Bill Bergson


Bill Bergson is a fictional character created by Swedish writer Astrid Lindgren. The first book featuring him was published in 1946.
Lindgren's detective story is about Bill Bergson, a more-or-less ordinary Swedish boy with an extraordinary fascination with detective work. He lives in the small town Lillköping. He identifies clues, investigates enigmas, and solves the riddle surrounding a mysterious stranger while the police and other adults overlook or dismiss the whole matter. He and his friends several times solve real crimes including mysterious thefts, murder and kidnapping. Lindgren wrote shorthand for Harry Söderman, a doctor in criminology, and it was during this work that she learned the basics of criminology that she later used in her stories.
Bill and his friends also play a game they call the Wars of the Roses. He, along with his two friends Anders and Eva-Lotta, are the White Rose, while three other kids, Sixten, Jonte and Benka, are the Red Rose. They "fight" over the possession of Stormumriken, an oddly-shaped stone. The group that does not have the stone must use all their wits and energy to obtain it. The group that has the stone must give the other group clues on where to find it.
Although there is a "war" between the two roses, all six of the youngsters are good friends and there is simply a playful rivalry between them. The Red Roses help the Whites when they are threatened by real dangers.
Lindgren wrote three books about Bill Bergson:
  • 1946 – Bill Bergson, Master Detective
  • 1951 – Bill Bergson Lives Dangerously
  • 1953 – Bill Bergson and the White Rose Rescue
Three theater plays:
  • 1950 – Mästerdetektiven Blomkvist
  • 1955 – Mästerdetektiven Kalle Blomkvist: För kasperteater två korta akter
  • 1968 – ''Kalle Blomkvist, Nisse Nöjd och Vicke på Vind''

    English translations

Viking edition
  • 1952 – Bill Bergson, Master Detective/Mästerdetektiven Blomkvist. Translated from the Swedish by Herbert Antoine; illustrated by Louis Glanzman. 200 pages; illustrations; 21 cm. New York: Viking Press, 1952, 1957, reprinted in Viking Seafarer ed. 1968. LCCN: 52-12922
  • 1954 – Bill Bergson Lives Dangerously/Mästerdetektiven Blomkvist lever farligt. Translated from the Swedish by Herbert Antoine; illustrated by Don Freeman. 214 pages; illustrations; 21 cm. New York, Viking Press, 1954, reprinted in 1965. LCCN: 54-4337
  • 1965 – Bill Bergson and the White Rose Rescue/Kalle Blomkvist och Rasmus. Translated from the Swedish by Florence Lamborn; illustrated by Don Freeman. 215 pages; illustrations; 21 cm. New York: Viking Press, 1965. LCCN: 65-13358
Oxford edition
  • 2017 – Master Detective/Mästerdetektiven Blomkvist. Translated by Susan Beard. 170 pages; 20 cm. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.
  • 2017 – Living Dangerously/Mästerdetektiven Blomkvist lever farligt. Translated by Susan Beard. 211 pages; 20 cm. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017.
  • 2018 – The White Rose Rescue/Kalle Blomkvist och Rasmus. Translated by Susan Beard. 197 pages; 20 cm. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018.

    Films about Bill Bergson

  • 1947 – Bill Bergson, Master Detective
  • 1953 – Bill Bergson and the White Rose Rescue
  • 1957 – Bill Bergson Lives Dangerously
  • 1966 – Mästerdetektiven Blomkvist på nya äventyr
  • 1996 – Bill Bergson Lives Dangerously
  • 1997 – ''Bill Bergson and the White Rose Rescue''

    Legacy

The character Mikael Blomkvist in Stieg Larsson's Millenium novel series is dubbed "Kalle Blomkvist" by the press to mock him in his investigative reporting. Lisbeth Salander's name appears to be taken from Eva-Lotta Lisander, and is modeled on Lindgren's other famous character, Pippi Longstocking.
In The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, three of Lindgren's books are mentioned: The Children of Noisy Village, Bill Bergson and the White Rose Rescue, and Pippi Longstocking.
The relation between Astrid Lindgren and, at least, the first part of the trilogy, is implied when a cat in the novel is named 'Tjorven'. The name comes from the Swedish television series Life on Seacrow Island based on a script by Astrid Lindgren and not originally a book. Apart from this, the TV show dates from the early sixties, around the time when, in Stieg Larsson's novel, one of the crucial events which shapes the story takes place.