| Title | : | Moominpappa at Sea (The Moomins, #8) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 0374453063 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9780374453060 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 228 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1965 |
Moominpappa at Sea (The Moomins, #8) Reviews
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The Moomin series has always been remarkable not only for its charm and whimsy, but also for its sense of melancholy, unusual in children's literature. Moominpappa at Sea is a particularly introspective installment; here you will find no heroic battles or overwhelming drama, just one family's quiet journey of self-discovery when they move to a mysterious island. And an island is the perfect setting for this story, for the characters become more and more insular as they explore their new environs. It's a story about becoming independent; about bringing order out of chaos; about creating the world you want to live in, and sometimes about what happens when you can't.
Moominpappa at Sea is also probably the only children's book you'll ever read that centers on a midlife crisis. The story begins with Moominpappa not feeling needed around his home in Moominvalley, so he decides to pick up his family and move to an island he has only seen on the map. The island is no tropical paradise--it actually sounds quite imposing, looming over the Moomins at first sight like a giant shadow--but holds mysteries aplenty for the whole family: Moominpappa and Moominmamma; Moomintroll and Little My. There is the old abandoned lighthouse, and the antisocial fisherman who lives on the opposite side of the island. There are the trees that seem so frightened they move of their own accord and a threat from home, the mournful Groke, who freezes everything in her path.
The Moomins are imaginary creatures, who don't have jobs or schedules to follow, yet it is amazingly easy to relate to their experiences, particularly in this novel. In fact, Moominpappa's crisis stems from the fact he has nothing to keep him occupied, a familiar problem these days, though in his case it is not due to being retired or unemployed. Moomintroll, in earlier books in the series, has seemed about eight or nine, but now he's dealing with the problems of an adolescent, including the struggle to be independent and an obsession with sea horses (they are actual, tiny horses in this book) that borders on an early crush. In fact, he is starting to see the world as more than black and white, as he comes to understand the threatening but not really evil Groke. Our little Moomintroll is growing up! My, on the other hand, is just as we need her to be; irrepressible and just a little bit wicked, often adding a touch of humor just when things get dark.
As you might have guessed, I've never been one to feel children's books couldn't be enjoyed outside their intended demographic. However, I feel that Moominpappa at Sea should be particularly appreciated by adults, while maintaining the sense of wonder that has made these books beloved by generations of kids. -
This book has everything a children's book should have: Pipe smoking, whisky, and existential crisis.
This book taught me a lot about life when I was younger, and I still find it as comforting and mysterious as ever.
Tove Jansson, you are the best, I give you a kiss on the nose! -
This volume of the Moomins is a real departure from the previous instalments. Tonally it is very bleak, with the Moomin family moving to a remote island largely due to Moominpappa's midlife crisis. It is also implied (I think, anyway) that Moominmamma is either currently suffering from a reasonably serious illness or is in recovery from one, as nobody will let her do anything or exert herself in any way.
Maybe it was just the way I was reading it but it almost felt like it was veering into gothic horror territory at times, with the Groke stalking Moomintroll, the island seeming to come alive around the family and the weather seemingly consciously acting against them.
It's all a far cry from the somewhat childish hi-jinks of the previous books of the series... and I bloody loved it. Those people who already found the Moomins a little creepy probably want to avoid this one. Those of us who like to walk in the shadows, however, will most likely find this one an absolute delight. One to savour.
My next book:
Gods and Monsters: Drag Hunt -
In my opinion, Tove Jannson is the best children's author who ever lived and one of the ten greatest authors of the twentieth century. I have only read her Moomintroll work and not the work for adults, but I have read almost all of the Moomintroll books, picture books and comic strips. In this review I will focus on Moominpappa at Sea, but I will also try to give a sense of why I think that she deserves to be placed with the likes of Orwell, Nabakov, Hemingway and Selby, even though she wrote books about Finnish Hippo-like creatures.
Picking a favorite Moomintroll book is difficult for me, but it is probably between Moominpappa At Sea and Moominsummer Madness. Her novels along with the picture book Who Will Comfort Toffle are at the centre of her work and divide into two periods. There are the earlier books which are primarily adventure stories and the later books where the characters tend to go off into the woods and think alone. Of the Early books Comet In Moominland is the best. Moominsummer Madness is the transitional work and Moominpappa At Sea is the best of the later works.
There have been in picture books and in the graphic novel occasional works of genius where the producer of the text and the producer of the art being the same person fuse the art and the text into a seamless work of genius. In children's novels there is only one such writer and that is Tove Jannson. Her writing and her black and white line drawings are both great art and they are fused together allowing her to produce masterpiece after masterpiece.
Of course Jansson is primarily a writer and her prose is assured and masterful. For instance, the second paragraph of the book reads:
"Moominpappa aimlessly puttered about in his garden, his tail dragging along the ground in a melancholy way. Here, down in the valley, the heat was scorching; everything was still and silent, and not a little dusty. It was the month when there could be great forest fires, the month for taking great care."
I just finished Midnight's Children a week or two ago, which won the Booker of Bookers, and there is no paragraph in that work that is so assured, so subtle or that sets mood and tone so effectively. Jannson can write an effective adventure story and she knows how to focus a story. However, a lot of her writing involves setting out telling details, juxtaposing them in a controlled way and having the reader make the links. This is reminiscent of Hemingway and done about as well. If you don't believe me check out the following paragraph, which if it did not have a reference to tails might as well be by Hemingway:
"Moominpappa went to the window facing south and peered out. Moominmamma looked up quickly and noticed that his tail was quite stiff with irritation. She put some more wood on the fire and opened a can of herrings. Moominpappa drank his tea without saying a word. When Moominmamma had cleared away, she put the hurricane lamp on the table and said"I remember hearing once that some lighthouses use gas. When the gas is finished it's quite impossible to light them."
In context this is a quite subtle piece of writing. Moominpappa is having what amounts to an existential crises and this piece gets subtlety at his emotions and Moominmamma's attempt to deal with this crises. There is also in all the Moomintroll books a gentle sense of the magic of all things just under the surface that is reminiscent of Marquez. She can also do parody very well. Portions of The Exploits of Moominpappa parody Dicken's and in Comet in Moominland and Finn Family Moomintroll she parodies in the character of the Muskrat professional philosophers in a gentle, but sharp way.
All these comparisons to Dickens, Hemingway, Marquez and others might suggest that she is too complex for children. This is absolutely not the case. I first read Comet In Moominland to my son when he was three and he absolutely loved it. Great books have meanings on multiple levels at once, and can so give up new meanings on multiple readings. The Moomintroll books are highly effective at entertaining children and furthermore are immensely gentle and charming works. It is Jannson's ability to appeal so deeply to all ages that is part of her greatness.
Her art is also outstanding (less so in the cartoons which are hurried). There is a great expressiveness in her characters which are essentially cartoons. A lot of her art involves lonely figures or groups dwarfed by vast natural landscapes, which at once invoke a feeling of solitude and the majesty of nature while having cute hippos in them that appeal to children.
Tove Jansson explores a variety of themes and has a peculiar philosophical vision. The Moomintroll books were written in the immediate aftermath of World War II, which hit Finland very hard. While there is no war and almost no violence in them I think that they are a sort of antidote to the inhumanity of that conflict. The books all have a moral core which is accepting individual idiosyncrasies while at the same time feeling that there is a sense of appropriateness to things. This is personified by the character of Moominmamma who is described as very moral but broad minded.
All of the Moomintroll books explore deep themes with a subtle charm. This book in particular is an exploration of the meaning and purpose of life and has a slightly melancholy tone. The events in the book are precipitated when Moominpappa who no longer has any purpose in Moominvalley abruptly moves the family to live in a remote abandoned lighthouse on an island. He then tries to find purpose by becoming the lighthouse keeper and then later by understanding the sea. Moominmomma has lost her old purpose as a mother in Moominvalley and tries varies ways to recreate it. Moomintroll is seaking independence and maturity and is trying to forge his own purpose which he accidentally stumbles into by reaching out to the Groke who is the very embodiment of fear and lonliness and which even the trees and the sand are afraid of. Meanwhile, Little My has no need for these kinds of existential meanderings as she is perfectly happy doing whatever it is she feels like at that moment.
The book I think is trying to elucidate a theory where for each person there is a specific purpose that will give their particular life meaning, and that this can be done through a variety of means. The moral aspect comes from the importance of developing a purpose that is respectful of the needs of other people in developing their own. It softly and gently and in a way that anyone of any age can enjoy, explores these themes.
Beautiful book and sometime in the future everyone will be surprised that she never won a nobel prize given that every third award is given to someone Swedish. -
My kid found this one boring because there weren't enough characters. "Can we go back to Finn Family Moomintroll instead?"
It's an interesting book though, and it's way more focused than the earlier Moomin books. We get the family in one odd new place, where they deal with the place, themselves, and each other. In some ways it's the most literary one of the series, at least of what I've read so far. I liked it and certainly didn't expect a deep Moomin character study this late in the series.
And there were still plenty of things that my kid liked and got excited for. We kept reading, even if something about the long lighthouse island days just didn't have the same magic as the earlier books. Now, onto the final book. -
Świetna bajka dla dzieci, a dla dorosłych niezwykle niepokojące, pełne niuansów studium wypalenia i samotności. To jest wielka sztuka pisać tak jak robi to Tove, pod pozorem niezobowiązującej opowiastki dla młodszych opowiedzieć o tak wielu ludzkich stanach, emocjach i wrażeniach. "Tatuś Muminka i morze" to książka o tym, że każdy czasem nieco irracjonalnie pragnie ucieczki gdziekolwiek, nawet i do miejsca, w którym ostatecznie wcale nie jest lepiej.
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Šī stabili ir dīvainākā Muminu grāmata. Mani tik ļoti besīja Mumintēvs un ar pilnīgi visu. Pamest jauko Muminieleju, lai dzītos uz kaut kādu pamestu salu ar pamestu bāku un tad sēdētu un filozofētu par jūras dabu, bet visiem pārējiem tikmēr jāpakārto savas dzīves šitai viņai iegribai. Vīrieši.
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If Moominland Midwinter is about a journey from a place of depression to one of hope and joy, Moominpappa at Sea is about acceptance. In it, depression cannot be overcome: sadness, loss and despair are all integral parts of life, and we must learn to live with them. Perhaps the strangest of all the very strange Moomin books, we begin with the family safe in Moominvalley, but Moominpappa feels useless and unhappy, and they decide to journey to a distant island and live in a lighthouse. The island is tiny, and inhabited by a confused and distraught fisherman. The lighthouse is empty but shows evidence of the despair and loneliness of the last inhabitant. The Groke, who brings cold with her wherever she goes, and cannot find companionship, follows them to the island, howling all the way. The family try to find a way to live in this lonely place. Jansson's illustration show the Moomins as tiny figures in a huge landscape, surrounded by sea and sky. They are some of her most beautiful illustrations, but the Moomins are eclipsed by the world around them, and even Little My has lost some of her self-assurance. The story brings us through acute despair to a place not of hope but of beginning to find life bearable once again. It's a powerful and believable story about depression, and I found it moving and relevant to my life, but it's so bleak. Moominvalley in November actually provides light relief after this one!
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Although I was definitely looking rather forward to reading the Kingsley Hart translation of Tove Jansson’s 1965 Pappan och havet (Moominpappa at Sea) I was also a bit worried regarding my potential reading pleasure, since for one, I have not generally ever really enjoyed any of the previous Moomin novels where Moominpappa plays a major and active role, where he acts as a central characters, and that for two, I have also more often than not really had trouble textually enjoying and accepting the narrative flow of the English language translations of the Moomin books I have read to date (having had more than a few issues with all of the Elizabeth Portch and most but fortunately not all of the Thomas Warburton translation texts). And with regard to my above mentioned trepidations, while with Moominpappa at Sea, I do happily find Kingsley Hart’s translation of Pappan och havet and especially his narrative flow delightfully readable and not ever in any manner textually aggravating and annoying (and as such most definitely stylistically vastly superior to in particular Elizabeth Portch, whose English language translations for Kometen kommer and Trollkarlens hatt really have rather majorly and negatively affected my reading joy), well, the consistent and constant presence of Moominpappa in Moominpappa at Sea, in Pappan och havet, and that he plays not only such a central and active role but that almost everything in Moominpappa at Sea seems to centre on him and what he wants and desires, yes indeed, this does frustrate and pretty majorly annoy me.
For honestly, even though it might indeed be true that Tove Jansson has penned with her Pappan och havet a novel about depression (and that both Moominpappa and also the Groke for that matter do certainly and in my humble opinion show and display multiple symptoms of being clinically depressed), I for one also find it massively problematic and infuriating that everything seems to be geared to Moominpappa in Moominpappa at Sea and to making him feel less depressed and indeed that Moominpappa does not really ever truly seem appreciate that the entire family has been making oh so many sacrifices for him and has even moved to an island in the middle of nowhere (and this even though it is made pretty clear by Tove Jansson and by extension by Kingsley Hart that both Moomintroll and especially Moominmamma do not really want to leave their valley and their cozy house), and that yes, Moominpappa’s self-centredness and his arrogance and personal lack of self awareness makes Moominpappa at Sea a bit aggravating for me as a personal reading experience and thus only a three star ranking. -
Not my favourite in the series, but still a fun read and such a pivotal moment in the story! :) -
"Cik aizraujoši ir dzīvot!" trollītis Mumins nodomāja. "Viss ne no šā, ne no tā var pilnīgi mainīties."
Briedums, viedums un prieks! -
It's To The Lighthouse but with moomins.
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A peculiar only-sort-of-for-children late Moomin novel where the family attempts of combat leisure-ennui by moving to a ragged lighthouse island far out in the ocean. Concerns itself to a large degree with the need for strife, or at least a challenge, to give daily purpose -- without which lies only depression and torpor. Yikes. Still some strange moments of magic and wonder, of course, but tempered by cynicism and a warm-but-realistic sense of the petty and no-so-petty impulses that drive people.
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When Moomintroll reports that he has extinguished a small fire in the moss, his father becomes unexpectedly cross and obsessive: "Don't imagine that a spot like this isn't dangerous. Far from it. It can go on burning under the moss, you see. In the ground. Hours and perhaps even days may go by, and then suddenly, whoof! The fire breaks out somewhere quite different." He is, of course, actually speaking about his own lingering dissatisfactions.
This starting point isn't dissimilar to 'The Secret of the Hattinfatteners' from 'Tales from Moominvalley', where Moominpappa experiences a sudden powerful unhappiness with his home-life and feels compelled to escape. Only this time he takes his family with him, to a remote island with a lighthouse.
It's very much an island story in the tradition of Robinson Crusoe, The Tempest, and The Lord of the Flies, albeit featuring tiny pear-shaped troll creatures. The cast of characters is far smaller than usual. Sniff, Snufkin, and the Hemulen don't even get a mention. As with all of later Moomins books, the tone is overwhelmingly melancholic: more than anything else, it is about loneliness.
There is a wisdom in these stories, as well as a deep connection with nature, that I suspect will appeal to adult readers more than children. Only one away from the end, this series of books continues to be my unrivalled favourite. -
Boy, as weird as these books get, this one was the weirdest! The family decides to set off on their boat and live on the tiny dot of an island with a lighthouse on it that Moominpappa has "claimed". There is no food, the lighthouse isn't working, and the former lighthouse keeper is either dead or has completely lost his marbles. Moominmamma becomes so homesick that she paints herself into a mural of their garden at home, Moominpappa tries to find the bottom of a bottomless pit, and Moomintroll moves out into a glade full of ants. I mean, it's weird stuff. My kids loved it, of course, and so did I, but it was almost stressful!
Reread 2019: Moominpappa, O Moominpappa! You strangest of all the strange creatures! And let us not forget that Mamma is so quietly unsettled by life in the lighthouse that she paints herself into the walls . . . -
არანორმალურად სევდიანი წიგნია, ყოველ შემთხვევაში ზრდასრულის გადმოსახედიდან. ბავშვობაში რომ წამეკითხა შეიძლება უფრო მსუბუქდ აღმექვა.
და კიდევ მგონი ნაითვიშის Islander-ის ინსპირაცია ვიპოვე :)) ტუომასს მუმინები ნამდვილად უყვარს და :დ -
Manuprāt, šo grāmatu vislabāk var novērtēt vecāki, jo stāsts, galvenokārt, ir par to, cik sarežģīti dažkārt būt muminu tētim un muminu māmiņai. Un pat Morrai. :)
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The end is nigh! I've been on this Moomin saga a long time now, some years, occupying my small book, fourth slot on my rota. This is the penultimate book in the series. I'm not really sure they were at all what I was expecting when I started and often find myself not overly impressed about one thing or another. But they do usually turn out to be an acceptable read in the end. This one is no different.
Not for the first time in the series, this book revolves around the sea, the author seems slightly obsessed with it. The clue is very much in the title this time. Moominpappa appears to be having a midlife crisis of some sort, not enough control over his home life, family trying to think for themselves, not bow to his superiority in all things - he is being a twat. As you do, when you're having a midlife crisis and you can't buy a porsche, because Moomins can't drive, you uproot your entire family with no notice and go and live on a deserted rock way out at sea to become a lighthouse keeper, much more phallic. With the obvious presumption that there is a lighthouse out in the middle of the sea, that happens to be unoccupied. Moominmamma is very tolerant (and woefully downtrodden) and resigned to living on a barren rock in the middle of nowhere, her husband needs this, even if he won't let her do everything and she's bored to tears, he needs to prove his masculinity! Well, there was an island in the sea and it was shite. Little My likes it, as it's dangerous and full of secrets and she likes that everyone is miserable - she positively lives off schadenfreude.
So without giving too much more of the storyline away, Moominpappa is a pretentious git, Moominmamma needs to go on some suffragette marches (though, to be fair, the author is using her comments as sarcastic digs) and Moomin could do with being less of a pillock. All in all, not a bad book, it grew on me.
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This was my third Moomin-book, one I was left in awe after reading. Moominpappa at Sea was deliberately darker than other books on the series I've read this far, something I was not expecting. The story began dark, and it only got darker and more suffocating the longer it continued, a feeling of inevitable doom lingered around the lonely island and the huge lighthouse the Moomin family moved into.
The story circled around Moominpappa, who felt unnecessary, felt less-of-a-man, felt like his mission as the protector of the family, as a traditional dad, was somehow threatened and was thus filled with fierce need to tame. And he tried, he tamed, and his family fell a bit apart, and the sea was too powerful, and the trees on the island started to move and the island started to breathe during night, and Moominmamma physically disappeared into a painting. The melancholy and the fine pains every character in this book seemed to bear were exceptional, and the ever-lonely Groke was, at the same time, the happiest and the saddest of them all.
The seahorses were beautiful and cruel and wild, and Moomintroll was enchanted, haunted by them. Moomintroll also had to deal with a mass-murder of ants, the death of a huge community, the burden of which was placed on his shoulders by cruel and unapologetic little My. As the cherry on the top, Moomintroll came to form a strange relationship, a little scary one covered with shades of pity, with Groke. Their encounters never failed to send chills down my spine. Littly My mainly disappeared and reappeared, strolled and adventured around on her own through the whole book, knowing a lot more than any other person on the island, on the story. Moominmamma disappeared because she was alone too much. Moominpappa tried to lose his fear and tried to make a home, tried to know how and why, tried to accept the nature of the sea. -
see jällegi on muumiraamat, mida ma olen vist kõige rohkem üle lugenud, sest seal on kogu aeg midagi uut lugeda. lapsena olin täitsa kindel, et see on üks lastejutt Muumitrolli ja väikese My seiklustest, aga ta on koos minuga kasvanud ja rääkinud eri lugemiskordadel ka papadest ja mammadest, keskeakriisidest ja abielust, majakavahist ja kalurist, lindudest ja raudsipelgatest. seekord näiteks rääkis Urrist ja no kuidas ma varem seda Urri lugu seal sees ei ole märganud?! võiks vanduda, et iga lugemise vahel käib Tove seda raamatut mu riiulis paksemaks kirjutamas :)
nii et... järgmise korrani. mul on täiesti kindlasti sealt veel suur osa väikest Myd välja lugemata! -
I don't acutally know any children who might have read this book, but oh boy! This does NOT seem like a children's book.
Rather, I found it a totally profound book about a crisis in masculinty, midlife crisis and the dangers of isolation. Not only poignant but very moving and emphatic. This was so accurately and acutely observed that I'm ready to name it a masterpiece about the postmodern condition. As such, this is miles away from the usual fare of contemporary children's books.
I'd be very interested to know how children would read this! -
Niin ihana tunnelma ♥
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Odnajdywanie się w narzuconych rolach. A Tatuś Muminka ma kryzys wieku średniego.
"- Gdzie byłaś?! – wybuchnął Tatuś.
- Ja? – spytała Mama niewinnie. – Byłam na małej przechadzce, żeby się trochę przewietrzyć.
- Nie powinnaś nas tak straszyć – rzekł Tatuś. – Pamiętaj, że jesteśmy przyzwyczajeni widzieć cię w domu, kiedy wracamy wieczorem.
- I to jest właśnie okropne – westchnęła Mama Muminka. – Każdy potrzebuje czasem jakiejś zmiany. Stajemy się wszyscy zanadto do siebie przyzwyczajeni i wszystko jest wciąż takie samo, prawda, kochanie?"
"Tatuś Muminka i morze" nie jest wesołą historią o okrąglutkich trollach, dla mnie była momentami nawet przygnębiająca. Na szczęście Mama Muminka bez pudła trafiła w samo sedno i przywróciła mi chociaż część wiary w ludzkość. Każdy potrzebuje czasami jakiejś zmiany. Nie możemy wymagać od innych czegoś tylko dlatego, że tak się ogólnie przyjęło.
7/10 -
Oh, boy. I had heard the later Moomin books weren't as cheery and written to be happy escapism as the earlier ones, but this really was a stark change.
Moominpappa decides he needs a huge life change, so he uproots the family to live on an abandoned lighthouse in the middle of the ocean. There's only one other person living on the island: a strange and lonely fisherman who may be the key to understanding this curious, melancholy place where they live now.
I can't believe how much of this book made me feel lonely. There were, of course, some funny moments, but overall it lacks the charm of earlier Moomin books. I understand Tove Jansson's headspace wasn't in the same headspace as when she wrote the earlier books, too, and can appreciate that. The book was also sadly beautiful in its own way, but I don't think this is one I'd read over and over again.
I think what I missed most was the side characters, like Snufkin and Snorkmaiden and Too-Ticky, and all the other little creatures that filled up Moominvalley. There was maybe one mention of the friends back home, but otherwise it was like these friends had been forgotten! Autumn was nearing, and Moomintroll didn't have one thought for Snufkin! Not once did the family think of Snork or Snorkmaiden when they completely moved with the intention of living on a remote island for the rest of their lives. Did they even say a goodbye to their friends? It just seemed so strange!
Anyway, I did like the book - I don't think it's possible for me to dislike a Moomin book at this point - but I'm not sure this will be one of my favorites. -
Senast jag läste denna var över tio år sedan och jag var deprimerad. Förstod inte alls varför den är så populär, när Farlig midsommar finns. Nu vid en omläsning förstår jag storheten lite bättre, men den är ändå inte en favorit. Alla längtar, efter något nytt, efter något stort, tillbaka, eller bara bort. Alla (utom möjligtvis Lilla My) är melankoliska. Tung läsning, även om den sedvanliga humorn också är närvarande. Men jag saknar ändå äventyrligheten och det fridfulla som får ta större plats i de andra Mumin-böckerna.
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I enjoyed taking my time with this book. It has a wonderful, strong atmosphere that I loved just sinking into one or two chapters at a time. The element of sea and living by the seaside is very strong here. I've never lived by the sea, but I still felt I could hear the winds, see the rocks and smell the sea air as I read this. I also love the subtle descriptions of the Moomintroll growing up, and the way the Groke becomes a much deeper character in this book than before.
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Muumipappa ja meri ei ole helppo muumikirja, mutta se on hieno sellainen. Luulen, että tarina aukeaisi paremmin luettuna kuin pätkissä kuunneltuna. Majakkasaarella on aikaa miettiä itse kullakin yksinäisyyttä, parisuhdetta, milloin mitäkin. Ahti Jokinen lukee pääosin todella hyvin, vain hänen Pikku Myynsä hihitys ärsytti välillä suunnattomasti. Muumi-ääninä hän on mitä mainioin.
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I think this is the best Moomin story, and is five stars all the way. It only seems to get better as you get older ... why is that?
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Ļoti sajūtama un domājama grāmata.
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First of all, this is an adult book. It might look like a children's book and you could read it as a children's book but it is, I think, a book about change, adjusting to change, and accepting each other and events.
It is beautifully written. Jansson manages to intertwine a lot of different threads and tones without ever letting it escape her. At some points, it is genuinely creepy and at others funny. But there's an air of melancholy about it until virtually the end.
The characters deal with their move from Moomin Valley to Lighthouse Island in their own different ways. Initially, it looks like this is Moominpappa having a mid-life crisis, and perhaps he is. But as they settle down on the island each of them Moominpappa, Moominmamma, and Moomintroll has to adjust to their new home, which doesn't feel like a home. Each of them deals with it in different ways. The only character that never really changes is Little My, and she seems disappointed when things turn out...OK.
There's also the story of the fisherman and The Groke. Both of whom are also changed by the Moomin's coming to the island. The Groke is a fantastic creation and its story here is wonderfully told. She brings cold wherever she goes, but no one knows why she ended up how she did, although Moominmamma has a theory:
"It was probably because no one did anything at all. Nobody bothered about her, I mean." (26)
I can't recommend this book highly enough. If you have kids read it too them, but read it if you don't. This might, just might, have been the book I needed in December 2020 as I contemplate Christmas in my bedroom.
