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I have such a backlog of Moomin reviews saved up. I'm reading what I have reasonable access to, in chronological order; so far, that's been the novels and the comics strips (no picture books, etc.), and I'm not fussed with shows/movies right now. They've been consistently enjoyable but I definitely feel like I came to them too late and/or have the wrong no sense of humor, because the cozy, atmospheric, magical, haunting, and family bits work for me, but the humor ... generally does not. Anyway, I'll be lumping and cutting these, for neatness's sake.
Probably some details about translators/editions are off, because there's just ... so many to keep track of, they're a mess, I'm a mess too.
( The Moomins and the Great Flood (The Moomins Book 1) )
(I read what I imagine is a fan translation provided without illustrations, ergo even less evocative than it could be! But none of my libraries had this first book. The rest of the series should be more satisfying.)
Title: Comet in Moominland (The Moonins Book 2)
Author: Tove Jansson
Translator: Elizabeth Portch
Published: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1990 (1946)
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 160
Total Page Count: 315,050
Text Number: 1092
Read Because: reading the series, hardback borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: Ominous portents send Moomintroll & Co. on a distant quest. This is much better than The Moomins and the Great Flood. It's longer, making room for the story to settle into itself: a more coherent, directed narrative; a richer, lived world despite that the story is again structured around a journey. The tone has also developed into a delicate point/counterpoint of twee-but-wry voice/characterization against a more evocative framing: the looming comet and its despairing red light, the alien landscape of the seabed, the fae dance party are fantastic setpieces, interrupted by character foibles in a way which balances and lightens the tone. And such relatable characters and foibles!
( Finn Family Moomintroll (The Moomins Book 3) )
( The Exploits of Moominpappa, Described by Himself (The Moomins Book 4) )
N.B. I read the text of The Exploits of Moominpappa (the original version), but referenced Moominpappa's Memoirs (the revised version) for the illustrations (because I had the former as an ebook, which means shitty image quality) and glanced at some of the text there. This Tumblr post does a nice job of detailing which revisions were made and to what effect, to this book and others.
( Moominsummer Madness (The Moomins Book 5) )
( The best of Misabel quotes. )
Probably some details about translators/editions are off, because there's just ... so many to keep track of, they're a mess, I'm a mess too.
( The Moomins and the Great Flood (The Moomins Book 1) )
(I read what I imagine is a fan translation provided without illustrations, ergo even less evocative than it could be! But none of my libraries had this first book. The rest of the series should be more satisfying.)
Title: Comet in Moominland (The Moonins Book 2)
Author: Tove Jansson
Translator: Elizabeth Portch
Published: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1990 (1946)
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 160
Total Page Count: 315,050
Text Number: 1092
Read Because: reading the series, hardback borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: Ominous portents send Moomintroll & Co. on a distant quest. This is much better than The Moomins and the Great Flood. It's longer, making room for the story to settle into itself: a more coherent, directed narrative; a richer, lived world despite that the story is again structured around a journey. The tone has also developed into a delicate point/counterpoint of twee-but-wry voice/characterization against a more evocative framing: the looming comet and its despairing red light, the alien landscape of the seabed, the fae dance party are fantastic setpieces, interrupted by character foibles in a way which balances and lightens the tone. And such relatable characters and foibles!
( Finn Family Moomintroll (The Moomins Book 3) )
( The Exploits of Moominpappa, Described by Himself (The Moomins Book 4) )
N.B. I read the text of The Exploits of Moominpappa (the original version), but referenced Moominpappa's Memoirs (the revised version) for the illustrations (because I had the former as an ebook, which means shitty image quality) and glanced at some of the text there. This Tumblr post does a nice job of detailing which revisions were made and to what effect, to this book and others.
( Moominsummer Madness (The Moomins Book 5) )
( The best of Misabel quotes. )
