The Brothers Lionheart by Astrid Lindgren


The Brothers Lionheart
Title : The Brothers Lionheart
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : 1930900244
ISBN-10 : 9781930900240
Language : English
Format Type : Hardcover
Number of Pages : 231
Publication : First published January 1, 1973
Awards : Zilveren Griffel (1975), Wilhelm-Hauff-Preis (1979), Międzynarodowa Nagroda Literacka im. Janusza Korczaka (1979), Premio Bancarelino (1978)

The Brothers Lionheart (Swedish: Bröderna Lejonhjärta) is a children's fantasy novel written by Astrid Lindgren. It was published in the autumn of 1973 and has been translated into 46 languages. Many of its themes are unusually dark and heavy for the children's book genre. Disease, death, tyranny, betrayal and rebellion are some of the dark themes that permeate the story. The lighter themes of the book involve platonic love, loyalty, hope, courage and pacifism.

The two main characters are two brothers; the older Jonatan and the younger Karl. The two brothers' surname was originally Lion, but they are generally known as Lionheart. Karl's nickname is Skorpan (Rusky) since Jonatan likes these typical Swedish toasts or crusts.

In Nangijala, a land in "the campfires and storytelling days", the brothers experience adventures. Together with a resistance group they lead the struggle against the evil Tengil, who rules with the aid of the fearsome fire-breathing dragon, Katla.


The Brothers Lionheart Reviews


  • Alex

    In high school I loaned this to a girlfriend and then she dumped me and then I called her house like every day all "GIVE ME MY BOOK BACK" until she finally left it outside my door so she wouldn't have to talk to me.

    I was a pretty big fan of this book.

  • Angelina

    If you don't like this book, you just don't understand anything. If you still haven't read it, please do! (If you're not a child anymore, it doesn't matter.)
    Simply one of the best children's books ever written. It deals with some very serious issues in a truly admirable way and gives hope at the same time. Pure, honest, brave and magical.

  • Lisa

    There are times when reality is hard to bear!

    There are times when you wish you would not have to face what is actually happening. For all those times, Astrid Lindgren wrote The Brothers Lionheart. I must have read it about ten times by now, several times as a child, and several times with my own children, and students. I have watched the film, listened to the magical audiobook in which Astrid Lindgren herself reads the story, in that slow, humoristic voice of hers, indicating her Småland dialect ever so little. And I have read quite a few reflections on the book, as well - mostly discussions about whether or not she was right to break the taboo of death in a children's adventure book.

    What remains with me are two things: the power of storytelling to make life bearable, and the recurring pattern of human society, regardless of plot, setting, characters and purpose of the story.

    The first chapter is of the kind that makes you cry helplessly: a poor boy with a deadly illness, probably tuberculosis, overhears his mother talking about his expected death. Devastated, he confides in his older brother Jonathan, who reassures him that there is a wonderful adventurous life after death, in Nangijala, and that he will just be waiting there until Jonathan joins him. Things develop differently, however, and Jonathan dies himself, trying to save his brother from a fire. And shortly afterwards, the boys reunite in the wonderful fairytale world of Nangijala. So far, so kitsch.

    But of course Nangijala is a dark place as well, with a village behind a wall, reigned by the evil Tengil and his soldiers, supported by a superpower weapon, a dragon called Katla. Nobody will be surprised to hear that the novel was published at the height of the Cold War.

    I still feel a shiver down my spine when I think of the boys sneaking in behind enemy lines, using the password:

    All makt åt Tengil, vår befriare!" "All power to Tengil, our liberator!"

    Is it not a universal habit of tyrants that they proclaim themselves liberators? From what, I would like to ask: from freedom of movement? Freedom of choice? Peace?

    In the black and white world of Astrid Lindgren's fairytale, the brothers set out to save their world out of the glorious conviction that there are things you have to do, regardless of the danger you encounter:

    “Men då sa Jonatan att det fanns saker som man måste göra, även om det var farligt. ’Varför då’, undrade jag. ’Annars är man ingen människa utan bara en liten lort’, sa Jonatan.”
    'I don't know if it was such a good thing to do,' said Jonathan. 'But there are things you have to do, otherwise you're not a human being, just a piece of dirt.'

    They win in the end, and the evil powers of Nangijala are defeated, but at a cost: Jonathan was hurt by Katla.

    And this is where the story loses its magical power and credibility for me, and where I feel Astrid Lindgren does not face up to reality, even if it is just the reality you find in a story universe.

    The boys decide to commit suicide to move on to the next world, Nangilima, where the stories are better and life is easier. In a chain of eternal worlds, there can be multiple happy (or sad) endings. But I don't particularly like that message, and have always found it hard to convey to my children. Not because of the theme of death, but because of the careless attitude towards the reality we currently live in and can't stomach.

    If we just move on whenever life does not turn out the way we expect it, and move from adventure to adventure, ignoring the fallout of the reality we dodge by seeking an easy way out, there is no real incentive to change the premises of the world we live in for the better, or to try to figure out the reasons for the problems we have, in order to prevent them from getting worse.

    Close your eyes and jump!

    I always thought that was contradictory to the message that you are a piece of dirt if you do not do what you think is right.

    But then again, Astrid Lindgren might have seen clearly what humanity does all the time: building walls, fighting over ideology, ignoring bad signs, denying reality and jumping blindly into the future, hoping for the best without ever turning around to learn from history, believing in an afterlife that will be different and better, despite being populated by the same set of characters that populate earth.

    There is one beautiful idea expressed in the story, that I love reading over and over again:

    "Men jag kan inte döda någon’, sa Jonatan, ’det vet du, Orvar!’ […] ’Om alla vore som du’, sa Orvar, ’då skulle ju ondskan få regera i all evinnerlighet!’ Men då sa jag att om alla vore som Jonatan, så skulle det inte finnas någon ondska.

    “But I can't kill anyone,' said Jonathan, 'you know that Orvar!' 'If everyone were like you,' said Orvar, 'then evil would rule for all eternity!' But then I said that if everyone were like Jonathan, then there would be no evil.”

  • Sharon L

    remember that book you read in your childhood?

    it was in hardcover, it was a bit dusty and used, and you had that feeling that you would like this book. and so you read it- and it had adventures and it was interesting and you couldn't stop reading that book (you read other books before, but that was the first book you were glued to).

    remember that book in your childhood that, in a way, is the main reason for your deep love to books? that book that holds magic to you? that is cherished by you? that when thinking of your childhood, you also thinking of it?
    the book you loved best as a child?
    that book that couldn't be replaced?

    that one, special book that has a warm place in your heart till this day?

    well,
    that's what The Brothers Lionheart by Astrid Lindgren is to me.

  • Ahmad Sharabiani

    Bröderna Lejonhjärta = The Brothers Lionheart, Astrid Lindgren
    The Brothers Lionheart is a children's fantasy novel written by Astrid Lindgren. It was published in the autumn of 1973 and has been translated into 46 languages. Many of its themes are unusually dark and heavy for the children's book genre. Disease, death, tyranny, betrayal and rebellion are some of the dark themes that permeate the story. The lighter themes of the book involve platonic love, loyalty, hope, courage and pacifism. In an unnamed Swedish city, ten year-old Karl Lejon has found out that he is going to die from an unspecified pulmonary disease. His adored big brother, 13-year-old Jonatan, calms him down and tells him that in the afterlife, all men will go to a land known as Nangijala. One day, a fire breaks out in the Lejon home. Jonatan takes Karl on his back and jumps out of the house's window to save him, but dies himself in the fall. Karl is crestfallen over his brother's death, until, just before his own demise, he receives a sign which allays his fears of death, and when he wakes again, he finds himself in the Cherry Valley of Nangijala, where he is happily reunited with Jonatan. Karl is introduced to the denizens of the valley, particularly Sofia the dove-keeper, Hubert the hunter, and Jossi, a landlord, and assumes the surname Lionheart along with his brother. ...
    عنوانها: ب‍رادران‌ ش‍ی‍ردل‌؛ دره‌ گ‍ل‌ س‍رخ‌؛ نویسنده: آس‍ت‍ری‍د ل‍ی‍ن‍دگ‍رن‌؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش: سال 1990 میلادی
    عنوان: ب‍رادران‌ ش‍ی‍ردل‌؛ نویسنده: آس‍ت‍ری‍د ل‍ی‍ن‍دگ‍رن‌؛ مت‍رج‍م: اک‍ب‍ر گ‍ل‍رن‍گ‌؛ تهران، مردمک؛ 1368؛ در 289 ص؛ چاپ دیگر: تهران، پیک فرهنگ؛ 1368؛ در 289 ص؛ 1370، چاپ سوم 1375؛ موضوع: داستانهای نویسندگان سوئدی - سده 20 م
    عنوان: دره‌ گ‍ل‌ س‍رخ‌؛ نویسنده: آس‍ت‍ری‍د ل‍ی‍ن‍دگ‍رن‌؛ مت‍رج‍م: ع‍زی‍زال‍ل‍ه‌ ق‍وطاس‍ل‍و؛ تهران، کتاب جوانه، 1370؛ در 240 ص، مصور؛ چاپ دیگر: ت‍ه‍ران‌: دف‍ت‍ر ن‍ش‍ر ف‍ره‍ن‍گ‌ اس‍لام‍ی‌‏‫، 1375؛ چاپ دیگر: ‏‫تهران ‬‏‫: شرکت انتشارات سوره مهر‬‏‫‬‏، 1393؛ شابک: 9786001751493؛ ‬
    ‬عنوان: ب‍رادران‌ ش‍ی‍ردل‌؛ نویسنده: اس‍ت‍ری‍د ل‍ی‍ن‍دگ‍رن‌؛ م‍ت‍رج‍م‌: م‍ح‍م‍د زری‍ن‌ب‍ال‌؛ ت‍ه‍ران‌: ن‍ش‍ر ن‍ق‍طه‌، گ‍روه‌ ک‍ودک‌ و ن‍وج‍وان‌‏‫، 1375، در 234 ص؛ شابک: 9645548683؛‬
    عنوان: ب‍رادران‌ ش‍ی‍ردل‌؛ نویسنده: اس‍ت‍ری‍د ل‍ی‍ن‍دگ‍رن‌؛ م‍ت‍رج‍م‌: بهمن رستم‌آبادی؛ ت‍ه‍ران‌: زنبق: فرهنگ و هنر‏‫، 1390؛ در 303 ص؛ شابک: 9789647501262؛ چاپ دوم 1397؛
    عنوان: برادران شیردل؛ نویسنده: آسترید لیندگرن؛ مترجم از زبان سوئدی: ج‍ون‌ ت‍ی‍ت‌؛ مترجم: کمال اکرمی؛ زیر نظر شورای بررسی رمان؛ ویراستار پژمان واسعی؛ تهران: ‏‫محراب قلم، کتابهای مهتاب‏‫، 1397؛ ‬در 273 ص؛ شابک: 9786004132237؛
    داستان دو برادر به نام‌های «یوناتان» و «کارل» است. «کارل»، برادر کوچکتر، و کودکی بیمار است، که از لحاظ عاطفی به برادر بزرگتر خود بسیار وابسته است. «کارل» به‌طور اتفاقی پی می‌برد، که به زودی خواهد مرد؛ «یوناتان» برای دلداری دادن به او، از سرزمینی زیبا، و افسانه‌ ای به نام «نانگیالا» سخن می‌گوید که آدم‌ها پس از مرگ به آنجا می‌روند. کمی بعد در یک آتش‌سوزی، «یوناتان» می‌میرد. «کارل» که پس از مرگ «یوناتان» زندگی خودش را غم‌انگیز می‌بیند، بی‌صبرانه منتظر است، تا او هم به «نانگیالا» برود، و در کنار «یوناتان» قرار بگیرد. او که بیمار است، پس از مدتی به او می‌پیوندد، و در «درهٔ گیلاس»، زندگی سرشار از آرامشی را با برادرش آغاز می‌کند. اما به زودی متوجه می‌شود در سرزمینی به نام درهٔ گل سرخ، که در همسایگی آنها واقع شده‌ است، شخص بی‌رحم و زورگویی به نام «تنگیل» حکومت می‌کند، که آرامش و آزادی را از مردمانش سلب کرده‌ است. او در می‌یابد که برادرش در این مدت با همراهی اهالی این سرزمین، مبارزاتی را در برابر حاکم زورگو آغاز کرده‌ است. او که برادر خود را سمبل شجاعت می‌داند، خواسته و ناخواسته پا به پای او در مسیر مبارزه با شر و پلیدی مبارزه می‌کند. ا. شربیانی

  • Helle

    This is the most important, most magical and most precious book from my childhood. It is the book that made me believe in something greater than myself when I was about ten years old. It is, to me, one of the most wonderful stories for children and young teenagers.

    By the time I was 18, I had read it three or four times, later I read it to my oldest daughter and now to my youngest. And I still struggled to hold back the tears.

    It is about the love between two brothers, about life after death, about believing in goodness and fighting evil – though that is what I see as an adult now. When I was a child (and to my own children), it was/is simply a magnificent and magical story which had me reading into the small hours of the night, but above all it is about hope. With this book alone Astrid Lindgren made an indelible imprint on my childhood.

    Years ago, I taught a course on fantasy fiction during which I had long discussions with my students about the genre. My students were educating themselves to become future (English) teachers, and the fantasy genre is a must in that connection, at least here in Denmark where it has been popular for a long time. A school teacher I knew at the time had read this story aloud to her pupils in school and had made sure to tell the children not to throw themselves from tall buildings because there was no such thing as Nangijala – the magical place that Karl and Jonatan go to after they die (early on in the book, so no spoiler). I made it my mission to tell my students never to do any such thing; children aren’t stupid. They know how to distinguish between what’s real and what isn’t. But more importantly: how did she know there is no Nangijala? To take away the hope and the magic that such a story offers is to misunderstand what the genre offers, not least this book.

    Shortly afterwards, my mother died quite unexpectedly. Among the many cards I received was one from those same students, in which they sent me their heartfelt condolences and which ended by their assuring me that ‘we believe in Nangijala.’ So even as an adult, this book is among those I will defend with my life and recommend to anyone who’ll listen. I know I’m not the only person to feel this way about The Brothers Lionheart, indeed I believe it’s part of the landscape of childhood for many Scandinavians, which just underlines how wondrous and magical Astrid Lindgren was.


  • Manybooks

    Well and truly, the first time I read Astrid Lindgren’s 1973 fantasy novel The Brothers Lionheart in 1977 (titled Bröderna Lejonhärta in the Swedish original, although yes, I was reading the novel in German translation) I not only found The Brothers Lionheart (Die Brüder Löwenherz) a diverting and entertaining reading experience, I in fact and indeed just loved loved loved absolutely everything about the author’s, about Astrid Lindgren’s narrative (and in particular I was also completely in awe at Lindgren’s bravery approaching in a children’s novel subjects and topics like death, grief, loss and the concept that even in the so-called afterlife, danger and evil can reign supreme and hold sway).

    And indeed, first and foremost, what I have always most appreciated in The Brothers Lionheart is not only the incredibly close and loving personal relationship between strong and healthy older brother Jonathan and his sickly and dying of tuberculosis younger brother Karl (since due to major differences of temperament and likes/dislikes, my own relationship with my siblings has sadly never been all that close) but also that this absolute love and affection extends even to the afterlife, even to Nangijala (and that therefore, when Jonathan and Karl once they are both residing in Nangijala realise that their at first glance idyllic seeming existence there is in fact gravely threatened, they as a brave two person team decide to actively fight against the tyranny and evil of Tengil and his weapon of mass destruction, the dragon Katla).

    Now if I were to rank The Brothers Lionheart only and solely from the perspective of my eleven year old self (from when I read the novel in 1977), I would most definitely and without any doubt whatsoever be choosing a solid five star ranking. However, I do have to admit that rereading The Brothers Lionheart as an older and much more critical adult, albeit that I do still very much enjoy Astrid Lindgren’s presented text (with Jonathan and Karl’s sweet sibling devotion and their bravery and fortitude combatting Tengil and Katla), I am sorry to say that I also tend to consider it somewhat uncomfortable and problematic that Astrid Lindgren seems to (at least to older adult I) be depicting death and the afterlife as almost something preferable to life (in so far that everything about Nangijala, even when it is threatened by evil and with possible destruction is still in my opinion depicted by Astrid Lindgren as somehow being better in every way than life on earth). And that after Jonathan is severely injured by in the battle with Katla, that the two brothers actually choose to commit suicide, and thereby to move from Nanjigala to Nangilama, where there supposedly is an easier existence with better stories, well, I just do not particularly appreciate as an adult reader the potential message this might give to children (that suicide is both acceptable and a not even all that traumatic escape, for while it might well be important to show children that death is not some monster to always and continuously fear, I do think that the way death is actively embraced and seen as a positive escape into an even more idyllic existence by Astrid Lindgren at the end of The Brothers Lionheart, this does go just a wee bit too far for my level of comfort).

  • Noah


    Beautiful, heartbreaking, uplifting and timeless.

    Astrid Lindgren Forever! :)

    *****
    “Why did you save Park's life, was that so good?'

    'I don't know if it was such a good thing to do,' said Jonathan. 'But there are things you have to do, otherwise you're not a human being, just a piece of dirt. I've said this to you before.'

    'But what if he'd realized who you were?' I said. 'And they had caught you!'

    'Well, then they would've caught Lionheart and not a piece of dirt,' said Jonathan.”
    ― Astrid Lindgren, The Brothers Lionheart

  • Rinda Elwakil

    الأخوان ليون هارت اللذان اصطحباني إلي نانجيالا، والآن لا أود العودة من هناك.

  • Maziyar Yf

    زمانی که یک کتاب انسان را به یاد انبوه خاطرات خوش کودکی ، یاد حس خوب ورق زدن صفحات کتاب برای رسیدن به عکسها و تصاویر، بحث های خام کودکی راجع به نانگیلا و جهان بعد از آن ، فدا کاری های جاناتان ، کاتلا اژدهای داستان و شیپوری که دست تنگیل بود می اندازد ، زمانی که یک کتاب مثله آلبوم عکس قدیمی عمل می کند و انسان را مستقیم به دهه عجیب و غریب شصت می برد ، زمانی که با یاد آوری داستان کتاب ، حجم عظیم خاطرات در ذهنم فلش بک می خورد ، دیگر چه اهمیتی دارد که مثلا فکر کنیم که اصلا چرا دنیای دوم از همین دنیا سخت تر بوده ؟ یا این که چرا کاتلا با این که بال داره چرا نمی تونه بپره؟! که اصولا منطق و سوالات بر مبنای عقل در آن زمان در دنیای ما جایی نداشته . یادم میاد در اتفاقی شبیه به معجزه سریالی از این کتاب از صدا و سیما پخش شد و یکی از بزرگترین هیجانات من دیدن کاتلا و تنگیل بود و هنوز هم شنل سیاه مخصوص تنگیل و لباس فرم سربازها ( که شبیه به لباس ارتش آلمان نازی بود ) سوفیا ، یوسی ، جاسوس و لحظه ای که با نشان مخصوص تنگیل داغش می کنند و شخصیت های دیگر داستان به گونه ای در
    ! ذهن من هستند و عجیب تر آن که گویی در همین دنیای خودمان سرگرم و مشغولند ، هر یک به نوعی

  • AnnaLund

    The book that made me who I am today.
    The one that taught me to stand up for my friends.
    The book that showed me that Somethings you just HAVE to do, or else you are not a real human being, just a little speck of dirt.
    Of course, I read it in the original Swedish, but anyone who has half a mind of reading something truly healing should give this a go in English. It is well translated, and she IS, after all, the mother of Pippi Longstockings. I rest my case.
    Jonatan, jag ser ljuset.

  • Leni Iversen

    Reading childhood favourites again as an adult is risky business, and with Astrid Lindgren it can be devastating. Not because her books disappoint; they don't. She has the gift of writing books that are read one way by children and another by adults. For a child, The Brothers Lionheart is an empowering adventure about brotherly love, courage, and doing the right thing even if you are scared. Children take the story at face value. It's the story of a sick child who gets to go on adventures and be healthy, and be a hero in his own little way. It's a story about not needing to fear death. I have heard of this book being used in therapy sessions with terminally ill children. It was a strange experience to read the book to my daughter and watch her react to it in the same way I had as a child, while I was now experiencing a different book.

    Yes, I found the plot transparent, and there were some convenient but unrealistic plot devices. But that's fair enough. It works for kids, and doesn't underestimate them. I also realised that it wasn't just a story of good versus evil, it was obviously a story of fascism, occupation and resistance. Older brother Jonathan keeps getting compared to a fairytale prince, but he is more like a young Christ-figure. This realisation didn't detract from the story at all, it just made it a different experience.

    What's more important is that I had trouble keeping my voice steady during the opening chapters, and had to take a break to wipe my tears before I could read on. Being a mother now, I identified not with the dying child, but with the mother. First her husband is lost at sea, then she loses both her children. My daughter looked at me and said, "But mummy, she will see them again in Nangijala!"

    The story felt, in part, like the hope and innocence of my childhood being stripped away. Maybe it wouldn't have affected me so much if I hadn't experienced it as a child first. As an adult you realise immediately that Nangijala isn't real, it is an invention to soothe a dying child. And that changes the whole book. Especially, it changes the ending. Once again I had trouble keeping my voice steady, but to my daughter it was a happy ending. Astrid Lindgren wrote for children, and she was always on their side. Champion of children, devastator of the grown-up heart. What an amazing literary gift.

  • محمدحسین بنـکدارتهرانی

    کتاب نازنین دره‌ی گل سرخ ... سال‌ها بود گم کرده بودمش ... چه‌قدر در سال‌هایی که معلم بچه‌ها بودم ( هر سال به بچه‌ها می‌گفتم پنج کتاب پیش من دارید هر کدام را خواندید ... بیایید و دیگری را بگیرید ) پی این کتاب گشتم و نیافتمش.

    دفتر نشر اسلامی! سال‌ها بود فراموشش کرده بود و پی چاپ مشتی پرت‌وپلا رفته و نگو پشت این جلد زشت و بی‌ربط سوره‌ی مهر، روی از من پنهان کرده بوده.

    حالا اون سال‌ها گذشته و بسیاری بچه‌ها نخوانده بزرگ شده‌اند. چه مبارک سحری بود و چه فرخنده شبی که دوباره پیدایش کردم.

  • Kirstine

    Oh man, I am an absolute sucker for sibling relationships (have I mentioned this before? Maybe I have), if not, know now that I am.

    So you might guess why this is (along with 'Mio, My Mio') my favourite Astrid Lindgren book. The relationship between Tvebak and Jonathan (the Danish names) is so unbelievably precious, and leaves me in tears, even now, despite it being a childrens book.
    Having a brother myself, I understand the devotion you can have for a sibling; I'd do anything for him. I'd face my own death if it meant saving him, and I wouldn't even hesitate. Because I love him more than anything and nothing else is as important.

    I love this book, and I have loved it since I read it for the first time as a kid. It's a wonder of a children's book, really a masterpiece, handling some very difficult themes, and many of the exact things that I value so highly and have struggled with myself: trust, freedom, fighting for what you believe in, loyalty, and keeping the ones you love safe, whatever the cost. And this presents all of these things in a lovely, heartbreaking and hopeful tale.

    There's no doubt I'll be reading this to my own children some day.

  • Nogol

    چقدر برام جالبه که کتابی که توی کودکی، شاید صدها بار خوندمش بدون اینکه حتی خیلی ناراحتم کنه این بار که در بزرگسالی همراه با دوستم میخونم انقدر برام دردناکه. وعده ی نانگی یالا، برگشتن روح یوناتان در پیکر کبوتر و امید کارل برای مرگ هرچه زودتر چقدر واقعی تر از وقتیه که هشت نه سال بیشتر نداشتم. و خب پایان کتاب که گفتن ندارد. با وجود رده سنی کودک و نوجوان مفاهیم بسیار ثقیلی مثل مرگ، فداکاری، شهادت، سرکوب سیاسی، و حتی خودکشی و اتونازی توی این کتاب دیده میشه که بنظرم با وجود سنگین بودن به شیوه ی زیبا و‌ قابل درکی بیان شده.

    خیلیا فک میکنن کتاب کودک نوشتن آسونه یا هنر خاصی نمیخواد.
    اگر دیدید یه کتاب کودک و نوجوان، اشک بزرگسالی که سال به سال با کتاب ها گریه نمیکنه رو درمیاره بدونید جادویی توی این کتابا هست که هیچ جای دیگه ای زنده نیست.
    این کتاب همواره برای من یکی از زیباترین کتاب هایی که خوندم و به نحوی در شکل گیری کودکی و بزرگسالیم نقش بزرگی داشته و تجربه ی خوندن مشترکش برام بسیار بسیار ارزشمند بود.
    یوناتان و کارل. دوستتان دارم تا ابد

  • Mira | I Read Like Phoebe Runs

    Ehkä kaikki oli määrätty jo satujen esiaikoina. Ehkä Joonatan jo silloin määrättiin Ruusulaakson pelastajaksi. Ja ehkäpä oli olemassa joitakin salamyhkäisiä satuolentoja, jotka ohjasivat askeliamme meidän siitä tietämättä.

    Yksi lapsuuden ristiriitaisimpia lukukokemuksia nyt lukupiirin tammikuun kirjana. Lapsena rakastin tätä tarinaa, hyvän ja pahan taistoa, ja koin monta ensimmäistä hengenpidätystä, yllätystä ja juonenkäännettä, niin voimakkaita että niihin olen verrannut muita kirjoja sen jälkeen. Mutta toisaalta ahdistuin kaikesta tästä kuolemasta aivan valtavasti jo lapsena, ja vähän tavoitan sitä tunnetta nytkin.

    Astrid Lindgren kuvaa hirmuvallan ja sodan mielettömyyttä taitavasti lapsen näkökulmasta, ja valitettavan paljon näitä ajatuksia voi nykymaailmaankin heijastella. Toisaalta ihanaa kuvausta ihmisyydestä ja kaipuusta satujen ja leirinuotioiden aikaan.

  • Malene

    "... Alligevel kunne jeg ikke lade være med at tænke på, hvor skønt det ville være, hvis vi ikke hele tiden skulle være så stærke og modige."

    Jeg købte denne bog kort efter jeg sidste sommer var i Junibacken og blev mindet om dette skønne eventyr af Astrid Lindgren, da vi tog med Eventyrtoget rundt, for at se Lindgrens forskellige historier.

    Da jeg var yngre holdt jeg faktisk ikke forfærdeligt meget af historien. Jeg fandt den alt for uhyggelig og jeg brød mig virkelig ikke om, at den handlede så meget om død, men nu, mange år og flere tab senere, værdsætter jeg dog virkelig Lindgrens skønne og hjerteskærende historie.

    'Brødrene Løvehjerte' er en smuk og fantastisk bog, der så omfattende behandler nogle hårde emner, at jeg kan blive helt forundret over, at dette er en børnebog.
    Det er utroligt magisk, det Lindgren har formået at gøre med bogen og det er ganske enkelt et mesterværk.

    Den handler om livet og om døden, om at kæmpe for hvad du tror på - kæmpe imod det mørke, man kan finde så mange steder. Den handler om at miste, men også om at få igen og den handler om familie og om kærligheden til denne. Dét at ville gøre alt, for en man har kær og det at føle det, den kære føler. Tæthed, loyalitet og igen: kærlighed.

    Jonathan og Karl er et skønt søskendepar og jeg holdt virkelig meget af dem.
    De er stærke og modige, og de vil gøre alt for hinanden, for at de kan være sammen og for at de kan leve sammen i sikkerhed.

    'Brødrene Løvehjerte' er et sandt eventyr og en bog der giver håb om, at der er et fantastisk sted i vente og at eventyret ikke slutter, selvom livet gør.

  • Moira Macfarlane

    Nog steeds een favoriet, ik had ook niet anders verwacht. De gebroeders Leeuwenhart hoort voor mij echt bij de klassiekers onder de jeugdliteratuur.

  • Chantal

    It surprised me what an original theme, this book had, even though I didn't know about what theme this book had from the start. I really enjoyed this story even though it is a children's story. Good characters and a good adventure story next to that great drawing.

    This book is in the
    1001 Children's Books You Must Read Before You Grow Up challenge I am doing.

  • Svenja

    Astrid Lindgren schreibt tolle, fantasievolle Märchen für Kinder.
    Schade, dass ich die Bücher erst jetzt für mich entdeckt habe.

    "Die Brüder Löwenherz" erzählt ein Abenteuer zweier Brüder, die wirklich zeigen, was Geschwisterliebe ist.

  • Mireille

    Bevat alles wat een goed verhaal voor kinderen en volwassenen nodig heeft.

  • Stina

    If I told you one of the most famous Swedish children's books started with two boys dying, would you believe me? Because it's true. And it still manages to be sweet and lighthearted.

    All makt åt Tengil, vår befriare.

  • Inese Okonova

    Pēdējo reizi biju lasījusi pirms kādiem 30 gadiem. Nekas nav mainījies. Joprojām viena no manām mīļākajām Lindgrēnas grāmatām. Joprojām izcila.

  • Veronika Pizano

    Občas mám pocit, že mám deti len preto, aby som mohla čítať detské knihy. A tiež mám pocit, že to, či niekto čítal túto knihu vo svojom detstve (resp. či mu/jej túto knihu rodičia čítali) by mohlo byť merateľom sčítanosti rodiny. A ja som nečítala, takže pri čítaní som si každý jeden večer hovorila: Ako je možné, že ju čítam až teraz?

    Pre mňa je Astrid Lindgrenová najlepšia autorka detských kníh. Nikto iný nedokázala priniesť tak rôznorodé štýly aj témy, po ktorej jej knihe siahnete, zakaždým je to iné čítanie, zakaždým iný prístup k myšlienkam. Bratia Levie srdce je fantasy, v ktorej odvaha a súrodenecká láska víťazia nad zlom a najmä smr��ou. Smrť je v detských knihách len málokedy spracovaná iným spôsobom, než klasické - odišiel a už sa nevráti, najmä preto knihu odporúčam a naozaj nie je podstatné, či veríte v posmrtný život alebo nie.

    Čítajte deťom, čítajte im až do dospelosti a čítajte im Astrid Lindgrenovú.

  • Jayaprakash Satyamurthy

    A strange if charming little book. It begins with the tragic deaths of two young brothers who are then reunited in the land of Ningiyama, where the world is still as it was in the age of sagas with many adventures to be had. However, the boys discover that not all adventures are worth having as they find themselves facing increasingly evil foes and long odds. The end of the story took me by surprise and I'm not sure what to make of it. Despite what a one-star review on this site claims, the ending actually was foreshadowed earlier on and the world after Ningiyama was named by the elder brother Lionheart. Still, it's a strange way to end a children's story and I'd like to know what an actual 10-year old reader (the suggested lowest age on my copy of this book) would make of it.

  • پگاه

    وای که چه‌قدر کارل رو می‌فهمیدم... خیلی زیاد...
    این که همیشه می‌خواست که هرجور شده پیش برادرش باشه. وقتی که می‌گفت ماجراهای نانگیالا چطور می‌تونن خوب باشن وقتی یوناتان پیشش نیست. وقتی که به برادرش گفت: «یوناتان بیچاره‌ام! تو هم دیگر شاد نیستی.کاش فقط می‌توانستم تو را شاد کنم!» خیلی دوست‌داشتنی بود محبت این دو تا برادر...

  • Andris

    Mazie klausītāji dod 4 zvaigznes, bet man šī grāmata vienmēr būs 5 zvaigznes.

  • Rana Heshmati

    آه...
    یوناتان...
    نون قندیِ عزیز دلم... :) :( :*
    عالی بود و بس.
    با تمام وجودم دوستش داشتم و درکش کردم ...

  • Димитър Цолов

    Буквар, не учебник, по най-чистата форма на любов и милост, на грижа и състрадание. На разбиране, на съчувствие, на отношение. Няма сбогом - това ми е казала книгата, нашите близки обични си носим в сърцата до края, докато бият, докато дишаме няма раздяла...

    Тези думи на Виляна Христова от коментар под снимката ми във фейсбук групата "Какво четеш" слагам вместо да се пъна да пиша нещо, вече написано толкова прелестно.