''Loranga, Masarin och Dartanjang'' is a Swedish children's novel written by

Barbro Lindgren Barbro Lindgren (born 18 March 1937) is a Swedish writer of children's books and books for adult readers. For her lasting contribution as a children's writer, Lindgren was a finalist for the biennial, international Hans Christian Andersen Award ...

and published in 1969. An English translation, titled ''Soda Pop'', was released by

Gecko Press Gecko Press is an independent publisher of children's books based in Wellington, New Zealand. The company was founded in 2005 by Julia Marshall, formerly of Appelberg Publishing Agency, winner of the Storylines Margaret Mahy Medal 2021. Marshall ...

in 2017. This edition features new illustrations by Lisen Adbåge.

Plot summary

The story is about a boy, Masarin, and his dad, Loranga, who live together in a house. Out in the woodshed lives Masarin's grandfather, Dartanjang, who is

hypochondriac Hypochondriasis or hypochondria is a condition in which a person is excessively and unduly worried about having a serious illness. Hypochondria is an old concept whose meaning has repeatedly changed over its lifespan. It has been claimed that th ...

(and suffering from slight

dementia Dementia is a syndrome associated with many neurodegenerative diseases, characterized by a general decline in cognitive abilities that affects a person's ability to perform activities of daily living, everyday activities. This typically invo ...

). Loranga, constantly wearing a robe and a floral tea cozy on his head, is a childish and irresponsible

bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a ...

. Therefore, Masarin is usually the responsible one; for example, he is the one taking care of his great-grandfather who thinks he is a

cuckoo Cuckoos are birds in the Cuculidae ( ) family, the sole taxon in the order Cuculiformes ( ). The cuckoo family includes the common or European cuckoo, roadrunners, koels, malkohas, couas, coucals, and anis. The coucals and anis are somet ...

and lives at the top of a

pine tree A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. ''World Flora Online'' accepts 134 species-rank taxa (119 species and 15 nothospecies) of pines as c ...

in the forest. Masarin is not disturbed by this; he is delighted with the fact that his dad is playing silly games with him. For example, they often play hockey with an overripe tomato. Other characters in the book are Gustav the Thief, the Angry Old Man and the Hot Dog Vendor.

Adaptions

Stop motion Stop-motion (also known as stop frame animation) is an animated filmmaking and special effects technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exh ...

-animated serial for Swedish national broadcasting SVT in 1975, voiceover by

Toivo Pawlo Toivo Pawlo (25 December 1917 – 14 June 1979) was a Swedish film actor. He appeared in 50 films between 1943 and 1978. At the 12th Guldbagge Awards he won the award for Guldbagge Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, Best Actor for his r ...

. *Cartoon in 2005 *A play for the Stockholm Park Theatre directed by Ellen Lamm in 2003. *An opera at the

Royal Swedish Opera Royal Swedish Opera () is an opera and ballet company based in Stockholm, Sweden. Location and environment The building is located in the centre of Sweden's capital, Stockholm, in the borough of Norrmalm (borough), Norrmalm, on the eastern si ...

in Stockholm in 2006. Score by

Carl Unander-Scharin Carl Unander-Scharin (born 1964) is a Swedish opera singer, composer, professor, and researcher. Early years He was born in Stockholm in 1964 and studied at the Royal College of Music and at the University College of Opera, Stockholm, where he ...

. *Comic book by Sara Olausson published by Positiv Förlag in 2010."Tivoli".
Seriewikin

References

{{Portal , Children's literature Swedish children's novels 1969 children's books Works by Barbro Lindgren 1969 Swedish novels Children's books set in Sweden