I'll put your letters under the mattress

I'll put your letters under the mattress ( Swedish: Dina brev lägger jag under madrassen ) is a book by Astrid Lindgren and Sara Schwardt , in which the letters that both wrote to each other over decades are listed.

content

In her first letter to Astrid Lindgren in 1971, 12-year-old Sara Ljungcrantz wrote that she would like to become an actress. She also said that she finds the actors from Astrid Lindgren's films bad. Astrid Lindgren wrote her a reply in which she criticized Ljungcrantz's statements and asked if Ljungcrantz couldn't figure out why she was so lonely. Embarrassed, Ljungcrantz tears the letter into small pieces and writes a letter of apology. In her reply she describes her situation very openly and apologizes several times for her "stupid letter". Lindgren in turn explains that she never wanted to make Ljungcrantz sad with her reply. Ljungcrantz is delighted with the letter. She writes to Lindgren about her problems. Ljungcrantz ran away, stole and skipped and was admitted to adolescent psychiatry. She asks Lindgren not to think that she is crazy about the latter. She also explains to the author that she thinks she is ugly, lazy and stupid. Astrid Lindgren replies that she can already see from the letters that Ljungcrantz is not stupid and asks her to send her a photo of herself. She also asks Ljungcrantz if it is possible for him to make sure that no one else reads Lindgren's response letters and that she can write to him anything she can think of. A pen friendship followed for decades. In the first few letters, Lindgren mainly addresses Ljungcrantz's problems, encouraging her to quit school, not to smoke and not to use drugs. Later, Lindgren reports more and more of her own worries and problems, such as the illnesses and deaths of the people who are dear to Lindgren or their problems in completing the last two chapters of the Lionheart brothers.

History of origin

12-year-old Sara Schwardt (then Sara Ljungcrantz) wrote a letter to Astrid Lindgren, then 64, in 1971. This resulted in a thirty-year pen friendship between the two, in which they wrote more than 80 letters to each other. The two are separated by 50 years of age.

When Sara got older, the correspondence broke off. However, it was resumed in the spring of 1992, ten years before Astrid Lindgren's death.

After Astrid Lindgren's death, Schwardt's letters were handed over to the Royal Library in Stockholm. A total of 75,000 letters to Lindgren are there. Years later, Sara Schwardt turned to Astrid Lindgren's daughter Karin Nyman and asked her to send her copies of her letters. In return, she wanted to donate the author's reply letters to the Astrid Lindgren Archives in the Royal Library in Stockholm. Nyman agreed. When Lena Törnqvist rummaged through the Astrid Lindgren archive, she repeatedly noticed Sara Ljungcrantz's letters. She explained to him how unique this conversation was and persuaded her to publish the letters in a book. Sara Schwardt hesitated at first, after all she and Lindgren had sworn to each other never to publish the letters, but finally agreed.

background

I'll put your letters under the mattress was published in 2012 by the Swedish publisher Salikon under the title Dina brev lägger jag under madrassen . In Germany, the book was published in 2015 by Oetinger Verlag. The author and Sara Schwardt never got to know each other personally, but only exchanged information by letter.

The book has been translated into several languages including German, Norwegian, Polish and Georgian. Sara Schwardt also wrote an afterword for the book.

Sara Schwardt went on a reading tour with the book both in Sweden and in Germany. Until the book was published, Schwardt worked as a cleaner in the hospital. She now lives in Småland and works as a tour guide in the children's film village Mariannelund .

Even after Astrid Lindgren's death, Schwardt continued to write to the author. These letters were published in Sweden in 2017 under the title Sara Schwardt: Kära Astrid, det är jag igen - Brev utan svar (German: Dear Astrid, I'm back. Letters without an answer ). The first entry in the book is from the spring of 2013. Schwardt reports on how she gives up her job as a cleaner in the hospital after a life crisis and moves to Mariannelund. This book has not yet been published in German.

reception

Lutz Hagestedt from literaturkritik.de finds it astonishing how well Schwardt can articulate himself at a young age. Her letters are "lively and lively, extremely fluctuating in their emotional states and often remarkably clear when it comes to intimate or even sexual matters". Although the self-reference dominates everything, Schwardt has "a good eye for the world around her - and above all for her addressee and her books."

Jens Andersen von Berlingske thinks that the book takes up thoughts and feelings that no children were confronted with in literature in the 1970s, including death and loneliness. There is little doubt that Lindgren recognized herself in the lonely Sara.

Sonja Kessen von Ohrbär recommends the book for adults and young people aged 17 and over. She says the book shows "how important it can be to have a mentor outside of active life, someone who meets you on an equal footing, listens and comments wisely, without always sharing the same view."

Cornelia Pointner from edugroup.at says that the collection of letters is “a very personal insight into the childhood and teenage life of Sara, but also especially into the soul life of Astrid Lindgren”. “The author accompanies Sara through her adulthood, she reads between the lines and encourages her. Bit by bit you also learn something from Lindgren's world: about the pressure she feels exposed to, about holidays with her grandchildren, about her grief for friends and relatives and much more. "

Web links

Individual evidence

[1] Astrid Lindgren: “Until the waves have settled” .

[2] Personalet Anbefaler .

[3] Letters can change the world. .

[4] Astrid Lindgren: "Life is not so rotten as it seems sometimes!" .

[5] A visit to southern Sweden, in the motley world of Astrid Lindgren .

[6] I'll put your letters under the mattress .

[7] Sara, min Sara .

[8] Astrid Lindgren, Sara Schwardt - I'll put your letters under the mattress. An exchange of letters 1971–2002 .

[9] Astrid Lindgren's secret pen friend .

[10] For 30 years, Sara Schwardt maintained correspondence with the children's book author Astrid Lindgren .

[11] Correspondence with Astrid Lindgren. The difficult child and the writer .

[12] Dina brev lägger jag under madrassen. Av Astrid Lindgren and Sara Schward (Sallikon) .

[13] Unik brevveksling mellom Lindgren and unge Sara. .

[14] Astrid Lindgren: historia niezwykłej znajomości. .

[15] Put your letters under the mattress. Astrid Lindgren, Sara Schwardt. .

[16] Dina brev lägger jag under madrassen. Av Astrid Lindgren and Sara Schward (Sallikon). .

[17] The letters under the mattress. .

[18] The secrets of Astrid Lindgren. .

[19] Stugtankar: Astrid and Sara. .

[20] Astrid nämnde aldrig sin egen historia. .

[21] Astrid brevvän Sara Schwardt flyttar till Marianne Lund. .

[22] 30-year pen friendship: Anything but Bullerbü: Call for help to Astrid Lindgren. .

[23] “I'll put your letters under the mattress” - correspondence between Astrid Lindgren and Sara Schwardt .

[24] Personliga brev till Astrid Lindgren blir ny bok .

[25] “And my heart began to pound”. Astrid Lindgren's correspondence with a child. .

[26] "Jeg danser helst ensom til grammophones" .

[27] "I'll put your letters under the mattress. An exchange of letters 1971-2002" .

[28] I'll put your letters under the mattress. An exchange of letters 1971–2002 .