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Loading... Sommarboken (original 1972; edition 2001)by Tove Jansson
Work InformationThe Summer Book by Tove Jansson (1972)
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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. ( ) 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. 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. 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]
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. Belongs to Publisher SeriesDelfinserien (527) Is contained inNotable Lists
"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. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)839.7374Literature German literature and literatures of related languages Other Germanic literatures Swedish literature Swedish fiction 1900-1999 1945-1999LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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