Muumilaakson marraskuu

Mumintrollen #9

by Tove Jansson, Kaarina Helakisa (Translator)

On marraskuu. Sataa. Kesä on äkkiä niin etäällä kuin sitä ei olisi koskaan ollut. Silloin alkaa kaivata muutosta elämään, päiviä joina heräsi aamulla ja oli iloinen, alkaa kaivata onnellista perhettä. Kaivata Muumilaaksoon. Sinne kerääntyvät puuhakas Hemuli, pelokas Vilijonkka, yksinäinen homssulapsi, ikivanha Ruttuvaari ja kaunis Mymmeli. Mutta muumiperhe on lähtenyt eikä kukaan tiedä minne. Miten käy kun Hemuli yrittää olla muumipappana, Vilijonkka mammana. Saako Mymmeli tanssia, kun hän ei voi olla tanssimatta? Voiko Vilijonkka jättää siivoamisen?

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Childrens, Classics, Finnish Literature, Audiobook, Scandinavian Literature

172 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1970

About the author

Tove Jansson was born and died in Helsinki, Finland. As a Finnish citizen whose mother tongue was Swedish, she was part of the Swedish-speaking Finns minority. Thus, all her books were originally written in Swedish.

Although known first and foremost as an author, Tove Jansson considered her careers as author and painter to be of equal importance.

Tove Jansson wrote and illustrated her first Moomin book, The Moomins and the Great Flood (1945), during World War II. She said later that the war had depressed her, and she had wanted to write something naive and innocent. Besides the Moomin novels and short stories, Tove Jansson also wrote and illustrated four original and highly popular picture books.

Jansson's Moomin books have been translated into 33 languages.

Reviews

[Zack · Rating 5 out of 5]

Possibly the most melancholy children's book ever written. While the Moomin stories all have a slightly unnerving, mysterious quality, but this one is outright existential.

The idea is simple: What if there was a children's book where the main characters never showed up? Various supporting players from the other Moomin books converge on the Moomins' house, but they're just not there. Normally, this would lead to a quest story to find the family, but in his case, the Moomins are just away on a trip, and the other characters must learn to solve their problems without them.

The tone of this is not unlike WAITING FOR GODOT or ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDERSTREN ARE DEAD -- it's about the people who aren't part of the mian story, about an adventure that's not quite there. It's sort of a last hurrah for the Moomins, and it's a sweet story that fits its wintery mood. Life goes on in Moominvalley -- and life must go on for its fans as well.

[Melki · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a weird little book!

This was my first visit to Moominvalley and apparently, I picked the wrong month . . . just like all of the characters in this book. They show up unannounced on the Moomin's doorstep, expecting solace and cheer, and instead they find emptiness and despair in a bleak, lonely house. The fact that the owners are gone doesn't stop the uninvited guests from making themselves at home, raiding the pantry and tracking mud into the house. And yet, life seems meaningless. They wander aimlessly through rooms while the relentless rain pounds outside. There is much hand-wringing and sighing.

This is the cover of my copy.



Just look at them! Six miserable characters in search of a purpose.

In Greg's excellent review, https://www.goodreads.com/review/show..., he compares the book to a Bergman film, and he's right - this is terribly sad. There are no s'mores or campfire songs. No one suggests a game of Monopoly, and Cards Against Humanity hadn't been invented yet. In fact, if there was a love affair between elderly Grandpa-Grumble and the young, hot Mymble, this could be one of Woody Allen's later, unfunny films.

But all is not lost. The illustrations lovely and affecting.





And yet . . .

I realize that the Moomin books have been beloved by children and their parents for decades, but I'm having trouble picturing freshly bathed and pajama-clad tots sitting enthralled while Granny reads this passage:

In the long, vague dawn as the November night changed to morning, the fog moved in from the sea. It rolled up the hillsides and slid down into the valleys on the other side and filled every corner of them.
The fog had brought complete silence with it and the valley was quite motionless.

Then she gave them castor oil, whipped them all soundly and sent them to bed.

Perhaps I'll visit Moominvalley again sometime. Maybe in May or July.

And I'll call first to make sure they're going to be home.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like your children books to be depressing and bleak you couldn't do much better than Moominvalley in November. Edward Tulane, might have had it's moments of despair, and had an overarching sadness to it, but next to this novel it's pretty fucking upbeat.

If Ingmar Bergman ever directed a children's movie it would probably be like this. Six depressed and solitary people separately decide to visit this one family that has always made them feel like life is worth living. Instead of finding the family, they find an empty home and each other, none of whom really like any of the others. Then the six people wallow around the house and dwell on the futileness of their existence. I can almost picture Liv Ullman playing Fillyjonk and Bibi Andersson as Mymble.

I am making this sound a little more bleak than it probably really is, but something about 2/3's of the way into this book inspired me to a not so good feeling depression. It takes something special in a depressing book to have that kind of impact on me.

[Spencer Orey · Rating 4 out of 5]

The final two Moomin books sure feel like they were written more for adults than for kids. In this one, the Moomins are gone (away at the lighthouse), and everyone who shows up at their door for help instead has to figure out what to do about their own problems. It's heavy stuff, full of troubled characters, even with the usual light Moomin touch.

My kid did not like the last two books and kept asking when we could re-read Finn Family Moomintroll instead. We raced through the first 5 and then ground to a halt at the lighthouse. I see why! I missed characters like Sniff and lighthearted adventures of exploration.

But it's also an oddly deep book, setting us readers with solutions to the problem of what we'll do without the Moomins, with only our flawed memories of what they were like. In that sense, even though it's an odd book, it's a generous offering.

[Hilary · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Having read and loved the rest of the moomin books several times over several decades, I was reluctant to read this final book written by Tove after the loss of her mother.

I don't think it's a spoiler to say the Moomin family do not appear in this book. Several friends come to their house and find them gone. A character called Toft, who is clearly based on the author herself feels this absence profoundly. Other characters miss the Moomin family and they tidy up the place and try to do some nice things they think the Moomins will appreciate upon their return.

The characters are all making an effort to try new things or be better versions of themselves, they try to identify the ruts they have become stuck in and do something to change. Grandpa Grump is the exception to this, he is far to stuck in his ways and ironically does not recognise himself in one part of the story.

Towards the end of the book (mild spoiler) the characters leave one by one, all except Toft who is left there alone

The story was quite melancholy and although this was probably a fitting way to end the series, in which the characters were based on Tove's family and probably a cathartic one to write whilst morning the loss of her family, I didn't enjoy it anywhere near as much as the rest of the series. Although we are left with some hope (mild spoiler) Toft thinks he sees a light, and wonders if this is the family's return It did feel very sad and slightly disturbing that the whole family had disappeared, rather than the Moomins mourning the loss of one of their family. After all Moomintroll is quite young still, a teenager I would guess.

The illustrations are absolutely beautiful, there are many throughout the book. I'm glad my library copy was a hardback recent reprint which has Tove's original artwork on, unlike the other recent reprints that have insultingly got an illustrator to recreate an inferior version in pastel colours. Unfortunately the paper they used was quite thin so the print on one side shows through to the other, which is a dissapointing skimp on their part.

I am glad I read this final book eventually but will probably not revisit and prefer to think of the Moomins continuing their lives happily in Moominvalley.

[Oliver · Rating 5 out of 5]

In the previous book, the patriarch has a midlife crisis and moves the family out to a deserted island to allow himself to feel useful again. It doesn't work out too well, but the family manages to reach some level of peace and understanding of their surroundings by the end. Logically, they should return to their idyllic valley to prepare for winter. But when the six characters of the final book arrive at their house, all dissatisfied and searching for one thing or another, the family is still missing. Tove Jansson, in the saddest and strangest of her children's (?) books, tells her audience that they'll have to go on without her, and work out their problems as best they can. The warm and comforting Moominvalley is gone - Jansson couldn't reach it any more, and the series was becoming a burden.

Much of the novel can be read as Jansson looking back at her creation with no small amount of regret - Toft serves as the young, innocent Tove, not realizing what she's going to unleash on the world with her imagination. "You want to be careful not to let things get too big," warns Snufkin, whose own worth gets called into question as he does his best to avoid the group of neurotics who are disturbing his search for a quiet place to write a song. Snufkin is the coolest character in town - in a letter to Jansson a reader requests a drawing to tattoo on his arm "as a symbol of freedom." But what use is he when someone needs help? No one feels comfortable enough to talk to the one who from outward appearances has it all figured out and doesn't want to be bothered. Throughout the book Jansson seems to be asking herself if she's made a mistake, given people the wrong idea, promised too much that she couldn't deliver. And yet by the end, the absence has served to allow our difficult, mildly irritating protagonists to learn a bit more about themselves, their abilities and limitations, and those of the family they once idolized or took for granted. Toft, the creator, stays to wait for the eventual return, but the rest walk away from the series, a little hardened but a little more complete.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a strangely beautiful little book and a fitting end to the Moomins series.

The Moomins are still off on their island, as seen in the previous book, and this book tells the tale of six members of their supporting cast, the 'B-listers' if you like, descending on the Moomins' house expecting them to be there as they normally would be and getting a bit of a shock. While they puzzle out where the Moomins have gone, they decide to prepare the house for the family's return. It's really sweet, a little creepy and more than a little melancholic.

Tove Jansson had just lost her mother when she wrote this and the passages where Toft thinks about Moominmamma are really rather moving as a result. Toft, a new character, is of course Jansson's avatar in this story, which adds a melancholy element of metafiction as she tries to say goodbye to the characters that had overtaken her life.

My next book: Miles Morales: Spider-Man vol. 4: Ultimatum

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A tender ode to the aura of autumn – drenched in reflective anticipations of the approaching hibernation and speckled with mysterious promises for new beginnings. Clever and wise.

[Lobo]

Nie wiem, co o mnie mówi fakt, że moją ulubioną częścią serii o Muminkach jest ta, gdzie Muminków nie ma, za to banda neurotyków okupuje im dom i przeżywa - każde na swój sposób - jesienną melancholię. Filifionka, Paszczak, Toft radzą sobie z narastającą jesienną chandrą w ten sposób, że próbuje być Muminkami. Trudno się z tym nie utożsamiać, bo kiedy pogoda staje się szorstka, zimna i kłująca, ja domagam się ciepła i miękkości w stopniu wprost proporcjonalnym do stanu za oknem. Muminkuję przez jesień i zimę. Mało się ruszam, dużo jem, jeszcze więcej śpię i stwarzam sobie gniazdo z koców, z którego wyciągam rękę tylko po dolewkę herbaty z sokiem malinowym. Przynajmniej w tych momentach, w których życie na to pozwala.

Jest to powieść melancholijna, egzystencjalna wręcz (czym jest szczęście? jak dobrze przeżyć własne życie? co jeśli nie możesz siebie znieść? kiedy próbujesz sam o sobie zapomnieć?), dziecięca wersja "Czekając na Godota" - tylko czekając na Muminki - albo "Sześciu postaci w poszukiwaniu autora" - tylko cztery postaci poboczne szukają Muminków. Przyznaję, że czytałam Muminki tylko w podstawówce, dopiero teraz do nich wracam i byłam przygotowana na doznanie emocjonalne, a tutaj doznałam wstrząsającego doświadczenia intelektualnego.

Wiele słów, aby powiedzieć, że kocham tę książkę, wciąż, po latach, jest moim ulubionym tomem.

[☾❀Apple✩ Blossom⋆｡˚ · Rating 2 out of 5]

What a bittersweet feeling to read the last Moomin book! This was definitely melancholic and felt so weird to read, since the main characters are not even present. Not my favourite, but still, you know, it's Moomin!!

[Candace · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book so completely captures loss. Like everything Jansson writes, she reduces the plainest and most vital aspects of life to their component parts. Eloquent, mundane, and profound. It was delightful and it also broke my heart.

"How can there be so many sounds in an empty house, Fillyjonk thought. Then she remembered that the house was full of people. But somehow she still thought it was empty."

[Katri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Luettiin tämä marraskuussa (ja loppuun joulukuun alussa) kumppanin kanssa toisillemme ääneen vuorotellen.

Uskomatonta, mutta kirja oli jopa parempi kuin muistin. Mitä lämpöä ja viisautta kirja onkaan täynnä!

[Mimi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The quiet transition from autumn to winter is not a bad time at all. It's a time for protecting and securing things and for making sure you've got in as many supplies as you can. It's nice to gather together everything you possess as close to you as possible, to store up your warmth and your thoughts and burrow yourself into a deep hole inside, a core of safety where you can defend what is important and precious and your very own. Then the cold and the storms and the darkness can do their worst.

What a perfect sick day read, filled with the loveliest bunch of characters even though the Moomin family is nowhere to be found. Simply adorable.

[Nada · Rating 3 out of 5]

رواية لطيفة تصلح لأجواء الخريف

[Manybooks · Rating 2 out of 5]

So indeed, if you as a reader (and like I most definitely do) already think that the penultimate of Tove Jansson’s Moomin novels, that you consider Moominpappa at Sea to be rather annoyingly depressing, then the final novel of the series, then Jansson’s 1970 Sent i november (Moominvalley in November) where the Moomins friends and acquaintances all travel to Moominvalley for a visit only to find the house deserted and Moomintroll and his parents gone, could easily and likely feel even more so.

For yes, that in Moominvalley in November what the friends do, what they engage in upon discovering that the Moomins are absent from their valley and from their house (missing Moomintroll, Moominmamma and Moominpappa, hoping that their absence will only be temporary, vainly searching for the Moomins, tidying up the house for the family’s return) feels rather saddening and melancholy, and considering that throughout Moominvalley in November there is in my humble opinion from the very first instance of the Moomins being not present a rather constant and painful textual feeling that their absence is in fact of a permanent nature, that the Moomin Family will not be returning to their valley, to their house, to their friends, well for and to me, everything that the Moomins’ friends do with regard to their their absent friends (and in particular tidying up the house and searching for the family), it just really seems to majorly increase the level of sadness and painfulness encountered in Moominvalley in November.

And indeed, when Tove Jansson finally has the Moomins’ friends sadly and with disappointment leave one by one to return home without having encountered the Moomins (except of course for Toft who decides to stay put), while to a point Moominvalley in November does end with just a tiny bit of hope that perhaps come springtime, the family will have returned to their valley, there is in my opinion much more of a sense that this will not be the case, that the Moomins are indeed gone for good.

And combined with Tove Jansson’s spot on but also really quite verbally, textually dreary descriptions of a typical Scandinavian November (with less and less sun every day, with copious clouds, fog and very much cold and miserable rain), and even though I do think that Kingsley Hart’s translation successfully and nicely flowingly mirrors Tove Jansson’s original Swedish text, for me, Moominvalley in November is textually just not all that pleasant as a personal reading experience and therefore also only a two star rating and certainly rather an emotional downer with which to end Tove Jansson’s Moomins series.

[Brodolomi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Odjavna pesma finsko-japanskog animea „Mumijevi” u bosanskohercegovačkoj sihronizaciji započinje stihom: „Kad sunce zađe mrak te snađe” - neočekivano melanholično za odjavnu špicu crtanog filma o veselom životu i nežnim priključenijima trolova koji nalikuju na nilske konje (ne, oni nisu nilski konji, postoji čitava jedna epizoda posvećena ovom problemu). Iako su potom negde sledili stihovi „tu se svi veselo igraju a šume smehom odjekuju”, ostalo mi je uvek nejasno kako i, pobogu, zašto se oni igraju a „mrak ih snašo”? U svakom slučaju, pesma je bila dovoljno upečatljiva da većina milenijalaca koji su odrasli uz ovaj anime u Bosni i Hercegovini, Srbiji i Crnoj Gori (ne znam čija je sihronizacija išla u Hrvatskoj), uglavnom seriju pamte po tim molskim stihovima na kraju i, naravno, po strahu koji je izazivala Groka.

Godinama kasnije, kada sam prvi put krenuo da čitam serijal knjiga Tuve Janson po kome je nastala animirana serija, uočio sam da je serija, između ostalog, samo delimično pratila melanholični zaokret u veselom tonu, to jest, prvih pet delova serijala su bili nastrani i veseli, da bi od šestog dela ton polako počeo da se okreće u smeru melanholije, sve do mraka u posledenjem delu serijala – „Novembra u Dolini Mumijevih”. Televizijska serija nikad nije ekranizovala poslednji deo, verovatno jer su Japanci mislili da je u njemu sunce prebrzo „zašlo”, a mrak junake previše „snašlo” da bi postao deo dečjag TV serijala, što opet pokazuje koliko je prostor književnosti, posebno kada je u pitanju prostor za decu, mnogo slobodniji nego teren drugih medija.

Nije lako prepričati o čemu je roman. Prvo valja napomenuti da se u njemu ne pojavljuju članovi porodice Mumin, ali da je upravo njihova odsutnost glavna tenzija koja pokreće roman. Umesto njih, šest anksioznih junaka (četiri junaka poznata iz prethodnih delova serijala i dva nova) pokušavaju da preosmisle mrtvo vreme novembra nastupilo usled sopstvene praznine i odsutnosti porodice trolova. Apsurdne situacije i egzistencijalističke teme (gubitak, besmisao, irealni strahovi, zaborav, starost, stvaralaštvo, samoća, izolovanost) i motiv čekanja navode negde da se „Novembar u Dolini Mumijevih” posmatra kao neka vrsta „Čekajući Godoa” za decu. To donekle može da stoji, iako je za mene ovaj čud(es)ni završetak serijala o Muminima melanholičniji, duhovitiji i mudriji od bilo koje Beketove drame. Drame gospodina sa guči torbicom o apsurdnosti života sam pročitao jednom i mislim da im se neću više vraćati, roman „Novembar u Dolini Mumijevih” čitam treći put. Ako je ikako moguće osetiti da melanholija zrači toplotom, onda je to ovde.

[Afaf Ammar · Rating 5 out of 5]

"لكنها في تلك اللحظة لم تكن بحاجة إلى فعل أي شيء سوى الغرق في الدفء" 🧡🧡

أحب الخريف الدافئ، ولون أوراق الأشجار البرتقالية الدافئ،
أحب صوت المطر والرياح بالخارج مع الإحساس بالأمان في البيت الدافئ،
أحب دفء الحكايات والأحاديث الليلة والأصوات الحنونة في الأمسيات الباردة ودفء المطبخ المغمور بالحب وبرائحة المخبوزات المميزة الشهية ،
أحب كل الأشياء الدافئة ،
وأحب هذة الرواية الهادئة ،المريحة والدافئة
كيوم خريفي دافئ في نوڤمبر الجميل ،
وادي المومين في شهر تشرين الثاني أصبحت روايتي المفضلة في فصل الخريف الدافئ 🧡🍂🌼🌼🍂🧡

"الانتقال الهادئ من الخريف إلى الشتاء ليس فترة مزعجة على الإطلاق. هي فترة حماية الأشياء والتأكد من حصولك على أكبر عدد ممكن من المؤونة. من الجيد أن تجمع كل ما تمتلكه معًا بالقرب منك قدر الإمكان، وأن تخزن دفئك وأفكارك، وتتسلل إلى جحر عميق في الداخل، إلى جوهر الأمان حيث يمكنك فيه الدفاع عن ما هو مهم وثمين وما يخصك، وحينها ليقم البرد والعواصف والظلام بأسوأ ما لديهم. يمكنهم أن يتلمسوا طريقهم عبر الجدران بحثًا عن طريقة للدخول، ولكنهم لن يجدوا واحدًا، فكل شيء محكم الإغلاق، وأنت تجلس بالداخل تضحك في دفئك وعزلتك لأنك كنت تمتلك البصيرة"

🧡🧡

29.11.2021

[Magdalena · Rating 5 out of 5]

Na tym kończy się moja cudowna przygoda z główną serią książek o Muminkach. Nie wiem, czemu nigdy wcześniej ich nie czytałam... Są po prostu wspaniałe, dorosła osoba może tyle wyczytać między wierszami... Na pewno do nich wrócę!

[Theodore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Moominvalley in November is beautifully written.
It's filled with melancholia, poignancy, and magical realism.
This book manages to encapsulate the deep feeling of stillness that autumn brings.

"The lanterns were all lit, red ones, yellow ones, and green ones, all admiring their soft reflections in the dark windowpanes."

We follow a collection of side characters, as they journey to moomin house, each hoping that summer will be there.
Instead, they are greeted coolly by the moss, mist, and leaves of autumn.
Each character is well thought out and goes through lots of development, and each battle their personal demons, all while waiting for the moomin family to come home.

"Loneliness is an acquired taste, like coffee."

Eventually, at the end of the book, all the characters but one leave before the moomins come home. They didn't need the moomin family to help them - they helped themselves and each other.

"Love is when two people understand each other's silence."

The setting of the book is so desolate and beautiful.

"It's strange how autumn is beautiful, but everything that leads to it is tragic."

I think this is the most existential and deep children's book I've ever read.
But then again, I think it's meant for everyone - not just children.
This is one of those books that resonates with the reader on a soul level.

"The quiet transition from autumn to winter is not a bad time at all. It's a time for protecting and securing things and for making sure you've got in as many supplies as you can. It's nice to gather together everything you possess as close to you as possible, to store up your warmth and your thoughts and burrow yourself into a deep hole inside, a core of safety where you can defend what is important and precious and your very own. Then the cold and the storms and the darkness can do their worst. They can grope their way up the walls looking for a way in, but they won't find one, everything is shut, and you sit inside, laughing in your warmth and your solitude, for you have had foresight."

I 1000% recommend this book, it's so beautiful!
It's a forever book to read in autumn with a hot mug of tea and rain beating on the windows.

Some of my favourite moments from this book:

When Mymble tells fillyonk , "There's nothing out there that's worse than ourselves." ,when she is scared of the autumn.

When Grandpa Grumble happily forgets every little piece about his life and who he is and he becomes a newer and freer person because of it.

"One dark autumn morning, he woke up and had forgotten what his name was.
It's a little sad when you forget other people's names, but it is lovely to be able to completely forget your own."

When Snufkin went walking in the woods at the beginning of the book and was entirely at ease with his loneliness.

"The rain fell on his green hat and on his raincoat, which was also green, it pittered and pattered everywhere and the forest wrapped him in a gentle and exquisite loneliness."

To see the Moomin family's exploits, read "Moominpapa at sea"



⭐️ 5/5
12+
cws: mild peril, gloomy setting

[Pixelina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Det är som när man kommer hem till sin mamma men hon är ute. Huset är detsamma, bara lite mörkare och tystare. Och även om man tänder alla lampor och slår på radion är det liksom ändå inte samma sak. Det är lite ödsligt and liksom lite kallare. Man sätter sig ner på en stol vid köksbordet och försöker säga 'Jaha ja, pffft, dom kommer nog snart'
Man dinglar med benen och försöker lösa lite i ett korsord men det går inte så bra. Man reser sig upp och gör en kopp kaffe, men den smakar liksom lite platt. Det är bäst att gå hem till sig igen och vänta lite.

Fast mumins vänner stannar så länge dom behöver. Dom fyller huset med matos och visslingar, hammarslag i trädet, metar vid bryggan. Till slut kan dom gå hem igen, en efter en. Trots att huset är fullt av avsaknaden av muminfamiljen så tar alla med sig det dom behöver. En insikt i att det är ok att inte segla bara för att man har en båt. Eller att låta bli att bygga för ibland är ett träd bättre som det är - utan en koja. Eller att lära sig att släppa ut det där stora arg-rädda djuret inom sig.

Av dom böckerna jag läste nu i höst är det just Sent i November som stannar kvar hos mig.

[denudatio_pulpae · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dziwne się rzeczy dzieją w Dolinie Muminków.

Muminki wyparowały, nie ma ich. Jak one mogły! Filifionka, która udała się do nich w odwiedziny, była tym faktem oburzona. Przyniosła nawet ze sobą prezent dla Mamy Muminka, a ich nie ma, wyobrażacie sobie?! Cały dom Muminków wypełni się dziwnymi stworzeniami, ze złośliwym Wujem Trujem na czele, protoplastą wszystkich irytujących krewnych (chociaż sam żadnych krewnych nie miał, a przynajmniej tak twierdził).

"Dolina Muminków w listopadzie" spodobała mi się chyba najbardziej ze wszystkich części. Trochę filozofowania, trochę śmiechu. Szkoda, że już czas rozstać się z Doliną Muminków.
8/10

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here’s an offbeat selection for November. Strangely dark for a children’s book, it’s the last in the Moomins series. Tove Jansson said that after the Second World War she was depressed and wanted to write about something naïve and innocent. She wrote the first book of the Moomins series in 1945, about a family of hippo-like white trolls. The Moomins are well known and loved by many European children, but I suspect this book is more obscure and less lighthearted than the rest. Perhaps Jansson expects her child readers to have grown up with her enough to appreciate a more melancholy story.

The Moomins do not in fact appear in this book at all. It is November, the days are closing in, and no one knows where the Moomins have gone and when they might come back. A series of visitors journey to Moominvalley and find the house empty, cold and strange; these interlopers try to make their own merriment with a picnic and a party, but it all falls flat. It seems the cozy, jolly world of the Moomins is gone.

Our cast of six main creatures (they all have paws) are: Fillyjonk, made neurotic by a disastrous housecleaning experience; Grandpa-Grumble, a forgetful and irascible old gent; Mymble, a somewhat vain and silly creature; Toft, a waif longing for a (Moomin)mamma; Snufkin, who is trying to remember a five-note snatch of music he came up with last time he was in Moominvalley; and Hemulen, who has little confidence in himself but thinks he has to arrange things for everyone else.

Perhaps the most fun aspect of the book is Jansson’s original black and white line drawings of her peculiarly loveable creations. The book also felt unique to me for its Scandinavian qualities: the strange sprite-like creatures, woodland settings and short winter days, and the slight air of depression. One by one the creatures depart until only Toft is left. I worried the book would end with rather nihilistic pessimism – Toft staring out at a bleak sea – but in fact there is a glimmer of hope: Toft spies the Moomins’ boat approaching and runs to meet them.

As with the best children’s fiction, there is much here to entertain adults. Some of the more sad and wistful passages seem particularly meant for older readers, though there is no reason why children cannot identify with them as well. Here is my favorite:

The quiet transition from autumn to winter is not a bad time at all. It’s a time for protecting and securing things and for making sure you’ve got in as many supplies as you can. It’s nice to gather together everything you possess as close to you as possible, to store up your warmth and your thoughts and burrow yourself into a deep hole inside, a core of safety where you can defend what is important and precious and your very own. Then the cold and the storms and the darkness can do their worst. They can grope their way up the walls looking for a way in, but they won’t find one, everything is shut, and you sit inside, laughing in your warmth and your solitude, for you have had foresight.

[Petra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Moominvalley in November is the last book in The Moomins series and definitely one of my favourite books written by Tove Jansson. It is terribly underrated but I think it is easily the best in the Moomin series. It is a lot darker, harsh and mature as the nature is in November. I do think that it doesn't work well as a book for both adults and children as the other Moomin books do but I thoroughly enjoy the novel every time I reread it and would recommend to pick this up even if you have never read anything by Tove Jansson. It follows a number of characters who all gather in the empty Moominvalley after the family has mysteriously left and abandoned the house. All of these characters have their own fears and thoughts that are intensified in the cold and lonely house. I do think that the absence of the center family, Moomins, creates a brilliant atmosphere and I love how lonely the whole book is. Like every Moomin book, it deals with heavy topics as fears, loneliness and death.

[Helen McClory · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a wonderfully subtly book about the decay of Autumn and the change towards winter, about loneliness, fear, music, awkwardness, dementia, an old house, the wind at night, the darkness late in the year, the idea of the family, a sense of loss and waiting. A children's book written with the firm belief that children can accept all of these things.

[Kristīne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rudens kā mazā nāve.

[Somnambulist · Rating 5 out of 5]

Baigiau Trolių Mumių ciklą. Beveik simboliška: per Kūčias, kai visokie padarėliai prabyla. Užtrukau, nežinau, turbūt daugiau nei dvidešimt metų? Ir dabar jau galiu pasakyti (nors anksčiau irgi sakydavau, bet šįkart dar tvirčiau), kad ir kodėl Tove Jansson yra mano mėgstamiausia rašytoja, kūrusi vaikams. Nors kaip būna su didžiaisiais – jų kūrybai negalioja skaitytojų amžiaus cenzas.

„Vėlai lapkritį“ man yra apie VISKĄ. Ir nežinau, ar taip atrodo todėl, kad skaičiau jau užaugęs (nesuaugęs), tarsi kitomis akimis, ar todėl, jog ši dalis tikrai yra apie VISKĄ. Banaliausiai kalbant, apie Gyvenimą (lyg visos knygos nebūtų apie jį).

Man regis, o gal tiesiog taip gerai nebeprisimenu kitų, bet paskutinė ciklo knyga yra filosofiškiausia iš visų. Liūdna, melancholiška. Čia šopenhaueris vaikšto su vitgenšteinu ir kierkegoras sutinka heidegerį. Ir sėdi visi, apimti nepakeliamo būties lengvumo.

Ruduo, lapkritis. Muminukų slėnis tuščias. Visa šeimyna kažkur iškeliavo, bet prisiminimai apie ją atvilioja į slėnį homsiuką Toftą, Filifjonką, Hemulį, mažosios Miu seserį Miumlą, dėdžių Skrutą ir Snusmumriką, kuris planavo iškeliauti (visada iškeliauja artėjant žiemai), bet lieka dar kelioms dienoms, savaitėms. Ir štai, šitie padarėliai užeina į muminukų namą. Šniukštinėja po kambarius. Atidaro maisto sandėliuką. Įsikuria virtuvėje. Hemulis net pradeda meistrauti namelį medyje muminukų Tėčiui, kurį, kaip ir Mamą, vis prisimena ir mini gražiuoju.

Šie padarėliai lindi kas sau, galvoja, žvejoja, kartais suirzsta vienas ant kito, fantazuoja ir laukia. Kalbasi vienas su kitu, bet iš tikrųjų kiekvienas su savimi, kaip kokie Kiros Muratovos filmų personažai. Ir tai, kaip Jansson aprašo juos, kokiais charakteriais, jausmais ir emocijomis apdovanoja, ir yra visas knygos grožis.

Skaičiau ir stebėjausi. Juk štai, Filifjonka, kalbant suaugėliškai, yra mizantropė (mumintropė?). Ji galėtų sirgti šizofrenija. Mažų mažiausiai depresija. Homsiukas paniręs į fantazijų pasaulį ir savo mintyse užsiaugina Padarą. Dėdžiui Skrutui demencija ir šiaip visokie senatviniai marazmai. Snusmumrikas apskritai sunkiai ištveria bet kokią draugiją ir, suaugėliškai kalbant, bėga nuo realybės ir savęs.

Bet nė vieno rašytoja neteisia. Visi jai mieli. Visus jį supranta ir myli. Svarbiausia – nieko neprotina. Čia nėra krikščioniško gerumo pamokų, kaip kokioje „Heidoje“. Čia nėra tos protestantiškos dvasios, kurią kartais gali pajusti kai kuriose anglosaksiškos tradicijos knygose vaikams. Čia nėra nieko apie papročius ir tradicijas, kaip kokiose „Mažosiose moteryse“. Čia nėra jokio moralo (bent jau tiesioginio), jokio baksnojimo pirštu.

Man rodos, Jansson vertina individualumą. Buvimą savimi (kaip banaliai skamba, ar ne?). Jai gražu tie keistuoliai veikėjai. Jų pyktis, baimė, irzlumas, neadekvatumas. Netobulumas.

Kaip puikiai Jansson susitvarko su nuotaikomis! Laiku prisimena ironiją. Nenusisentimentalina. Visada nustebina. Tekstas gyvas, nes nežinai, kas bus toliau, kokia nuotaika užplūs veikėją, kada homsiukas ims ir užriks ant visų, o Filifjonka įsižeis dėl ne taip pasakyto žodžio.

Ir, aišku, tas absoliučiai savų dėsnių pasaulis, kuriame norisi pasislėpti ir amžinai būti. Ir ta puslapius persmelkusi Paslaptis, kuri pabaigoje, kai homsiukas leidžiasi į Mišką, į slėnio užribį, kai staiga jam dingsta visi vaizdiniai apie muminukus, kai jis lieka tuščias kaip tas muminukų Tėčio stiklinis rutulys... Štai ta Paslaptis ir yra VISKAS, dėl ko aš taip myliu Tove Jansson.

Už tai jai – visos penkios žvaigždės ir didelė kometa iš paskos. O dabar dedu tašką, nes dar susisentimentalinsiu.

[منال الندابي · Rating 4 out of 5]

قصة لطيفة تسودها نستولجيا تبعث الدفء في القلب- عن طفولة في زمن جميل، عن فن يخترق شغاف القلب، عن أحلام وأصدقاء وفصول ملوّنة.
أحب القصص التي تضج بتفاصيل الطبيعة والموسيقى والصداقات البريئة والوجبات الشهيّة والخيال البهي الذي يأخذنا بعيدًا جدًا.
أحببت الحوارات الذكية كثيرًا- أميل إلى طريقة الحوار العفوية والغريبة هذه- التي بنظري تستقر في عمق طبيعتنا البشرية ولكننا لم نعتد عليها.
كتاب جميل بكل تفاصيله.

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a melancholy children's book. But why not? Children are not happy all the time. I could definitely relate to this one around the age of 12, although when I re-read it as an adult, it made more sense.

[Elina · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pidin siitä, että tarina oli yhtenäinen eikä montaa pientä tarinaa. Syvällistä tekstiä, jota lukiessa ajattelee, että tämä pitää lukea uudestaan ajatuksen ja ajan kanssa.

[Mina Widding · Rating 5 out of 5]

Omläsning (lyssnat till inläsning av Tove Jansson). Tove Janssons böcker är alltid så bra att läsa flera gånger, man känner och upptäcker nya saker varje gång. Denna gång upplevde jag den ännu bättre än första läsningen, karaktärerna växer för mig, och det finns något att älska och känna igen sig i hos varje. Homsan Toft är ändå berättelsens hjälte i den här läsningen, och hur underbar är inte hans läsning om urtidsdjuret som han genom läsningen blåser liv i? Njutit av varje del i denna berättelse, och de är alla så underbart aviga.

Första reflektionerna:

Som Pappan och havet så är detta en skildring om ensamhet och gemenskap, om att hantera sina inre demoner. Mer vuxen än barn-bok på det viset, och inte så "händelserik", utan handlar mer om deras relationer och det de bär inom sig. Men det tycker jag om.