Categories: books
Date: 29 July 2009 16:14:57
"Sommerboken" written in Swedish by the Finnish writer, Tove Jansson and translated into English by Thomas Teal is a delightful depiction of a young girl, Sophia aged 6, and her elderly grandmother, living on a tiny island for a summer.
For months, they live an idyllic life, pottering around their small kingdom, planting seeds, watching the sea and the weather, and doing very little that actually has to be done. Each is at the stage of life where the days are endless - in a positive way - for Sophia the long, long school-less days and for her grandmother the days of rushing around are over and she can more or less please herself how she spends the time she has left.
Grandmother is a bit of a free spirit, unconstrained by convention, and often happy to indulge in childlike pursuits. Sophia is wise beyond her years, thinking of her grandmother's constraints of age (her walking stick and dizzy spells) and together they pass the days seemingly without one eye on the clock, or worrying about what should be achieved.
There is a particularly charming account of Sophia writing a book. In fact, grandmother writes it as Sophia dictates.
"Wait a minute," Grandmother said. "How about if I put...."
"Put anything you want," said Sophia impatiently. "Just so they'll understand. Now don't interrupt. It goes on like this:....."
By August, the days are drawing in and they make preparations to leave the island and start to put things away for the winter. Grandmother worries that people might land on the island and not know where essential things were kept. "A little later, she started worrying about the stovepipe and put up a sign: "Don't close the damper. It might rust shut. If it doesn't draw, there may be a bird's nest in the chimney - later on in the spring, that is."
This epitomises the innocence and generosity that run through the story evoking all that is perfect about summer. It evokes that yearning in all of us that we seek to find on our summer holidays - the endless days of lightness and nothingness. A delight. And one which I intend to revisit another summer - if I cannot have my own summer island experience.