Pippi Longstocking, by Astrid Lindgren

I have wonderful friends, all around. Seriously, I do. I should probably devote a post to each one of you and I could easily do so. It would be easy. Today's Huge Thank You goes to Annette at This Simple Home who kindly sent me a copy of Pippi Longstocking after discovering that I hadn't read it.

It was the perfect book for me to read a couple of days ago. I didn't have a whole lot of time to read and I wanted the satisfaction of knowing that I could actually sit down and completely ONE project. (These days projects are all completed in baby steps which is typically not how I prefer to accomplish things.) I wanted to start and finish something in the time I had allotted to me and Pippi fit the bill. An easy read. I wrapped up in an hour. Bingo! (Thank you, Annette, for entertaining me! I would have happily spent an hour talking to you face-to-face but I felt like I got to spend time with you which was also an encouragement.)

Pippi Longstocking is an interesting character. Honestly, I do not love her. (Insert a million and two apologies to Shonya in particular!) I opened the cracks of Pippi not having a single clue about her except that she had pigtails that stuck out. (That is seriously all I knew.) I was immediately informed that Pippilotta Delicatessa Windowshade Mackerelmint Efraim's Daughter Longstocking was a red-haired orphan. Instantly my brain shot to a comparison between Pippi and Anne. Anne was even more instantly declared the hands-down winner. Pippi just didn't even stand a chance which I'm sure some will find sad.

Anne and Pippi both have a rather rabid tongue but I think Anne infinitely more clever. Also, they both try to be good and obedient, but fail miserably. Anne fails miserably while truly trying to be respectful and kind though. Pippi seems to disregard all attempts at being remotely normal and so she felt exaggerated and overdone to me. If you are looking for random entertainment and an opportunity to smirk for an hour, Pippi does the trick. If you are looking for a character to love, well . . . *I*, at least, must look elsewhere. (By the way, Annette lets me share my honest opinion and always tells me that she hopes I will. I love that she gives me the freedom to like or not like a book.)

I thought Pippi was generally disrespectful to adults. I didn't care for the way that she spoke to them and teased them, all while clearly infuriating them. That rumpled me badly. I didn't mind if she was being goofy with her friends. She can be goofy with them all she likes! I've no objections to that. But I did take issue with her dismissal of adult advice and instruction. I, however, was reading the book silently to myself when I was forming this conclusion. About half way through the book I started thinking about how the book would read, were I reading it aloud to Bookworm1. I came to the conclusion that I would feel differently about Pippi if were sharing the story with my son. Outloud, Pippi's ridiculousness is magnified. Read outloud, it is more clear that she is in the wrong and the adults are in the right. Her silliness is displayed better with the use of a change in tone and voice inflection. It's easy enough to see that she's a silly girl who needs to learn some manners. In fact, there are several Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle qualities to the book when it comes to describing bad behavior. So I think ultimately I'm left with the idea that I'd probably like this book better as a read aloud than a private read. That said, I did smile and smirk several times and that's all I was asking from Pippi! She delivered the goods. A big Thank You to Annette for finally schooling me in the character of Pippi!