{"id":245,"date":"2025-07-28T15:18:50","date_gmt":"2025-07-28T07:18:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/?p=245"},"modified":"2025-09-09T19:48:14","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T11:48:14","slug":"swing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ajia.site\/blog\/en\/2025\/07\/28\/swing\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cThe Swing\u201d: A Non-Cus\u00adtomized Pic\u00adture Book Worth Gift\u00ading to Your Future Self"},"content":{"rendered":"
writ\u00adten and illus\u00adtrat\u00aded by Brit\u00adta Teken\u00adtroup, trans\u00adlat\u00aded by Ajia, Xin\u00adjiang Youth Pub\u00adlish\u00ading House, 2025<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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The swing has always been there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It looks out to sea and invites every\u00adone to take a seat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The swing is still there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It looks out to sea and invites every\u00adone to take a seat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is a place of begin\u00adnings<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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This is the begin\u00adning and end of \u201cThe Swing\u201d, writ\u00adten and illus\u00adtrat\u00aded by Ger\u00adman pic\u00adture book artist Brit\u00adta Teck\u00aden\u00adtrup. It is like the ebb and flow of the tide on the beach, ris\u00ading is also falling, falling is also ris\u00ading; it is also like a cycle of time, the begin\u00adning is also the end, the end is also the begin\u00adning\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200bThis pic\u00adture book is 160 pages long, far exceed\u00ading the length of a nor\u00admal \u201cchil\u00addren\u2019s pic\u00adture book\u201d. The small square size book opens into a stretched rec\u00adtan\u00adgle; the pages are some\u00adtimes half text and half pic\u00adture, some\u00adtimes the whole pic\u00adture with\u00adout words fills the whole page, some\u00adtimes the words are dot\u00adted like musi\u00adcal notes, some\u00adtimes the pic\u00adture is reduced to leave blank space beside or above and below, and some\u00adtimes it is divid\u00aded into reg\u00adu\u00adlar or irreg\u00adu\u00adlar small pic\u00adtures, the rhythm is accel\u00ader\u00adat\u00aded, and the imaged text also sways along\u2026 The lay\u00adout com\u00adpo\u00adsi\u00adtion is like a poem and paint\u00ading, reveal\u00ading a qui\u00adet con\u00adtem\u00adpla\u00adtion, and in the con\u00adstant change, it hides a gen\u00adtle and warm leap. Turn\u00ading the pages gen\u00adtly and read\u00ading qui\u00adet\u00adly, it seems as if you can hear the sooth\u00ading sound of the waves, or a famil\u00adiar and vague piece of music.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

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The biggest reward of trans\u00adlat\u00ading a book is that you can, as a spe\u00adcial read\u00ader, deeply immerse your\u00adself in the con\u00adtext that the author has worked hard to cre\u00adate, because before con\u00advert\u00ading the lan\u00adguage, the \u201cread\u00ader\u201d as the trans\u00adla\u00adtor needs to read it repeat\u00aded\u00adly to ful\u00adly feel and under\u00adstand the inter\u00adest of the work. The feel\u00ading of read\u00ading \u201cThe Swing\u201d care\u00adful\u00adly is quite sub\u00adtle. It \u201cdis\u00adtract\u00aded\u201d me to some extent. I often drift\u00aded away from the clues of the pic\u00adture and text nar\u00adra\u00adtive, and uncon\u00adscious\u00adly pro\u00adduced some quite diver\u00adgent asso\u00adci\u00ada\u00adtions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For exam\u00adple, I can\u2019t help but think of the smell of the sea\u00adside. This is not sur\u00adpris\u00ading to me because I was born by the sea, but I have lived inland for most of my life. So when\u00adev\u00ader I have the oppor\u00adtu\u00adni\u00adty to stroll along the beach, I can\u2019t help but smell the \u201csea smell\u201d that oth\u00aders think of.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But what\u2019s inter\u00adest\u00ading is that I actu\u00adal\u00adly thought of the mod\u00adern dance of Ger\u00adman dance artist Pina Bausch, which I saw at the Tian\u00adqiao The\u00adater in Bei\u00adjing more than a decade ago. The ele\u00adgance, pow\u00ader, and inde\u00adscrib\u00adable feel\u00ading left a deep impres\u00adsion on me. I think it may be because I read an inter\u00adview with Brit\u00adta, who grew up in Wup\u00adper\u00adtal, Ger\u00admany, where Pina Bausch lived. She said: \u201cI guess that Pina Bausch and grow\u00ading up around so much nature had a big impact on my work.\u201d Indeed, the attempt to explore deep emo\u00adtions and com\u00adplex and fas\u00adci\u00adnat\u00ading human rela\u00adtion\u00adships through artis\u00adtic activ\u00adi\u00adties can be felt in Pina\u2019s dance and Brit\u00adta\u2019s pic\u00adture books.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200bI also inex\u00adplic\u00ada\u00adbly recalled the past when I took my daugh\u00adter to see a Chopin musi\u00adcal. We both liked the var\u00adi\u00adous music selec\u00adtions in the play and felt very famil\u00adiar, but there were only two choral songs that seemed par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly fresh and I could\u00adn\u2019t tell which two Chopin songs they were. So, dri\u00adven by strong curios\u00adi\u00adty, I tried to send an email to a young musi\u00adcian who was play\u00ading the piano on the stage at the time, whom I did\u00adn\u2019t know at all, for help. Then I unex\u00adpect\u00aded\u00adly received an enthu\u00adsi\u00adas\u00adtic reply. It turned out that she was in charge of the arrange\u00adment of the musi\u00adcal, and the two real\u00adly \u201cuncom\u00admon\u201d pieces of music were actu\u00adal\u00adly from Pol\u00adish folk songs \u2014 I lis\u00adtened to them many times lat\u00ader, and I can still remem\u00adber the main melody of one of them\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Maybe I have gone too far off top\u00adic, but what I real\u00adly want to say is that mem\u00ado\u00adry is real\u00adly a bit \u201cinex\u00adplic\u00ada\u00adble\u201d. We always want to \u201cchoose\u201d mem\u00ado\u00adry, and in fact we try very hard to choose, but mem\u00ado\u00adry seems to have its own life and will, and some\u00adtimes it seems to \u201cchoose\u201d us in turn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On the book review web\u00adsite Goodreads.com, a read\u00ader com\u00adment\u00aded on \u201cThe Swing\u201d: \u201cAnoth\u00ader chil\u00addren\u2019s book that makes me want to cry, in a good way.\u201d Although this book was not tai\u00adlor-made for this read\u00ader, it still touched her tears. I guess it also \u201cinex\u00adplic\u00ada\u00adbly\u201d evoked some mem\u00ado\u00adries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is actu\u00adal\u00adly a book that Brit\u00adta cus\u00adtomized for her\u00adself. In an inter\u00adview, she recalled that the inspi\u00adra\u00adtion for writ\u00ading \u201cThe Swing\u201d orig\u00adi\u00adnal\u00adly came from the swing in her grand\u00admoth\u00ader\u2019s gar\u00adden dur\u00ading her child\u00adhood. There, she spent many care\u00adfree times, and these expe\u00adri\u00adences became the start\u00ading point for her to think about the flow of life, emo\u00adtion\u00adal changes and mem\u00ado\u00adry preser\u00adva\u00adtion. After grow\u00ading up, when\u00adev\u00ader she returned to her home\u00adtown and passed by the play\u00adground she often vis\u00adit\u00aded as a child, those aban\u00addoned swings seemed to car\u00adry traces of time and pre\u00adcip\u00adi\u00adtat\u00aded mem\u00ado\u00adries. For her, the swing is not only a phys\u00adi\u00adcal space, but also a con\u00adtain\u00ader of emo\u00adtion and mem\u00ado\u00adry, wit\u00adness\u00ading the pas\u00adsage of time and the changes in life. Espe\u00adcial\u00adly those aban\u00addoned swings, they seem par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar\u00adly mys\u00adte\u00adri\u00adous and lone\u00adly, but full of life poten\u00adtial.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200bWhen design\u00ading the nar\u00adra\u00adtive struc\u00adture of \u201cThe Swing\u201d, Brit\u00adta chose a non-lin\u00adear approach, which brought a unique flu\u00adid\u00adi\u00adty to the sto\u00adry. Dif\u00adfer\u00adent from the tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal lin\u00adear nar\u00adra\u00adtive method, \u201cThe Swing\u201d uses alter\u00adnat\u00ading char\u00adac\u00adters and scenes, break\u00ading the order of time and events, and cre\u00adat\u00ading a freer way of expres\u00adsion. There is no strict chrono\u00adlog\u00adi\u00adcal order for each char\u00adac\u00adter\u2019s encounter with the swing in the sto\u00adry, but the swing is used as a con\u00adnec\u00adtion point to con\u00adnect the sto\u00adries of var\u00adi\u00adous stages of life.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200bThe choice of this struc\u00adture coin\u00adcides with the metaphor of the swing itself: the swing rep\u00adre\u00adsents the fluc\u00adtu\u00ada\u00adtion and uncer\u00adtain\u00adty in life, and time and emo\u00adtions flow in a con\u00adstant back and forth. It is this \u201cswing\u00ading\u201d rhythm that makes the whole book appear free and lay\u00adered.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what kind of mem\u00ado\u00adries are car\u00adried by the swing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As a pic\u00adture book for chil\u00addren, the most vis\u00adi\u00adble thing is the game between chil\u00addren and swings. There are chil\u00addren play\u00ading alone, two peo\u00adple play\u00ading togeth\u00ader, and many peo\u00adple play\u00ading togeth\u00ader. Some enjoy the present moment, some indulge in imag\u00adi\u00adna\u00adtion, and some gath\u00ader and talk beside the swings. As the years go by and the scenes change, the swing begins a free-flow\u00ading con\u00adnec\u00adtion jour\u00adney, extend\u00ading from the friend\u00adship between chil\u00addren, the broth\u00ader\u00adhood between broth\u00aders and sis\u00adters, to the affec\u00adtion between par\u00adents and chil\u00addren and the gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtions beyond, and from an old man\u2019s mem\u00ado\u00adries of his wife to love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200bJust as a swing swings up and down, life nat\u00adu\u00adral\u00adly has its moments of loss. \u201cLoss\u201d may be one of the themes that makes this book quite fas\u00adci\u00adnat\u00ading, because the swing not only wit\u00adness\u00ades joy, but also car\u00adries sad\u00adness. At cer\u00adtain times, the swing is emp\u00adty, and the sur\u00adround\u00ading nat\u00adur\u00adal scenery is filled with lone\u00adli\u00adness and empti\u00adness. Sad\u00adness will vis\u00adit the swing, but it will even\u00adtu\u00adal\u00adly leave, sym\u00adbol\u00adiz\u00ading that the feel\u00ading of loss is short-lived, but it can\u00adnot stay for\u00adev\u00ader.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u200bBrit\u00adta seems to have delib\u00ader\u00adate\u00adly made the nar\u00adra\u00adtive struc\u00adture of this book appear \u201cloose\u201d, but in fact, through the changes in page lay\u00adouts and illus\u00adtra\u00adtions, she clev\u00ader\u00adly imi\u00adtat\u00aded the move\u00adment of the swing and the pas\u00adsage of time, metaphor\u00adi\u00adcal\u00adly rep\u00adre\u00adsent\u00ading the imper\u00adma\u00adnence and flow of life. After read\u00ading it repeat\u00aded\u00adly, I vague\u00adly found an over\u00adall clue, and felt that the artist was explor\u00ading the theme of \u201cmem\u00ado\u00adry and loss, recov\u00adery and recon\u00adstruc\u00adtion\u201d through the image of the swing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For exam\u00adple, Mia\u2019s dai\u00adly com\u00adpan\u00adion\u00adship with her grand\u00admoth\u00ader, the elder\u00adly\u2019s nos\u00adtal\u00adgia for their deceased wives, and Peter\u2019s desire to show his abil\u00adi\u00adties to his father and the world\u2026 That is the part of mem\u00ado\u00adries. When\u00adev\u00ader the swing stops, it often sym\u00adbol\u00adizes the stag\u00adna\u00adtion of time and the sev\u00ader\u00adance of inter\u00adper\u00adson\u00adal rela\u00adtion\u00adships. It is a kind of loss, not heavy, but with a hint of gen\u00adtle sad\u00adness. The most touch\u00ading part is the recov\u00adery and recon\u00adstruc\u00adtion after a peri\u00adod of blank\u00adness. For exam\u00adple, Peter, who has trav\u00adeled the world and proved him\u00adself, takes his son back to \u201cwhere it all began.\u201d When the swing was destroyed by a storm, the peo\u00adple who had found com\u00adfort here worked togeth\u00ader to repair it, sym\u00adbol\u00adiz\u00ading the recon\u00adstruc\u00adtion of emo\u00adtions and mem\u00ado\u00adries. Whether it is the re-cher\u00adish\u00ading of fam\u00adi\u00adly affec\u00adtion or the re-pick\u00ading up of loss, the swing has become a wit\u00adness to peo\u00adple\u2019s emo\u00adtion\u00adal recon\u00adstruc\u00adtion. It is not only a mem\u00ado\u00adry of the past, but also a hope for the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course, for such a \u201cscat\u00adtered\u201d book, every\u00adone may read dif\u00adfer\u00adent sto\u00adries, and some frag\u00adments and pic\u00adtures in it may evoke com\u00adplete\u00adly unex\u00adpect\u00aded mem\u00ado\u00adries. Brit\u00adta keeps this open. Some\u00adone asked her if she has her own favorite sto\u00adry or favorite pic\u00adture in this book? She said, maybe Peter and his relat\u00aded sto\u00adries, or maybe the pic\u00adture of the swing stand\u00ading in the sea? But her favorite illus\u00adtra\u00adtions are \u201cThe swing was a place to share secrets\u201d, or \u201cOn some Novem\u00adber days, the sea com\u00adplete\u00adly dis\u00adap\u00adpeared.\u201d \u2014 which may be relat\u00aded to some of her own mem\u00ado\u00adries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for me, I like the four con\u00adsec\u00adu\u00adtive pages after \u201cWhen Jill looked out over the sea\u2026\u201d the most. \u201cDoesn\u2019t the sea hold more secrets than the sky?\u201d \u2014 This is an irre\u00adsistible ques\u00adtion for peo\u00adple who have liked to be in a daze in some way since child\u00adhood. Look at the next two pages \u2014 Brit\u00adta cre\u00adat\u00aded an impres\u00adsion\u00adist paint\u00ading-like effect through soft tones and clever light pre\u00adsen\u00adta\u00adtion. The swing stand\u00ading in the sea water per\u00adfect\u00adly presents the state of day\u00addream\u00ading. As the col\u00adors grad\u00adu\u00adal\u00adly change, even the text is inte\u00adgrat\u00aded into the pic\u00adture. Then, as the pages con\u00adtin\u00adue to turn, read\u00aders will feel that they are inte\u00adgrat\u00aded into the sparkling sea!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cThe Swing\u201d is indeed not a \u201cchil\u00addren\u2019s pic\u00adture book\u201d in the gen\u00ader\u00adal sense, and of course it is not cus\u00adtomized for cer\u00adtain groups of peo\u00adple, but every read\u00ader, child or adult, can read his or her own sto\u00adry in the book and con\u00adnect with his or her own pri\u00advate mem\u00ado\u00adries. In a sense, life is made up of a series of mem\u00ado\u00adries, mem\u00ado\u00adries that we choose, or mem\u00ado\u00adries that we choose to retell, includ\u00ading the way we rely on to retell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe Swing\u201d, a pic\u00adture book that is both poet\u00adic and philo\u00adsoph\u00adi\u00adcal, and visu\u00adal\u00adly breath\u00adtak\u00ading, is a mas\u00adter\u00adful attempt at re-nar\u00adra\u00adtion. It has the pow\u00ader to res\u00adonate deeply with read\u00aders, con\u00adnect\u00ading the present to the past, and the future to the now. It is, in many ways, a pre\u00adcious gift\u2014one that you might give to your future self.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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With\u00adin the book, the swing serves as an eter\u00adnal symbol\u2014spanning time and space, it becomes a mir\u00adror through which each read\u00ader may glimpse their own turn\u00ading points in life. It is a beau\u00adti\u00adful means of con\u00adnec\u00adtion, offer\u00ading a pro\u00adfound med\u00adi\u00adta\u00adtion on mem\u00ado\u00adry, loss, and renewal\u2014worthy of our con\u00adtem\u00adpla\u00adtion at every junc\u00adture, now and in the years to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Indeed, life is full of uncer\u00adtain\u00adty. And yet, per\u00adhaps it is this very uncer\u00adtain\u00adty that makes life so aching\u00adly beau\u00adti\u00adful. Don\u2019t you think?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Ajia writ\u00adten in Bei\u00adjing on April 30, 2025<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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