Selma Ottilia Lovisa Lagerl枚f (1858-1940) was a Swedish author. In 1909 she became the first woman to ever receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, "in appreciation of the lofty idealism, vivid imagination and spiritual perception that characterize her writings". She later also became the first female member of the Swedish Academy.
Born in the forested countryside of Sweden she was told many of the classic Swedish fairytales, which she would later use as inspiration in her magic realist writings. Since she for some of her early years had problems with her legs (she was born with a faulty hip) she would also spend a lot of time reading books such as the Bible.
As a young woman she was a teacher in the southern parts of Sweden for ten years before her first novel G枚sta Berling's Saga was published. As her writer career progressed she would keep up a correspondance with some of her former female collegues for almost her entire life.
Lagerl枚f never married and was almost certainly a lesbian (she never officially stated that she was, but most later researchers believe this to be the case). For many years her constant companion was fellow writer Sophie Elkan, with whom she traveled to Italy and the Middle East. Her visit to Palestine and a colony of Christians there, would inspire her to write Jerusalem, her story of Swedish farmers converting into a evangelical Christian group and travelling to "The American Colony" in Jerusalem.
Lagerl枚f was involved in both women issues as well as politics. She would among other things help the Jewish writer Nelly Sachs to come to Sweden and donated her Nobel medal to the Finnish war effort against the Soviet union.
Outside of Sweden she's perhaps most widely known for her children's book Nils Holgerssons underbara resa genom Sverige (The Wonderful Adventures of Nils).
Cross-curricular teaching and entertainment in one Nobel volume.
These days, interdisciplinary projects and cross-curricular interlinking of learning are all the fashion, and stressed teachers sigh in frustration over the tour de force of teaching not only their own subject, but of successfully implementing relevant connections to other areas as well in order to make learning more meaningful to an increasingly lazy, naughty and careless student body.
Some might think this is a recent issue - both the emphasis on interdisciplinary learning, and the hopeless attitude of our youth. Think again - or read Selma Lagerl枚f, and you will be pleased to discover that:
a) your interdisciplinary project combining a learning unit in geography, biology, history, literature, ethics, Nordic mythology and life skills is offered to you on a Nobel silver plate.
b) students have been lazy, naughty and prone to falling asleep over their chores or homework at least since 1906, when this novel was written to be used in the Swedish school system.
Following young Nils Holgersson on his magical journey through the various landscapes of Sweden is a special experience, as it combines features of a fairy tale adventure with genuine geography and biology knowledge.
Nils is cursed by a Swedish house spirit, a"tomte", for his cruel and treacherous behaviour, and is turned into a a tiny "tomte" himself. Deprived of his physical superiority, he faces the animals on his parents' farm, whom he has treated in a particularly nasty way. He discovers that he has received the ability to understand their communication as a compensation for his lost power, and he has to hear some unpleasant opinions about himself, as well as protect himself against the mistreated animals' righteous anger.
Fleeing the farm on the back of a goose, he travels through all of Sweden. The journey widens his perspective and broadens his mind, and the hardship he faces makes him grow as a human being, - despite or because of his tiny size. He learns to respect nature and living creatures by slowly gaining deeper understanding of the diversity of lifeforms in Sweden.
He returns home more caring and knowledgeable, and vows to be a better leader of the environment for which he is responsible. The curse is gone, and he resumes his human shape.
Apart from the purely subject-related content, offering a panorama of Swedish flora and fauna, it is a universal story of power and responsibility, and of the importance of knowledge to develop empathy. To respect others, you need to know about their situation, and about their needs and feelings and customs.
Recommended to teachers, students and learners for life!
This children's classic, published in 1906 by future Nobel Prize winner Selma Lagerl枚f, is so famous in Scandinavia that everyone knows the plot; but until now I'd never read it. Nils Holgersson, a good-for-nothing kid in late nineteenth century Sk氓ne, angers the local tomte (a kind of Swedish leprechaun), who magically transforms him into another tomte. Nils, who's now the size of a thumb, is fortunately adopted by a flock of geese who take him to their summer nesting grounds in Lapland and back again. En route, they conveniently traverse all of Sweden, giving the author ample opportunity for an extended series of geography lessons. It sounded dull, but I was pleased to discover that in fact it's nothing of the kind. The geography is always firmly in the service of the narrative, the lead characters are well drawn, and the style is moving and poetic. But what surprised me most was that I'd never heard how it came to be written.
According to the introduction, the author's original inspiration was a terrible story she had heard from her grandmother about an incident that had occurred when the grandmother was herself a little girl. There was a white goose on the farm, and one spring day he took it into his head to fly off with a flock of wild geese who were passing by. The family was of course sure they would never see him again. But many months later, Selma's grandmother was astonished to see that the goose had returned. And he was not alone; during the summer, he had found a mate, a beautiful grey goose, and they were accompanied by half a dozen little goslings. Delighted, Selma's grandmother led the goose family to the barn, where they could eat from the trough with the other fowl. She closed the door so that they wouldn't fly off again, and ran to tell her stepmother. The stepmother said nothing. She just took out the little knife she used for slaughtering geese; and an hour later there was not one goose left alive in the barn.
For me, this resonated with what many other people also find the most memorable episode in the book. One night, Nils is woken by a stork, who says that if he follows him he will show him something important. They fly to the seashore, where there is a strange city, quite unlike anything one would expect to find on the Swedish coast. Nils goes in through the huge gate and discovers people dressed in rich clothes from a bygone age. No one seems to notice him at first. He finds his way to the merchants' quarter. People are selling all kinds of precious goods: embroidered silks and satins, gold ornaments, glittering jewels. And now he realizes that the merchants can see him. They are holding out their wares to him, offering all these treasures. Nils tries to make them understand that he could never afford any of it, he is a poor boy. But they persist, and using gestures tell him that he can have anything he wants, if he can just give them one small copper coin. He searches his pockets over and over again but finds they are empty. In the end, he leaves the city, and when he turns round again it has disappeared. "It is the lost city of the sea traders," explains the stork. "They were drowned beneath the waves long ago, but once every hundred years they come back for a single night. The legend is that if they can sell a single thing to a mortal, they will be allowed to return to the world; but they never do." Nils feels his heart is going to break. He could so easily have saved all these good people and their city, but he has failed them.
It seemed to me that both stories expressed the same feeling with quite unusual clarity. If only...
There are three very good reasons to read this book - the author is first woman ever to win a Nobel Prize, it appears on Le Monde list of best books of 20th century And the fact that the protagonist's picture appears on 20 Swedish krona banknotes. The talking animal surpass those of Kipling's Jungle Book in detail and characterization, and they are also talking about such subjects like deforestation and industrialisation. And there is additional flavour of histories, local folktales and legends.
鈥� C鈥檈ra una volta un ragazzo. Aveva circa quattordici anni, era alto, con bei lineamenti e capelli biondi come il lino. Purtroppo, era un perdigiorno.听Le sue occupazioni preferite erano dormire e mangiare, oltre a giocare brutti tiri. "
Questo monello si chiama Nils Holgersson e la sua specialit脿 non 猫 solo quella di poltrire ma anche quella di dare tormento agli animali della fattoria in cui vive con i genitori.
Quale lezione migliore se non quella di essere all'improvviso trasformato da un coboldo (un folletto che secondo la tradizione fa parte degli spiriti della casa), indispettito dai suoi atteggiamenti, lui stesso in un coboldo?
Le cose, poi, si complicheranno quando, per una serie di eventi, si trover脿 a migrare sul dorso del papero domestico Marten al seguito delle oche selvatiche.
Favolosi paesaggi scandinavi s'intrecciano con episodi che danno spunto all'autrice per impartire lezioni di vita non solo a Nils ma al lettore stesso: il rispetto per l'altro che sia uomo o animale o vegetale; l'orgoglio di chi svolge lavori considerati infimi ma cos矛 importanti in un contesto ambientale spesso sfavorevole all'habitat umano; l'attenzione alle ingiustizie sociali....
Tutto verso un finale incantevole...
Un libro per bambini di fama mondiale ed un autrice (prima donna ad aver ricevuto un Nobel!) che sicuramente approfondir貌.
"Ora, proprio l鈥檃nno in cui Nils viaggiava con le oche, c鈥檈ra una persona che pensava di continuo a un libro che intendeva scrivere sulla Svezia, un libro di lettura per le scuole. Ci aveva riflettuto dal Natale all鈥檃utunno, ma non aveva ancora scritto una riga, e alla fine se n鈥檈ra stancata a tal punto che aveva detto a se stessa: 鈥� Non sei capace di scriverlo. Mettiti a tavolino, inventa fiabe e novelle come hai sempre fatto, e lascia ad altri la cura di scrivere un libro istruttivo e serio, e in cui soprattutto non si trovi una parola che non sia veritiera!"
Ich wollte eigentlich 4 Sterne vergeben, aber ein Buch, bei dem mir am Ende die Tr盲nen flie脽en, hat wohl 5 Sterne verdient. Das war eine wirklich wunderbare Reise, auf die ich da mit Nils und den Wildg盲nsen gegangen bin.
Proprio come il giovane Nils, sono stato anch'io rapito dalla bellezza di questo viaggio sulle ali delle oche selvatiche. Il libro sarebbe nato inizialmente come testo di geografia, ma in realt脿 la descrizione delle varie regioni svedesi 猫 stata per Selma Lagerl枚f solo il pretesto per raccontare una magnifica favola, dove i miti antichi si fondono insieme a valori sempiterni come l'amicizia, la generosit脿 e la lealt脿. Stupende poi le piccole storie nella storia, alcune dal sapore fiabesco, come quella della citt脿 sommersa che riemerge dalle acque solo per una notte ogni cento anni; altre molto toccanti, come l'assedio della rocca dei topi neri, o la storia di Gorgo, l'aquila reale allevata da Akka. Tutte quante fanno riflettere e lasciano qualcosa, un ricordo, per sempre depositato negli strati pi霉 profondi del nostro animo.
Selmin Nils Holgerson (1) : Heseov Demijan (0), bar 拧to se ti膷e svega 拧to 啪elim od bildungsromana. Ovo je moja omiljena knjiga iz detinjstva. Nils Holgerson je jedno malo lenjo 膽ubre koje sekira roditelje i maltretira 啪ivotinje na porodi膷nom seoskom imanju. Jednog nedeljnog jutra, dok su roditelji u crkvi, Nils hvata patuljka koji ga moli da ga oslobodi. Nilsu to naravno ne pada na pamet, pa ga patuljak pretvori u... patuljka, 拧to odu拧evi sve 啪ivotinje sa imanja koje 膰e kona膷no mo膰i da mu se osvete. Da bi pobegao, Nils se pridru啪uje doma膰em gusanu Martinu koji kre膰e na let sa divljim guskama preko cele 艩vedske. I tu su najlep拧i opisi prirode na koje sam ikada nai拧la u de膷ijoj literaturi, let preko 拧uma, jezera i mora, a tako膽e i Nilsovo postepeno menjanje i psihi膷ko odrastanje.
Swedish author Selma Lagerl枚f was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature (in 1909), and her 1906/1907 (appearing in two volumes) children鈥檚 novel Nils Holgerssons underbara resa genom Sverige (which I am presently reading in a German translation of both volumes with the title of Nils Holgerssons wunderbare Reise mit den Wildg盲nsen and which in English translations usually appears as The Wonderful Adventures of Nils for volume one and The Further Adventures of Nils for volume two) was actually originally conceptualised by the author as a detailed geography reader for Swedish school children.
But even though the genesis of Nils Holgersson鈥檚 story might therefore perhaps not inspire all that much confidence and could actually cause potential readers to even fear that Lagerl枚f鈥檚 presented text would be tedious and hopelessly didactic, well and in my opinion, my reading time with Nils Holgerssons wunderbare Reise mit den Wildg盲nsen totally demonstrates the opposite, totally shows that writing meant to be used for education and enlightenment can also be penned in a readable and engaging format. For yes indeed, Selma Lagerl枚f鈥檚 presented text for Nils Holgerssons wunderbare Reise mit den Wildg盲nsen (and I of course am going to assume this to also be the case for the Swedish original and the English translation) is both delightfully poetical, fanciful and bien s没r also imbued with much realistic facts and information, leaving an engaging and wonderful story that is both episodic and at the same time with a continuing thread of redemption, of turned into a gnome as punishment for cruelty and self-centredness Nils on his travels with his flock of wild geese not only discovering Sweden as a country, along with Swedish folklore, history, culture, industry and modern (for 1906/1907) agricultural practices, but also being taught slowly and steadily (and sometimes even rather painfully) how to become less selfish, how he, how Nils needs to learn to care for and about his fellow human beings and that being kind to animals is in fact a sign of strength and maturity and not ever the mark of weakness.
And although there is definitely a strong and palpable didactic current present in Selma Lagerl枚f鈥檚 words with regard to Nils鈥� transformation from nasty to nice, from me, me, me oriented to helpfully altruistic and that Nils Holgerssons wunderbare Reise mit den Wildg盲nsen does most definitely provide very much overt instruction about Sweden, Selma Lagerl枚f definitely does present and feature her verbal messages and educational information gracefully and engagingly, leaving my personal feelings with regard to Nils Holgerssons wunderbare Reise mit den Wildg盲nsen very much that this novel has delightfully and wonderfully been a total reading pleasure (and one that I also would have very much enjoyed and appreciated as a child) and with my only and very minor criticism being that since Nils Holgerssons wunderbare Reise mit den Wildg盲nsen features Nils travelling throughout Sweden with those wild geese, that I sure would be wanting some included detailed maps.
鈥淭he Wonderful Adventure of Nils Holgersson,鈥� is a Swedish children鈥檚 classic. Published in 1906, the book actually resulted from a commission from the National Teachers Association to write a geography reader. Author Selma Lagerlof apparently spent three years studying Nature and also investigating folklore and legends from around the country, before writing this book.
The story itself involves a fourteen year old boy called Nils who is a bit lazy and naughty. Amongst the mischief he gets up to is the rather unpleasant way he likes to hurt animals on his family farm. One day, he is left home to memorise Bible chapters and then falls asleep. Waking, he sees a gnome, which he traps. Eventually, he is also turned into a gnome and able to talk to animals. With wild geese flying over the farm, a farm goose attempts to fly off with them and, when Nils grabs hold, the two of them end up on an adventure鈥�
This book involves a lot of the history and natural world of Sweden, which is a beautiful country. At just over 270 pages and with an illustration at the beginning of each chapter, this is certainly a book for the more fluent child reader; although it is also delightful to read aloud. It has a lovely, hardback cover, with pictures of flying geese and is an unusual story. It reminded me a little of BB and his, 鈥淭he Little Grey Men go Down the Bright Stream,鈥� if not in the actual storyline, but in the way the countryside and natural beauty was so integral to the book. A lovely novel for adults and children.
dedicated with affection to Manuel Alfonseca and Jos茅 Baena Castel.
Ladies and gentlemen, I have long been delaying this review (like others), because of vagrancy and because I wanted to continue to advance my challenge, that this year I am reading many fewer books than in previous years. I had this book a long time ago and I didn't decide to read it. I admit, I started reading the Book of the Nobel Prize in Swedish Literature Selma Lagerloff (by the way, I don't know if she's the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, though I'm not sure). This is a story of these that I personally like, but I admit that I had a lot of patience with her, because between that now my mind is in the viewing of video game games and that I didn't feel like it. At first the reading became very me and the author's style was initially not for me. However, one tip I'd like to give the 欧宝娱乐 user is to be patient with this book. I'm going to set an example sometimes when we try on a shoe this hurts us and hurts our feet. It's not the same, but something like this happens to us with this novel. Initially, although of course it depends on the reader and the user and its availability, but at least in my case the reader is a paddle to read this book, and has to adapt, but once he gets it he can not stop reading until this book ends.
This is a story that I like about maturity and growth and methane, that is, change of mind. This is the story of Nils Holgersson a painless and lazy child (of course compared to the children that there are now Nils would even seem good to us. What it proves is how times have changed and worse) that worries your parents greatly. He shows no attachment for anything, he doesn't even go with his parents to the Protestant sermon (you tell a child in the anti-Christian and secular times we live in that he goes to church. How times have changed and for the worse). So as if he were Homer Simpson in an episode in which Homer decides to live without God. Nils reluctantly promises his parents, who will read the sermon, but that is not his intention and what he wants is to take his parents' shotgun and start shooting at whatever moves. This is typical of some guys I remember when I was young I made real donkeys with animals and a person wiser and worse than me told me the same thing. I am still shocked by Don Agust铆n Conde Foxa's description of second-republic politician Casares Quiroga in his novel"Madrid de Corte y Checa" /book/show/5... it seems that the ORGA mp was dedicated to ripping wings off insects and things like that. So we shouldn't be surprised by Nils' behavior, however, Nils is going to mess with the wrong person. In this case he decides to mess with a leprechaun, and this one although at first tries to dissuade him in the end makes him a leprechaun, as he and the boy seek help, but the animals among them cows, as they know what the master is like do not want to help him, even mock his misfortune. The only one, who seeks some understanding for him is a duck named Martin, but this goose has to make the traditional migratory flight to Lapland with a mythical goose mom Okka, who according to legends would be about 200, or 300 years old. Nils is initially reluctant and has to change. Perhaps Lagerloff will make him spend excessively quickly as a selfish, indolent, and capricious child to almost a benefactor or saint too quickly. Nils seems to adapt too quickly to his life as a leprechaun. It is curious, but this boy Nils is the opposite of the eponymous character of the play created by the Norwegian Henryk Ibsen"Peer Gint" /author/show.../book/show/2... where the protagonist for his actions increasingly looks like a troll, and one of his fears is to become one. Let us note, that the purpose of this book and above all this book is aimed in particular at Swedish children for two purposes, who know and learn to love their country. This reminds me of the book of our Jos茅 Mar铆a Pem谩n "History of Spain told simply" /book/show/1..., perhaps the closest example is the novel by Edmondo De Amicis entitled"Heart" /book/show/1... without falling into his curse and impaling (at least that's what my father says). The second goal is for the child who reads it to look at the virtues of the hero and imitate him in order to become a good Swede. This reminds me of my favorite cartoon series, which unfortunately now I have unattended by the gameplays in which I participated and because I have broken the TV I mean Doraemon /series/8199.../author/show...# , because it is interesting to compare Nils with Nobita Nobi, since the purpose is the same, but Fujiko Fujio does it better than the Swedish Nobel Prize.
It is curious that you have alluded to cartoons, because the format used by Selma Lagerloff fits a lot in the cartoon format. My friend to whom I have dedicated this book with my friend Professor Manuel Alfonseca i.e. the author Don Jos茅 Baena Castel /author/show... told me, that when I was little I saw the drawings of Nils (I did not know that they existed), although it is not surprising, because the book adapts perfectly to the cartoon format, in fact while I read it reminded me of the drawings of my childhood as David the Gnome, or its sequel to judge Klaus /author/show.... Once Nils reluctantly convinces Mama Okka to accept him, as part of the group, the interesting thing begins, arguably there are two structures. On the one hand Selma Lagerloff is telling us about the migration of geese and his clashes with the fox Izmir (more or less one of the villains of fiction, in fact there is a chapter dedicated to Izmir is titled the game of rap graves I have changed it, because if I said the original title, it would look like a pervert. It is that the word slut has sexual connotations and it is what prostitutes in Spain are called, or people of nymphomaniacal tendencies, hence he prefers to use the game of rap graves), and then there are short stories, which follow a tonic similar to the 1001 nights /book/show/7... of course in some Nils will participate, and in others will have a very superficial role, or he will simply be a listener. This can lead to frustration to the reader. It occurred to me that so much history, distracting myself from the main plot, distracted me. Some, for example, like the city don't know if it's a dream, or a hallucination on Nils's part. Others make more sense, such as the story of Nils Mat and Ada's friends, and the search they do. This would be the closest part to"Heart" of the story. At first you get frustrated with so much history, but then you realize that they are necessary, to know Sweden, and it shows us the narrative talent of Selma Lagerloff, and it still has a strong Mythic component and with strong mythological allusions. Giants appear, and in a pedagogical way he is telling you the history of Sweden, without a break with his past. Some stories are very beautiful like those of the deer and Karr, those of the dog Caesar and Wave. Some alert us to the loneliness and abandonment of our elders. Others will move us like those of the hard man, who because he had a very stingy father betrays his principles and detaches himself from his horse, and stops assisting some children and will have an unexpected end. There is also a strong Christian component to the story, and it still shows implicit sympathies for Catholics. The portrait of the usurped and Lutheran King Charles IX and of course Lagerloff is sometimes proud of churches, abbeys, and palaces. It can be said, that it is like"The Odyssey" /book/show/1... a journey, which turns out to be both physical and spiritual. Some characters will like fentivet the goose, and her conflicted relationship with her evil sisters, or the Gorgo eagle (it is called as Leonidas' wife the 300). We will also see that the writer will make a cameo and appear in the story, starring in a Pyrandellian moment /author/show... and Unamuniano /author/show... , or as Alfonso Paredes does with his novel"Mr. Marbury" /book/show/4.../author/show... in which the author will appear twice.
I told my friend Professor Alfonseca that after finishing this novel he had cried like a samurai, just like him, when he read my favorite novel"Bodies and Souls" /book/show/2... The reason was this protagonist Nils, warned by a crow discovers that there is a way to regain his old form, but he will only be able to recover it if one of his friends makes a decision. Nils does everything he can, so that his friend against his convenience did not make that decision. I can't reveal to the 欧宝娱乐 user what it is, but you can imagine it. It was this, and the end that made me excited about this story. However there is one thing, that if I mean. This is a fairy tale, and it is given a happy ending, to encourage kids to be good, and virtuous what is very good. But you have to run away from karma, or the effect called me Earl. Not always doing what is fair and good will make fortune, or the benefit of the person improve, sometimes doing the right thing will bring us complications and can be the cause of our misfortune. If there's a reward, it'll be in Heaven. It's the only flaw, which I see in the way Lagerloff finishes this book.
However, I really liked there is a clear evolution in Nils, which will not be the same as the Nils of the beginning, as in the end. Just as Nobita Nils goes from childhood to maturity and becomes a man, and that he, but awaits all of us and the moral of this book.
This book will give you so much. How is it that Swedish writers always find the right words for expressing children's thoughts and feelings? Lagerl枚f does a great job, not only in describing the Swedish landscape, but also in describing and telling Nils' story. It is a wonderful piece of literature and should be read to every child. You can learn a lot from Nils Holgersson. It deals with topics different to speak about, like death, sickness or growing up. And while writing about it in such a unique manner, she manages to teach children values like friendship and trust. Absolutely adored it.
Like most Swedish People I have heard about the story all my life, I even helped setting up a set up with Nils Holgersson om a museum in my teens. But I have never been interested in reading it because I was so sure the story wasn't for me. But 2019 I decided to listen it anyway, and wow I was so blown away by the story. Sat for hours just soaking in the story and it's by far my favorite reading experience. So I wanted to re-read it and I was little scared I wouldn't enjoy it as much. But ofc I did 馃 the story about a young boy turned little as a thumb, traveling around Sweden on a goose is just a delight, a pure joy. One of my favorites!
Selma Lagerl枚f 鈥� Pr茅mio Nobel da Literatura, 1909 "em aprecia莽茫o pelo idealismo sublime, imagina莽茫o v铆vida e percep莽茫o espiritual que caracterizam seus escritos"
(鈥�) no ano em que Nils Holgersson viajou pelo pa铆s na companhia dos gansos-bravos, uma mulher pensou em escrever um livro sobre a Su茅cia, um livro que as crian莽as pudessem ler na escola.
A hist贸ria fant谩stica de um rapaz que se transforma num duende 鈥� O Polegarzinho 鈥� e nas costas de um ganso percorre a Su茅cia. A viagem torna-se uma aventura cheia de fantasia e de aprendizagem sobre a geografia, a fauna e a flora do seu pa铆s. Ao longo da hist贸ria, Nils passa por um processo de amadurecimento e transforma莽茫o. Aprende a import芒ncia da empatia, da responsabilidade e do respeito pela natureza. Ao interagir com os animais e testemunhar suas vidas e desafios, Nils come莽a a compreender o mundo de uma maneira mais ampla e a valorizar as coisas que antes ignorava. 脡 um rapaz corajoso e determinado e enfrenta diversos obst谩culos durante sua jornada. Ele mostra-se disposto a ajudar os outros e a enfrentar os desafios que surgem em seu caminho, o que reflete seu crescimento como pessoa ao longo da narrativa.
I was about 10 years old, and looking for something to read on a quiet Sunday afternoon in summer, when I ran across a battered and faded copy of The Wonderful Adventures of Nils. Originally published in Sweden in 1906-7, it tells the story of a naughty farmer's lad who has what we would today call attitude, toward his parents, toward farming, and toward the animals on the farm. He's a terror, in short, and his parents despair of him. An elf turns him into a tiny version of himself (just go with it), and he's nearly eaten, crushed, or lost hundreds of times on his subsequent journeys around Sweden in the company of a marvelous flock of geese.
Of course he learns wonderful lessons along the way, about himself, the animals and birds that suddenly loom much larger in his life, and the land he travels through. Lagerlof was an early environmentalist, as well as an intellectual with theories about bringing up children, and a deep knowledge of Sweden's geography.
I was entranced, and tore through the book on that long, rainy afternoon. Then, over the years, I forgot about Nils, until a combination of Sunday, rain, and the search for a good book brought back a faint memory. Google did the rest, and I was delighted to find that the book is still in print, though hardly a bestseller.
Too bad. It's quite brilliant, and while it was originally written to teach Swedish schoolchildren about geography, the descriptions of the places never get in the way of a good story. It's perfect for your 8 - 10 year old's bedtime reading aloud, though be warned that it contains real peril, death, and something of an education in the hard life of people making a living from the land. It's a book to raise your child's sights, imagination, and IQ.
Este livro foi solicitado a Selma Lagerl枚f para ser usado nas escolas e ensinar as crian莽as da Su茅cia acerca da geografia daquele vasto pa铆s. N茫o 茅 de estranhar, portanto, que a linguagem utilizada e a forma como os cap铆tulos s茫o desenvolvidos estejam totalmente ajustados a leitores de uma camada mais jovem.
No que toca 脿 minha experi锚ncia de leitura, come莽o por dizer que encontrei algumas dificuldades. Os cap铆tulos s茫o curtos, e alguns deles contam hist贸rias que me pareceram desenquadradas da trama central e isso, por vezes, tornou a leitura um pouco repetitiva e aborrecida. Tem alturas em que o pequeno rapaz 茅 colocado em situa莽玫es desnecess谩rias e que, a meu ver, pouco acrescentam. Tamb茅m senti falta de um mapa da Su茅cia com todos os principais locais visitados, algo que esta edi莽茫o n茫o disponibiliza. S茫o muitos e para quem n茫o conhece a Su茅cia, fica muito dif铆cil acompanhar a viagem em termos geogr谩ficos.
Mas n茫o posso deixar de mencionar a vertente ecol贸gica deste livro. Para algo escrito entre 1906 e 1907 茅 surpreendente encontrar refer锚ncias 脿 refloresta莽茫o levada a cabo pelo homem como forma de ajudar a natureza e, consequentemente, o pr贸prio ser humano. O amor pelos animais tamb茅m 茅 not贸rio, sendo a import芒ncia destes continuamente mencionada ao logo de toda a hist贸ria. E claro, as quest玫es morais e 茅ticas sempre t茫o presentes nos trabalhos da autora e que muito me agradam.
Selma Lagerl枚f 茅 uma h谩bil narradora que muito bem recria a atmosfera ficcional das lendas e contos populares da Su茅cia e esta obra 茅 um bom exemplo disso. Esta edi莽茫o cont茅m tamb茅m bonitas ilustra莽玫es mas n茫o tenho certeza quanto 脿 autoria das mesmas.
A big book, but full of nice stories of the wonderful adventures of Nils, a boy who was turned tiny and went on a trip on his goose (or was it a duck, I can't remember?) But what I do remember is that the book had some magical stories to tell. Especially loved the one with the magical city and the one with the deer.
Uma extraordin谩ria viagem 谩 descoberta das belezas da Su茅cia, seus vales, montanhas, rios, castelos e seus humildes habitantes. Mas tamb茅m 茅 a hist贸ria de um menino malvado que aprende a respeitar a natureza e todos os seus animais. Ao longo da jornada de Nils a escritora intercala outras hist贸rias relacionadas com lendas da sua pr贸pria na莽茫o, e torna-se ela pr贸pria uma personagem para expor o motivo de escrever o livro (uma homenagem as suas ra铆zes e 谩 um pa铆s que tanto admira).
Inspirado nas "F谩bulas" de Fontaine este livro possui ador谩veis descri莽玫es sobre o mundo animal, a passagem das esta莽玫es e deu-me vontade de explorar o mundo a minha volta. A amizade de Nils com os gansos bravos 茅 dos momentos mais bonitos de toda esta viagem.
鈥淗谩 viagens de aventuras, viagens de estudo, viagens de neg贸cios. E outras ainda. H谩 viagens felizes e infelizes. Viagens em que se enriquece, viagens em que se morre de saudade. E h谩 esta (鈥�)鈥� 鈥淎 Maravilhosa Viagem de Nils Holgersson atrav茅s da Su茅cia鈥�, 茅 realmente uma viagem, e 茅 realmente maravilhosa鈥� A viagem pela Su茅cia de Nils Holgersson, um menino, transformado em gnomo 脿s costas de um ganso que n茫o se resignou a ser um animal dom茅stico. Uma viagem interior, na vida de um menino cruel, mimado e desobediente, que se transforma, cresce e se torna capaz de sacrificar a sua felicidade pela dos outros. Sobre este livro Oscar Wilde disse com ironia: 鈥淣茫o, uma mulher n茫o 茅 capaz de escrever assim. O livro escreveu-se nela.鈥� Gostei muito鈥�
The librarian told me the original, full version of this book is too long and uses hard-to-understand older version of Swedish. But nothing beats the smell of an old book, so here we are, 600+ pages later. And it was so worth it. From a distance, this looks like a children's book about different regions of Sweden. But it doesn't read like a children's book, and it surely doesn't read like a textbook. It's deeper, and darker (so much death...), and 鈥� for what I can tell, not being a native speaker 鈥� very well-written. And it's not centered on the titular character. Sometimes he's part of the story, vivid and believable, sometimes he's just in one sentence at the beginning of the chapter which is a legend or an isolated story by itself. There are many of them, some with very unexpected endings. I gotta admit, recognizing some of the places or at least having an idea about them helped with being invested into the story, so I would only recommend this book to those with ties to Sweden. But I would recommend it a lot.
The "horribly outdated Swedish" is mostly exhibited by odd 'o':s at the end of some verbs, and way more approachable than any Shakespeare I've tried.
The library also had the audiobook in its app, narrated by Holger Calov. Reading and listening at the same time was helpful with some of the composite words. Luckily the app can speed up the speech without affecting the pitch of the voice, so it still sounded awesome.
The second trick I did to grapple with the original was to also check out a full Russian translation from the library (Sergei Shtern, 2016). While it helped immensely with things like a sentence with five name of different bird species in a row, I can't say I was impressed by the amount of the translator's additions. There were added bits like "As you remember, " 鈥� the absence of which I really enjoyed in the Swedish version. Selma Lagerl枚f doesn't patronize the reader and doesn't pre-chew anything for you. There was also something like "Women being women, the whole village knew about it in half an hour". Again, the author of the original novel didn't make this slight stab at women, the translator did. And the worst parts were about Bataki. In the original, Bataki is a crow. A crow very interested in science, and everything on earth. Helpful, attentive, and kind. In the translation, Bataki is still a crow, but a pretentious, petty, moronic one, who uses complicated words for the sake of using them. He irritates everyone around him. I cross-checked sentence by sentence, and Bataki just gets whole phrases out of nowhere in the translation. Poor thing.
"Noaptea totul cap膬t膬 forma 艧i aspectul s膬u adev膬rat. A艧a cum numai noaptea distingem stelele pe cer, tot a艧a vedem pe p膬m芒nt multe lucruri pe care nu le vedem ziua."
There鈥檚 so much to the world of reading, sigh. And I continue to explore more aspects of Children鈥檚 Literature. In 鈥楾he Wonderful Adventures of Nils,鈥� Selma Lagerlof has created a slow, mindful book that draws you into a world of adventure, fun, and learning. Initially, I found the pace of the book a bit slow, and thought it might be boring. But I caught myself just in time - we are usd to fast-paced action thriller of novels - we are not used to 鈥榤indful鈥� novels. This is one of those.
This book invites you to just sit back with a cup of tea and fall in love with Thumbietot and Goosey-Gander, marvel at Sweden鈥檚 gorgeous landscape described so poetically by Lagerlof, and just think of reading the way it would have been before smartphones and the Internet bombarded us with shortened attention spans.