Who is the author of Carlson? Who wrote the fairy tale about Carlson?

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

As children, most of us enjoyed watching and rewatching the cartoon about a merry man with a motor who lives on the roof, and read the adventures of the brave Pippi Longstocking and the funny prankster Emil from Lenneberga. Who is the author of Carlson and many other familiar and beloved literary characters of both children and adults?

Swedish storyteller

Astrid Lindgren, known to all readers of our country as Astrid Lindgren, the world-famous Swedish children's writer created not only Carlson, but also many other famous and beloved literary characters. She was born back in 1907 in the provincial Swedish town of Wimmerby (Vimmerby), in a farming family of Samuel August Eriksson and his wife Hannah. The author of the fairy tale "Karlson, who lives on the roof" considered her childhood happy, as it was filled with adventures and games, as well as work on the farm. The writer spoke about the special relationship in the parental family, filled with love and care, inher only adult book, Samuel August of Sevedsthorp and Hanna of Hult.

After graduating from high school, Astrid begins her career as a proofreader and freelance writer for the local publication Wimmerby Tidningen, where she specializes in describing various festive ceremonies and celebrations. At the age of 18, not being married, she became pregnant. This prompted the girl to move to Stockholm, where at the end of the course she received the speci alty of a secretary. In 1926, she gave birth to a son, Lars, but due to financial difficulties, Astrid had to transfer the baby to be raised in a foster family of Danes. In 1928, the future author of Carlson received the position of secretary of the Royal Automobile Club, where she met Sture Lindgren, who later became her husband. After the wedding, which took place in the spring of 1931, the writer managed to return her son Lars and leave work, devoting herself to her husband, raising children and home.

How did children's books come about?

However, Lindgren was engaged not only in the house and children. At times, she took on secretarial work, and also wrote short stories and travelogues for various family publications and calendars. The first book for children was Pippi Longstocking, the idea of which was suggested by Astrid's daughter Karin, but the publishers were wary of this work and decided to publish it far from immediately. Greater success at that time was brought to the writer by the work “Britt-Marie pours out her soul”, which received the second prize at the competition of the Raben and Sjogren publishing house in 1944 and the opportunitypublications.

Lindgren's next story, "Kalle Blomqvist Plays", written in 1946, wins first prize in a literary competition.

The first fairy tale written by the writer ("Mio, my Mio!") was published in 1954. But in 1955, the author of the fairy tale "The Kid and Carlson, who lives on the roof" gave birth to a cheerful little man with a motor.

Astrid Lindgren has written more than a hundred works for children and only one for adults in her long creative life.

How and when did Carlson appear?

The Swedish storyteller herself considers her daughter Karin to be the author of this character. During her illness, she asked her mother to tell her about Mr. Liljem Kvarsten, who flew in to see children who were left alone at home. Based on this story, Lindgren created a fairy tale about Nils Carlson, who visited a boy whose sister had died. Combining these two characters, the author of "The Kid and Carlson Who Lives on the Roof" created in 1955 such a funny character, our favorite merry fellow and prankster with a propeller on his back.

The continuation of the beloved story - “Carlson, who lives on the roof, has flown again” was published seven years after the first part, and in 1968 the final part of the trilogy was released - “Carlson, who lives on the roof, is playing pranks again”.

Unlike the book "Pippi Longstocking", in which the writer portrayed the cheerful and optimistic image of Pippi, the author shows Carlson as charming, but extremelyinfantile, self-centered and boastful man with a motor, living on the roof of an ordinary Swedish high-rise building.

Don't like him in Sweden

It is unlikely that Astrid Lindgren knew that in her native Sweden and her characters, Carlson, whom we love, is treated completely differently. For the Swedes, this character is more negative than positive. This is facilitated by his behavior: he lies, is rude, boasts, deceives, steals buns, confuses a little boy, and even has bad habits, as it is written in the text of the book: “smoking a pipe.”

The Americans went even further and, having accused the fat man with a motor of destructive behavior, in 2003 they excluded the fairy tale about him from the school curriculum. Thus, American junior schoolchildren do not know anything about this fairy-tale character, and also about who wrote "Carlson". The author A. Lindgren and her works are not studied or read as part of the normal school curriculum.

Our Russian Carlson

In 1957, the first edition of the Swedish storyteller's book "The Kid and Carlson Who Lives on the Roof" was published in the USSR, translated by Lilianna Zinovievna Lungina. It is this first translation that is considered today a classic. Subsequently, the work was translated by Eduard Uspensky and Lyudmila Braude, but critics did not give them a high rating. Later, Astrid Lindgren herself, the author of Carlson, admitted that the popularity of her other books in the USSR was largely due to the excellent translations of Lilianna Lungina.

However, the real popularity of Carlson in the Soviet Union came after the release of animated films “Carlson returned” and “Kid and Carlson” drawn by Yuri Butyrin and Anatoly Savchenko in 1968 and 1970.

Karlsonomania on radio, theater and cinema

Across the entire space of the USSR in the second half of the 20th century, the radio show and the performance of the Satire Theater with the same name - "The Kid and Carlson, who lives on the roof" were very popular. First, in 1958, directors Lvova and Litvinov created a radio version, and 13 years later, M. Mikaelyan and V. Pluchek staged a film performance. The cast was truly stellar: Spartak Mishulin as Carlson, Tatyana Peltzer as Freken Bock, Misha Zashchipin as Malysh, Andrey Mironov and Y. Sokovnin as crooks.

It is not known whether the Swedish storyteller Lindgren, the author of The Kid and Carlson Who Lives on the Roof, saw the Soviet theatrical production and how she reacted to the 1974 film based on her work by the Swedish director Ulle Hellbum. It was this famous director who created 17 films based on the works of the writer over the thirty years of the last century.

In Sweden, Astrid Lindgren was not only a living legend, but also a symbol of the country. The storyteller left this world in 2002, but her memory lives on in her books, translated into many languages and published in more than a hundred countries.