Status
Available
Genres
Publication
Sort of Books (2012), Edition: 1St Edition, Paperback, 208 pages
Description
A 'new' Tove Jansson, published for the first time in English. Tales of obsession and ambition are revealed and sparkle 'like buried treasure'.
User reviews
LibraryThing member Marensr
Finnish writer Tove Jansson is always a revelation. Known for her children's books about the Moomintrolls. Her books of short stories for grown ups and short novels are evocative, funny and sometimes painful. The most recent volume to be translated into English is Art in Nature. This collection,
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more than the others seems to focus on people who are either adrift or unwilling to move. She explores with a rare delicacy the play of emotions one person may experience in an hour or a lifetime, often the petty annoyance, subtle jealousies, and self-involvement. While, for me, The Summer Book remains her masterpiece, it is well worth finding her short stories which are a group of elegant, compact revelations. Show Less
LibraryThing member Caomhghin
How do you comment on a collection of short stories. Well there's the general summation - gentle, melancholic, but very perceptive overall. There is little outright joy but occasional contentment. Quite a few are indeed about art in nature, how the art or the artist interact with life or how life
The madness possible in art comes to the fore in the Cartoonist where the old cartoonist has perhaps been driven at least unbalanced by his years of work. The Doll's House has plenty of frenzy but in the end it's about the comforts of the couple against outsiders as much as it is about art. Is Locomotive about an obsessive writing about himself, or re-imagining himself or planning a murder or just a writer writing about these. A nicely observed psychopathy of art though. A Leading Role is more nuanced - the actress vampirically creating her role by manipulating her mousey cousin in between recognising that she likes her and is abusing her for her art.
And White Lady - about being old, of being finite. Several indeed have the feel of the semi-autobiographical, escaping from mother, the frictions of partnership, life being overwhelmed by art sometimes.
Well worth reading.
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can seem like art. Some, like the Monkey just seem like loving observations of people.The madness possible in art comes to the fore in the Cartoonist where the old cartoonist has perhaps been driven at least unbalanced by his years of work. The Doll's House has plenty of frenzy but in the end it's about the comforts of the couple against outsiders as much as it is about art. Is Locomotive about an obsessive writing about himself, or re-imagining himself or planning a murder or just a writer writing about these. A nicely observed psychopathy of art though. A Leading Role is more nuanced - the actress vampirically creating her role by manipulating her mousey cousin in between recognising that she likes her and is abusing her for her art.
And White Lady - about being old, of being finite. Several indeed have the feel of the semi-autobiographical, escaping from mother, the frictions of partnership, life being overwhelmed by art sometimes.
Well worth reading.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Michael.Rimmer
Tove's short stories are quiet and incisive - I've seen them described as boring, which is, of course, a matter of personal taste, but also wrong! - even when she writes about obsession and murder. Mostly, though, these stories are about the small happenings in ordinary lives which give clues to
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the deep emotions underlying the actions of her characters, and that, for me, is where the interest and value of Tove's stories lie. Show Less
LibraryThing member greeniezona
There is a strong possibility that if this collection had been by anyone else, I might have rated it higher, but because it was by Jansson, who is one of my favorite authors, I just WANTED TO LOVE IT MORE.
Short-story collections are often hit-or-miss for me. There were stories here that I loved,
I mean, this is definitely me wringing my hands over rating this ONLY four stars instead of five, which is NOT A BAD rating. I just wasn't as incandescently in love with this as I wanted to me. A lot of not terribly likable characters with not quite enough charm to balance it out, I think.
Short-story collections are often hit-or-miss for me. There were stories here that I loved,
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but there were also a few that fell flat for me. I mean, this is definitely me wringing my hands over rating this ONLY four stars instead of five, which is NOT A BAD rating. I just wasn't as incandescently in love with this as I wanted to me. A lot of not terribly likable characters with not quite enough charm to balance it out, I think.
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Language
Original publication date
1978
Physical description
208 p.; 8.19 inches
ISBN
0956308694 / 9780956308696