the most part. ( )
  JBarringer | Dec 15, 2023 |
Quite a sweet little book, told in the form of episodic tales, about the relationship between a grandmother and a 6-year-old granddaughter, and life on a small island, off the coast of Finland, in the summer. The characters of grandmother and granddaughter are apparently based upon the author and her niece.

The child's father is present, but he is mainly a background figure who deals with practicalities such as catching fish or mending things. Although it could be taking place during one summer, I don't think it is, because there is one episode in which they leave the island and do all the chores necessary for departure, but later return to carry on with cultivation of plants the father has had delivered.

One thing that was confusing in places were various references to going into town which did not appear to require a boat as if the town was on the island - it definitely wasn't. The stories have a rather disjointed nature, and characters are referenced who the reader often has no clue about. I also found the rather bratty child annoying, when she is acting out at various times, although there is some nice gentle character based humour from the grandmother. So overall, I would rate this at 3 stars. ( )
  kitsune_reader | Nov 23, 2023 |
I felt totally transported by this book, which seemed simultaneously mischievous fun and also the entirety of the wisdom I need for my life in this moment.

Could make an interesting companion read for [b:How Does It Feel to Be Old?|773848|How Does It Feel to Be Old?|Norma Farber|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1178230162l/773848._SX50_.jpg|759897] ( )
  mmparker | Oct 24, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 118 (next | show all)
In Why Read the Classics, Italo Calvino defines a classic as "any book that comes to represent the whole universe, a book on a par with ancient talismans". He indicates how a classic book reduces the noise of the contemporary world to a background hum when we read it, and conversely is always itself there in the background "even when a present that is totally incompatible with it holds sway".
The Summer Book is a world apart. It is very good to have it.
added by DouglasAtEik | editThe Guardian, Ali Smith (Jul 12, 2003)
 

» Add other authors (45 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Jansson, Toveprimary authorall editionsconfirmed
Davis, KathrynIntroductionsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Freud, EstherForewordsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Giorgetti Cima, CarmenTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Happonen, SirkeTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Jansson, SophiaForewordsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Kicherer, BirgittaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Kivivuori, KristiinaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Teal, ThomasTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Virtanen, LeenaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
You must log in to edit Common Knowledge data.
For more help see the Common Knowledge help page.
Canonical title
Original title
Alternative titles
Original publication date
People/Characters
Important places
Important events
Related movies
Epigraph
Dedication
First words
It was an early, very warm morning in July, and it had rained during the night.
Quotations
Che cosa strana è l'amore, disse Sofia. Più si ama l'altro e meno l'altro ti ama.
È assolutamente vero, osservò la nonna. E allora che cosa si può fare?
Si continua ad amare, disse Sofia minacciosamente. Si ama sempre peggio".
Grandmother walked up the bare granite and thought about birds in general. It seemed to her no other creature had the same dramatic capacity to underline and perfect events -- the shifts in the seasons and the weather, the changes that run through people themselves.
Eriksson was small and strong and the colour of the landscape, except that his eyes were blue. When people talked about him or thought about him, it seemed natural to lift their heads and gaze out over the sea […. A]s long as he stayed, he had everyone's undivided attention. No one did anything, no one looked at anything but Eriksson. They would hang on his every word, and when he was gone and nothing had actually been said, their thoughts would dwell gravely on what he had left unspoken.
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
Disambiguation notice
Publisher's editors
Blurbers
Original language
Canonical DDC/MDS
Canonical LCC

References to this work on external resources.

Wikipedia in English (1)

"This brief novel tells the story of Sophia, a six-year-old girl awakening to existence, and Sophia's grandmother, nearing the end of hers, as they spend the summer on a tiny unspoiled island in the Gulf of Finland."--Publisher's description.

No library descriptions found.

Book description
Haiku summary

Current Discussions

None

Popular covers

Quick Links

Rating

Average: (4.15)
0.5 2
1 5
1.5
2 18
2.5 12
3 87
3.5 53
4 255
4.5 57
5 272

Is this you?

Become a LibraryThing Author.

NYRB Classics

An edition of this book was published by NYRB Classics.

» Publisher information page

 

About | Contact | Privacy/Terms | Help/FAQs | Blog | Store | APIs | TinyCat | Legacy Libraries | Early Reviewers | Common Knowledge | 203,222,922 books! | Top bar: Always visible