Moomin books

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The Moomintroll books, by Tove Jansson:  Comet in Moominland, Finn Family Moomintroll, Moominpappa's Memoirs, Tales from Moominvalley, Moominvalley Midwinter, Moominpappa at Sea (I don't own the last, Moominvalley in November)

We've all been feeling the strain lately, I know, what with the election and the Covid and the state of things generally.  I've reacted to it by reading nothing but the most comfortable of comfort reads.  The Russian history, the horizon-broadening literature, anything the least bit demanding, has fallen by the wayside.  I decided to take November off as far as events go, so no Australians (sorry, Brona) or non-fiction parties.  Instead, I have read at least six Moomintroll books in the last couple of weeks.

I've long been a fan of the Moomins -- I discovered them in my mid-teens with a battered paperback of Finn Family Moomintroll.  That was about 1988 and they were at a low ebb of fame in the United States (and they've never been well-known here), so I don't know how I happened to get lucky enough to even hear about them.  But it had been years since I'd read them all together.

If you're unfamiliar with the Moomins, they are books written in Swedish and set in Finland; Tove Jansson was a Swedish-speaking Finn, of which there are many (her partner, Tuulikki Pietilä, was just plain Finnish).  Jansson was an illustrator and artist as well as a writer, and the Moomins were a comic strip as well as stories, which revolve around the Moomin family of trolls, and feature a huge cast of characters -- all sorts of creatures who live in the forest and go about their own business.

Moomins live a very attractive life; they like adventuring and swimming, and build round houses with lots of twiddly decorations.  They like to have as much freedom as possible, and therefore do not worry about each other if somebody just doesn't come home for a while.  There is always another bed to put a guest into, and plenty to eat.  It sounds like an ideal sort of life, but sadly us humans have to do things like earn a living and so cannot live like that all the time.  Just around the edges.

Jansson writes beautifully about the joys of independence and solitude, as well as the happiness of company, family, and a good party.  Her characters often cherish useless items of decoration, or contrariwise are thrilled to get rid of every possession.  They also, of course, get angry or jealous or in trouble and back out of it again.  And they're always ready to go adventuring or sailing, possibly with the Hattifatteners.

It's all just as comfortable a comfort read as you will ever find, besides being classics of children's literature.  Moomins are far better known in Europe and Japan than they are in the US, so if you have an American kid in your life who is not familiar with them, the books make excellent gifts and read-alouds.




Comments

  1. ireadthatinabookNovember 14, 2020 at 9:15 PM

    I have also been rereading Moominbooks this year, although mostly in the spring. They are such perfect comfort reads.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Amateur Reader (Tom)November 15, 2020 at 9:13 AM

    Comfortable! They're all about catastrophes. World-ending, even.

    ReplyDelete
  3. JeanNovember 15, 2020 at 5:08 PM

    Tom, yes, and don't they deal with those catastrophes wonderfully? :D

    ReplyDelete
  4. CleoNovember 16, 2020 at 4:30 PM

    I love all the Moomin books, although my favourites are probably Finn Family Moomintroll and a Comet in Moominland.

    Moomins deal with catastrophes in the way catastrophes should be dealt with, don't they? 😉

    ReplyDelete
  5. Jen at Introverted ReaderNovember 17, 2020 at 6:18 PM

    I haven't read any Moomin books but I did stumble onto another of Jansson's books, The Summer Book, and loved it. My local bookstore has a shelf for "Blind dates with a book." They wrap books they recommend in brown paper, write a few descriptors on the paper, and you choose one that speaks to you. I grabbed that one and I'm so glad I did.

    ReplyDelete
  6. JeanNovember 20, 2020 at 6:24 PM

    Mine too, Cleo! :)

    The Summer Book is lovely, isn't it? I think the Moomins have some of that same attitude.

    ReplyDelete
  7. amanda @ simplerpastimesNovember 29, 2020 at 5:20 PM

    I was just thinking about the Moomin books the other day. I've only read Finn Family Moomintroll, but it was a pure delight. One day I'll read them all, but my library doesn't have any so I always have to request them from elsewhere.

    ReplyDelete

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