Status
Available
Series
Publication
Puffin (2003), 160 pages
Description
Winter's approach brings six friends together in Moominvalley where, in the Moomins' absence, they must visit with each other.
User reviews
LibraryThing member tikitu-reviews
As I understand it this was one of the last Moomin books Tove Jansson wrote, and they seem to have been getting more melancholy and grown-up as they go along. This one is really quite unhappy, with characters often feeling embarassed or ashamed for one another -- not at all the happy accepting
What's particularly interesting is to see the characters growing up in subtle little ways. They're becoming less predictable and childlike, but this involves acquiring adult insecurities and unhappinesses. Despite a sort-of-happy ending, the dominant tone is discomfort (rather than the more innocent melancholy that we expect).
The writing is still as lovely as ever, though, and there are flashes of the same careless humour. Here's the arrival of a new character, Grandpa-Grumble:
"He was frightfully old and forgot things very easily. 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's lovely to be able to completely forget your own."
And, more in the general character of this particular offering:
"The Hemulen woke up slowly and recognised himself and wished he had been someone he didn't know."
I'm glad I read it, but I'd choose one of the others to start the kids off on.
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environment of the earlier stories. The Moomin family has left the valley, and lots of the odd hangers-on (The Hemulen, the Fillyjonk, Mymble, and so on) come to visit in the autumn. Only without the stabilising influence of Moominmama and Moominpapa, they all get on each others nerves and nothing quite goes the way it should do.What's particularly interesting is to see the characters growing up in subtle little ways. They're becoming less predictable and childlike, but this involves acquiring adult insecurities and unhappinesses. Despite a sort-of-happy ending, the dominant tone is discomfort (rather than the more innocent melancholy that we expect).
The writing is still as lovely as ever, though, and there are flashes of the same careless humour. Here's the arrival of a new character, Grandpa-Grumble:
"He was frightfully old and forgot things very easily. 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's lovely to be able to completely forget your own."
And, more in the general character of this particular offering:
"The Hemulen woke up slowly and recognised himself and wished he had been someone he didn't know."
I'm glad I read it, but I'd choose one of the others to start the kids off on.
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LibraryThing member pete_smith
A Moomin story with no Moomins? Well, not quite. The family is there, but as a hope, an aim and an absence.
A group fetches up at the Moominhouse, each hoping to find something from the family. The family not being there, they instead find themselves in an ad hoc family- one which is not entirely
Each of the characters seems self-directed and self-regarding, but through a series of negotiations and awkward situations, they manage to live together. They none of them meet the family, but this seems unimportant by the end.
This books is close in feel to the adult books Sort Of Books have issued recently. Not much happens, but you are still left with a sense of things being worked out.
It is interesting to reflect that this is the last Moomin book Jansson wrote, around the time of her mother's death. I don't know for sure that knowing this affected my reading of it, but I did find it much more reflective and serious than the other books, with perhaps the exception of Moominpappa at Sea
A group fetches up at the Moominhouse, each hoping to find something from the family. The family not being there, they instead find themselves in an ad hoc family- one which is not entirely
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harmonious.Each of the characters seems self-directed and self-regarding, but through a series of negotiations and awkward situations, they manage to live together. They none of them meet the family, but this seems unimportant by the end.
This books is close in feel to the adult books Sort Of Books have issued recently. Not much happens, but you are still left with a sense of things being worked out.
It is interesting to reflect that this is the last Moomin book Jansson wrote, around the time of her mother's death. I don't know for sure that knowing this affected my reading of it, but I did find it much more reflective and serious than the other books, with perhaps the exception of Moominpappa at Sea
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LibraryThing member jmattas
A good, surprising end to the Moomin stories. The Moomin family has left Moominvalley and other, all somehow awkward and difficult people, enter the scene. Not that much happens in this book. It's just a mixed bunch of people coming -- all pretty much on their own -- to terms with a new, at first
I tend to look for metaphores of childhood's end whenever I read the last part of a series of childrens' books. In this book it's very strong, with the Moomin family representing the good memories of childhood. By the way, I don't (I refuse to) believe that the Moomins actually returned to Moominvalley as they appear to do in the end of this book. I like to think it's just Toft's imagination, a reminder that one can return to one's childhood in one's memories.
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frightening situation, and dealing with change in their lives. Though Finnish November can be grey and depressing, the characters in this book all make it, one way or another.I tend to look for metaphores of childhood's end whenever I read the last part of a series of childrens' books. In this book it's very strong, with the Moomin family representing the good memories of childhood. By the way, I don't (I refuse to) believe that the Moomins actually returned to Moominvalley as they appear to do in the end of this book. I like to think it's just Toft's imagination, a reminder that one can return to one's childhood in one's memories.
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LibraryThing member karinnekarinne
Moominvalley in November was a charming read, full of a good fall atmosphere. I've heard about Jansson's stuff for years, but for whatever reason I never thought to look for Moomin books at the library -- and then I saw this one sitting there, cover out, in the YA section.
It took me a little while
Rabbit read this one too: I left it on the table and she saw it and read a chapter then declared it "weird." I said OKAY and didn't bother trying to dissuade her, and then two days later, after seeing me read it off and on, she decide she wanted to read it, after all.
It took me a little while
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to warm up to it, between the writing and the unfamiliar characters, but by the time I got to Fillyjonk I was hooked.Rabbit read this one too: I left it on the table and she saw it and read a chapter then declared it "weird." I said OKAY and didn't bother trying to dissuade her, and then two days later, after seeing me read it off and on, she decide she wanted to read it, after all.
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LibraryThing member bunwat
The Moominfamily have gone away. No one knows where they are. Several people come to their house hoping for one reason or another to find them and some of them stay for quite awhile, sleeping in their beds and forming an odd waiting society but eventually for one reason and another most of them go
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away again. A strange autumnal book full of a kind of satisfying emptiness that feels somehow Novemberish. Show Less
LibraryThing member jennyo
Another gentle story about the Moomins, except that this one didn't actually have the Moomins in it. It had a hemulen, a fillyjonk, Toft, Mymble, and Grandpa-Grumble, along with Snufkin, but no Moomins. Still, a sweet story and one my kids thoroughly enjoyed hearing at bedtime.
LibraryThing member Moem
I loved this book. It's strange and different amongst the Moomin books because of the absence of the actuall Moomin family, but, having read the other books, I knew where they were.
Janssons style is poetic and loving as always. Each character ends up getting what s/he really needs.
Janssons style is poetic and loving as always. Each character ends up getting what s/he really needs.
LibraryThing member greeniezona
I think this is the last of the Moomin novels that I hadn't read, and it was a bedtime story read aloud. It's a bit of an odd Moomin book as none of the Moomins are actually there, though they are often thought and spoken of by the other characters. It's the fall, and for various reasons, Hemulen,
Without the endlessly patient Moominmamma or the soft Moomintroll to buffer them, this book more than any other becomes about living in community with people who have wildly different personalities and preferences. A sweet book full of amusingly spiky characters.
A fitting end to a wonderful series.
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Fillyjonk, Toft, Mymble, Snufkin, and Grandpa Grumble have all descended on Moominvalley and take up an uneasy coexistence, waiting for the Moomins to return. Without the endlessly patient Moominmamma or the soft Moomintroll to buffer them, this book more than any other becomes about living in community with people who have wildly different personalities and preferences. A sweet book full of amusingly spiky characters.
A fitting end to a wonderful series.
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LibraryThing member adzebill
Such a deep, bittersweet tale for children and adults. Longing, loneliness, midlife crisis, breaking out of one's ruts and patterns, finding community with people unlike you. Reread this after the Backlisted episode, where they pointed out the bravery of writing a moomin book without moomins.
Subjects
Awards
Language
Original language
Swedish
Original publication date
1971 (Swedish)
1971 (English)
Physical description
160 p.; 5.08 inches
ISBN
014030715X / 9780140307153