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( Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip Volume 1 )
( Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip Volume 2 )
( Moominland Midwinter (The Moomins Book 6) )
( Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip Volume 3 )
And reader, I did then give up on the comics.
Title: Tales from Moominvalley (The Moomins Book 7)
Author: Tove Jansson
Translator: Thomas Warburton
Published: Square Fish, 2010 (1962)
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 190
Total Page Count: 333,915
Text Number: 1212
Read Because: reading the series, paperback borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: Nine stories. Short fiction provides an opportunity to view lesser-seen aspects of characters (Snufkin's hidden depths are always a delight, particularly the view into his relationship with Moomintroll in "The Spring Tune") and build one-off arcs and characters. Most stories have distinct lessons, but the moralizing is lampshaded (as in "Cedric") and has new and mollifying tone: a cynicism that caveats the hopeful endings but also makes them more valuable. The Moomin cast are frequently at odds with social expectation, they're awkward or yearning; but this sense of discontent is different and feels more mature. It makes for stories like "The Fillyjonk Who Believed in Disasters," raw and cathartic and bitter and joyful, which I loved. And while short fiction collections always vary in quality, the bits of tone that don't work for me are contained to a single story rather than compromising an otherwise-strong work, which is an issue I've had in the novels. This is probably my favorite of the Moomin books thus far, which I wouldn't've expected of a short story collection, but I guess it's no surprise that I prefer my whimsy with a side of bitterness/sadness.
( Moominpapa at Sea (The Moomins Book 8) )
Title: Moominvalley in November (The Moomins Book 9)
Author: Tove Jansson
Translator: Kingsley Hart
Published: Farrar Straus Giroux, 2003 (1970)
Rating: 3.5 of 5
Page Count: 180
Total Page Count: 315,305
Text Number: 1088
Read Because: reading the series, hardback borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: The last two books in this series are functionally a duo. The friends who were notably absent in Moominpappa at Sea now come to visit the abandoned Moomin home. This book is more satisfying, both because it benefits from its relation to the previous book and because it has a better balanced tone: the plot moves faster, the book is shorter, and so the subdued and melancholy atmosphere is balanced against the character arcs; it feels like the fantastic short story collection. But it's also a weird place to end the series, and I wish the last two books could have somehow been combined into a single volume or arc.
Insofar as a review of the final book is a review of the series entire: The Moomin series was never quite what I wanted it to be. Often too silly, sometimes weirdly sad, there was always something in the way of my ability to fully enjoy the quirky, bumbling cast and the evocative/fantastic elements. I think that could have been remedied had I encountered the series as a child, when I would have been more receptive to the humor and more likely to latch on to the magic. But even if my adult reading experience was flawed, the cumulative effect is memorable, often because of things I've seen as flaws. The shifting tone, the kitchen sink approach to plot structure, all are distinctive; it's playful and childlike and kind, but has an adult's insight that I imagine ages remarkably well. I can see why these are beloved of so many, and wish I'd been a better audience, but it was still time well spent.
( Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip Volume 2 )
( Moominland Midwinter (The Moomins Book 6) )
( Moomin: The Complete Tove Jansson Comic Strip Volume 3 )
And reader, I did then give up on the comics.
Title: Tales from Moominvalley (The Moomins Book 7)
Author: Tove Jansson
Translator: Thomas Warburton
Published: Square Fish, 2010 (1962)
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 190
Total Page Count: 333,915
Text Number: 1212
Read Because: reading the series, paperback borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: Nine stories. Short fiction provides an opportunity to view lesser-seen aspects of characters (Snufkin's hidden depths are always a delight, particularly the view into his relationship with Moomintroll in "The Spring Tune") and build one-off arcs and characters. Most stories have distinct lessons, but the moralizing is lampshaded (as in "Cedric") and has new and mollifying tone: a cynicism that caveats the hopeful endings but also makes them more valuable. The Moomin cast are frequently at odds with social expectation, they're awkward or yearning; but this sense of discontent is different and feels more mature. It makes for stories like "The Fillyjonk Who Believed in Disasters," raw and cathartic and bitter and joyful, which I loved. And while short fiction collections always vary in quality, the bits of tone that don't work for me are contained to a single story rather than compromising an otherwise-strong work, which is an issue I've had in the novels. This is probably my favorite of the Moomin books thus far, which I wouldn't've expected of a short story collection, but I guess it's no surprise that I prefer my whimsy with a side of bitterness/sadness.
( Moominpapa at Sea (The Moomins Book 8) )
Title: Moominvalley in November (The Moomins Book 9)
Author: Tove Jansson
Translator: Kingsley Hart
Published: Farrar Straus Giroux, 2003 (1970)
Rating: 3.5 of 5
Page Count: 180
Total Page Count: 315,305
Text Number: 1088
Read Because: reading the series, hardback borrowed from the Wilsonville Public Library
Review: The last two books in this series are functionally a duo. The friends who were notably absent in Moominpappa at Sea now come to visit the abandoned Moomin home. This book is more satisfying, both because it benefits from its relation to the previous book and because it has a better balanced tone: the plot moves faster, the book is shorter, and so the subdued and melancholy atmosphere is balanced against the character arcs; it feels like the fantastic short story collection. But it's also a weird place to end the series, and I wish the last two books could have somehow been combined into a single volume or arc.
Insofar as a review of the final book is a review of the series entire: The Moomin series was never quite what I wanted it to be. Often too silly, sometimes weirdly sad, there was always something in the way of my ability to fully enjoy the quirky, bumbling cast and the evocative/fantastic elements. I think that could have been remedied had I encountered the series as a child, when I would have been more receptive to the humor and more likely to latch on to the magic. But even if my adult reading experience was flawed, the cumulative effect is memorable, often because of things I've seen as flaws. The shifting tone, the kitchen sink approach to plot structure, all are distinctive; it's playful and childlike and kind, but has an adult's insight that I imagine ages remarkably well. I can see why these are beloved of so many, and wish I'd been a better audience, but it was still time well spent.
