Well, lo and behold, my husband is at goodwill on 50% off day, and he finds a really old edition of Pippi for $3!
I'm pretty excited, because it matches my other copy. I had no idea that there were three books, I just knew about the second one and the movie. They do have the third one at the library, but I'm not really interested in reading it.
I've decided to take a stroll down memory lane and stick with reading things from my childhood for now. Because these books are so darn short (each is exactly 116 pages), I'm just going to do an overall summary with some thoughts. I polished off each book in a few hours.
Initial reaction: Wow. Not too impressed with these. I really don't think that I finished Pippi Goes on Board when I was a kid. The last few chapters were completely foreign to me. My impression of these books leans heavily on the movie from the 1980s, and I really think that the Pippi from the movie and the Pippi in the books differ greatly. The Pippi in the books is much more of a liar who has completely atrocious manners. The first book is somewhat outrageous- Pippi tells stories about her travels that are huge whoppers all. the. time. In the second book, though, she confesses: "But that's just like me--always trying to make myself important and wonderful and pretend that people have more arms than they have" (13). So at least it shows some growth of her character- she's aware of her faults, and she seems to tone it down a bit in the second book.
On page 93, there's a commentary on lying between Pippi and her father, and Annika and Tommy chime in:
"It's not nice to lie," she said. "Mommy says that."
"Oh, how silly you are, Annika!" said Tommy. "Pippi doesn't really lie. She just lies for fun. She makes up things, don't you understand, stupid?"
Pippi looked thoughtfully at Tommy, "Sometimes you speak so wisely that I'm afraid you will become great," she said.
While I'm glad that this explanation came out eventually, I'm sad that it took more than half the series to say. I still think that little kids will think it's ok to tell whoppers after hearing Pippi do it. We know she's not doing it maliciously, but she is being prideful, per what she said on page 13. I dunno. Just don't have a great feeling about it. The books are overall ridiculous, but they don't make me laugh aloud like Harriet the Spy. I liked the second book as a kid, but I think I grew bored with it so that I didn't finish it. I also think Pippi's lying went over my head. I think that I knew that she was just making stuff up and telling stories, which wasn't as bad as lying.
Or is it?
Also, it's sad that Pippi's parents are absent from her life. Her mother has died, and her father is roaming about the seas. When he finally does come back to Villa Villekulla, he only stays for a short while before departing again. When Pippi elects to stay behind, he says,
"Do as you like," he said at last. "You always have done that" (112). [...]
"You're right, as always, my daughter," answered Captain Longstocking. "It is certain that you live a more orderly life in Villa Villekulla, and that is probably best for little children."
"Just so," said Pippi. "It's surely best for little children to live an orderly life, especially if they can order it themselves" (113).
I do appreciate the juxtaposition of Pippi against Tommy and Annika. The siblings are well behaved kids who strive to do what is right.
I just really don't know how I feel about sharing this with my kids. I think I'll stick to the movie, which is a conglomeration of different chapters from the first two books.
Writing style: These books strike me as a mash-up of verbal bedtime stories that they author may have told to her kids. This thought was confirmed after looking up Astrid Lindgren on Wikipedia. She made up the stories for her daughter, Karin, at bedtime. It reads like a story that was passed on verbally.
Final Summation: While I remember Pippi Goes on Board fondly from my childhood, I remember that I never finished it. As an adult, reading the first two books was enough for me, I don't want to continue on to the 3rd. The Pippi books are ridiculously tall tales that really don't hold my interest anymore. I'd rather watch the movie. Therefore:
Next week, a first-time reading of another red-haired, freckle-faced girl: Anne Shirley!
No comments:
Post a Comment