Sagan om Sune

Sagan om Sune (Swedish: The tale of Sune ) is a novel, written by Anders Jacobsson and Sören Olsson and originally published in 1984.^[2] It tells the story of Sune Andersson during the year he spring term of the 1st grade at school in Sweden. Anders originally wrote the stories when doing his military service,^[3] while Sören illustrated. Originally, the stories aired over SR Örebro.

The book is one of the titles in Tusen svenska klassiker, where journalists Jan Gradvall, Björn Nordström and Ulf Nordström have appointed 1 000 significant Swedish cultural works.^[4]

Book cover

The book cover depicts Sune wearing a red sweater.

Plot

Sune is 7 years old, and attends the 1st grade. Sune is a so-called "tjejtjusare" ("girlcharmer"), but mostly he likes Sophie in the same class at school. They have known each other since being very small. Despite hanging with Sophie, Sune also goes to school, play with his friend Joakim Fröberg, fight with his little brother "Håkan Bråkan", who for example has bitten the legs of Sune's Donald Duck toy figures. The book opens with a presentation of the main characters.

One Friday when walking to school, Sune gets "Goddag, goddag-sjukan", a disease where the affected can only say "God dag, god dag" ("Good day, good day"), even if the disease always comes to an end later. Sune writes a note to his mother. When coming to school, Sune tries to avoid answering questions. He is exposed during the Swedish lesson, when required to answer a question. His schoolteacher said she cured the disease with curiosity.

In the nearby forest, a "war" (using cones) has broken during a break, where the 1st graders and the 2nd graders fight the 3rd graders. Sune is about to free Daniel, but ends up in trouble with 3rd grader Bengt, who chases him before getting saved by the bell.

Sune also hangs out with Sophie, and one morning Håkan wakes him up by tugging on the lashes. Håkan also breaks Sune's guitar apart. Sune replies by throwing pillows.

During their own time, the children play ball games at the apartment blocks, and even older kids attend the games, including those from the higher stage of the Swedish primary school. Katrin Åkerblom in class 7 A counts, och captures several people, but when capturing Sophie Sune tries to free her. Sune kicks the ball, which crashes into the apartment of a man called "Gäckande skuggan". He has sailed the seas, and rumors say his wife and children have disappeared. Joakim requires Sune to go picking up the ball. Sophie isn't afraid, and goes with Sune, and it soon turns out there is no "Gäckande skuggan", just Alvin Hjalmar Edwin Gren who isn't dangerous at all. He tells about his seaman life, and about being thrown into prison in Tunis after fighting with a Greek over a girl, and that it was his wife and children who left him. Sune feels pleased over knowing the truth.

When Sune's school class go to swimming lessons they travel by bus to the bathhouse. Sune feels ashamed for not knowing how to swim, and when the class is split up between pupils who know how to swim and those who don't how to swim he lies and reports himself to the other group, and mimics swimming. When the swimming instructor orders them out to deep water, it's revealed Sune can't swim. The swimming instructor has to save Sune's life and Sune says not knowing how to swim is silly, but nobody agrees, and just say the entire meaning of swimming lessons is learning how do swim. Sune is sent back to the minor pool.

References

External links

• Böckerna om Sune (Swedish)
• Children in Kazan, Russia interpret the "Sune får Goddag Goddag-sjukan" episode (Russian), (Swedish)