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Moominpappa at Sea (The Moomins #8)
by
Tove Jansson
"Leave" Moominvalley? Is it possible? Yes, even the Moomin family need a change of scenery sometimes, so they're off to live in a lighthouse on a tiny island. Here they find space to grow, and to do things they couldn't in their comfortable, cluttered valley home. As they discover their new home, the family also discover surprising, and wonderfully funny, new things about...more
Paperback, 208 pages
Published
June 1st 2009
by Puffin Books
(first published 1965)
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Muumipappa ja meri oli ensimmäinen muumikirja, johon olen koskenut ja ehkä se siksi on mielestäni kaikkein vaikuttavin. Kirjassa muumipappa on kriisissä ja hän päättää muuttaa perheineen pieneen saareen, majakkaan.
Saari on karu ja kylmä. Onnettumuudestaan huolimatta saarella tapahtuu erilaisia astioita, ihmeellisiä asioita. Mielestäni saaren karu olemus on koko kirjan juju. Se on omalla tavallaan kiehtovan kaunis jo sellaisenaan, mutta kaikki sen salaisuudet nostavat saaren arvoa pienen ötökän...more
Saari on karu ja kylmä. Onnettumuudestaan huolimatta saarella tapahtuu erilaisia astioita, ihmeellisiä asioita. Mielestäni saaren karu olemus on koko kirjan juju. Se on omalla tavallaan kiehtovan kaunis jo sellaisenaan, mutta kaikki sen salaisuudet nostavat saaren arvoa pienen ötökän...more
*(favorite character- the groke)*
moominpappa, in a truly male chauvanist way, is having a crisis because he is not feeling like strong male. so he gathers up his family and makes them move out to the sea to fulfill his own dreams of the sea. moominpappa's crisis is very real to him, and many other males, and who hasn't pulled up their roots or stifled a wish to please good ole dad. there are some real nice moments with nature and the sea for all characters involved. for all groke fans there's be...more
moominpappa, in a truly male chauvanist way, is having a crisis because he is not feeling like strong male. so he gathers up his family and makes them move out to the sea to fulfill his own dreams of the sea. moominpappa's crisis is very real to him, and many other males, and who hasn't pulled up their roots or stifled a wish to please good ole dad. there are some real nice moments with nature and the sea for all characters involved. for all groke fans there's be...more
Over the decades I have had a few passing glances with the work of Tove Jansson, But this is the first opportunity I have taken to delve into one of her books. The fact that I randomly ended up starting with book number seven in her Moomin series may have not provided the best introduction to her characters, but I was still intrigued by the dynamics of their relationships.
In this volume, the Moomin Family leaves their beloved Moomin Valley to man a lighthouse on a small remote island. The irony...more
In this volume, the Moomin Family leaves their beloved Moomin Valley to man a lighthouse on a small remote island. The irony...more
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...more
Muumipappa ja meri on ensimmäinen lukemani Muumi-kirja ja myös yksi kirjoista, joita luen yhä uudestaan.
Kirja alkaa isästä, joka tuntee itsensä tarpeettomaksi, kaikki työt on tehty tai sitten joku toinen on jo siinä touhussa. Niinpä Muumipappa päättää viedä perheensä pienelle, yksinäiselle ja kaukaiselle saarelle. Vain siellä hän voisi olla perheensä oikea pää ja suojelija. Hänellä olisi myös toinen tehtävä: toimia majakanvartijana ja oppia ymmärtämään merta.
Tarina on hellyyttävä kertomus merest...more
Kirja alkaa isästä, joka tuntee itsensä tarpeettomaksi, kaikki työt on tehty tai sitten joku toinen on jo siinä touhussa. Niinpä Muumipappa päättää viedä perheensä pienelle, yksinäiselle ja kaukaiselle saarelle. Vain siellä hän voisi olla perheensä oikea pää ja suojelija. Hänellä olisi myös toinen tehtävä: toimia majakanvartijana ja oppia ymmärtämään merta.
Tarina on hellyyttävä kertomus merest...more
In the beginning of the story Moominpappa decides to move his entire family to an island far out at sea so that he can take care of them and protect them. It seems Moominpappa is not feeling very useful and necessary so he creates this adventure for his family. One of the more striking quotes from the book comes from Moominmamma just as the family is about to set off and leave behind their cozy home. “It’s strange,’ Moominmamma thought. ‘Strange that people can be sad, and even angry because lif...more
i once had a fight over this book - some asshole laughed cos i called it chekovian ... its beautiful and if it doesnt make you cry YOU HAVE NO SOUL! I have lived my life never learning the lesson of the sea horses. Actually, I am beginning to learn it now ... but then again I am very old.
A great book for kids of a certain type, especially if they read the Moomin books in order of published dates. The reason I say by publication order is that children will appreciate the growing solemnity of the books as they grow older. I recommend this book for a child of say nine or ten.
Among the topics covered are friendship (and the snobbiness of the cool crowd); homesickness; and the realization that parents are not omnipotent but capable of insecurity and mistakes as well.
This is a especi...more
Among the topics covered are friendship (and the snobbiness of the cool crowd); homesickness; and the realization that parents are not omnipotent but capable of insecurity and mistakes as well.
This is a especi...more
Another wonderful installment in the Moomin series. But this book is even less of a children's book, than Moominland Midwinter. While the previous book mingled dark with light, this book has very few light moments. For someone seeing the Moomins for the first time, it might seem strange to imagine a dark and sad book about these cute round creatures, but this one definitely is. And the darkness does not even stem from any disasters, but from the journey of self-discovery of the characters as the...more
I loved the Moomin cartoons when I was little, and I was very excited when I got a free Moomin key-ring at the Bologna Book Fair in 2007. But I had never actually read the books before!
I bought this one quite randomly - it's the eight in the series - because for some reason the Kindle edition was only 30p! Apparently the Moomin books get gradually more grown-up and philosophical, and being such a late book, this was certainly quite dark and broody.
I missed some of the familiar characters and fou...more
I bought this one quite randomly - it's the eight in the series - because for some reason the Kindle edition was only 30p! Apparently the Moomin books get gradually more grown-up and philosophical, and being such a late book, this was certainly quite dark and broody.
I missed some of the familiar characters and fou...more
I would give most of the books in this series 4 or even 5 stars. I actually really liked this book, but it gets 3 stars because it's less appropriate for kids. Earlier entries in the Moomin family series are considerably more whimsical and lighthearted. The tone of this entry is fairly melancholy. The Moomins have left Moomin Valley for a distant, isolated island. The Moomin family, usually a fun-loving crew, feels sad and lonely for much of the book.
Like the Harry Potter series, Jansson's Moom...more
Like the Harry Potter series, Jansson's Moom...more
Summary: The Moomin Family leave their cottage to go live in an abandoned light-house on a mysterious craggy & rocky island in the middle of the ocean 'at the end of the world'. Many mysterious and fantastical adventures and creatures await them.
Tove Jansson's Moomin stories appeal just as much to adults as they do kids. Funny, fantastical, trippy and existential, the Moomintroll books probably appeal even more to adults than kids due to their odd and deep nature. Moominpappa at Sea is yet a...more
Tove Jansson's Moomin stories appeal just as much to adults as they do kids. Funny, fantastical, trippy and existential, the Moomintroll books probably appeal even more to adults than kids due to their odd and deep nature. Moominpappa at Sea is yet a...more
What do I say about this book? I'm not sure I understood a lot of it. Who, for example, is Little My and how did she get into Moominpappa's family? What exactly are Moominpappa and Moominmamma? Not that any of these questions really matter. I loved the book even though I didn't completely get it. I like books I don't quite get. I like the characters and I liked the author's penchant for slight digression into philosophical thoughts here and there. I've never seen anything about this series, and...more
It's a great book about masculinity and identity. The whole family moves to a remote island when Moomin father can't reconcile his identity with living in a peaceful valley. Instead he longs to be the sole breadwinner of the family and to take care of them. Moomin struggles with loneliness and meet someone who's more alone than anyone. Moomin mother struggles with being away from her garden which is intertwined with her perception of herself.
It's a very strong book with a lot of layers, especia...more
It's a very strong book with a lot of layers, especia...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
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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 bo...more
I don't think that I would have liked this Moomin book as well as Finn Family Moomintroll, however this book was the ideal read for the circumstances I have found myself in. Moominpappa=Jordan. I found some great quotes in this book, among them:
p 82: "Isn't life exciting!" Moomintroll thought. "Everything can change all of a sudden, and for no reason at all!"
p 124: And she didn't want to do the jigsaw puzzle because it reminded her that she was so much alone.
p 128: Moominpappa didn't answer. He...more
p 82: "Isn't life exciting!" Moomintroll thought. "Everything can change all of a sudden, and for no reason at all!"
p 124: And she didn't want to do the jigsaw puzzle because it reminded her that she was so much alone.
p 128: Moominpappa didn't answer. He...more
Dec 29, 2011
Eileen
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommended to Eileen by:
Book Group
Moominpappa at Mid-Life Crisis?
I met Tove Jansson’s Moomin family recently thanks to a Finnish member of my book group who (of course) grew up with them. Jansson wrote many books about the Moomins. In this episode, Moominpappa decides to move his family (Moominmamma, their son, Moomintroll, and their impish adopted daughter, My) to a small island that is quite different from their beloved Moominvalley. Moominmamma misses her independence and her garden. Moomintroll misses the comforting routine...more
I met Tove Jansson’s Moomin family recently thanks to a Finnish member of my book group who (of course) grew up with them. Jansson wrote many books about the Moomins. In this episode, Moominpappa decides to move his family (Moominmamma, their son, Moomintroll, and their impish adopted daughter, My) to a small island that is quite different from their beloved Moominvalley. Moominmamma misses her independence and her garden. Moomintroll misses the comforting routine...more
"-никога не съм направил нищо лошо...
-да, но не си направил и добро...- каза таткото и със силата на гнева издърпа съвсем сам лодката.
...
-има нещо в теб, което не е както трябва- каза си татко мумин.- ти не си никакъв човек, ти си като някакво растение или сянка. сякаш никога не си се раждал."
"страхът е опасен, може изведнъж да изригне, да се хвърли на земята или да заудря около себе си. а кой ще опази малките същества, които се случат наблизо?"
-да, но не си направил и добро...- каза таткото и със силата на гнева издърпа съвсем сам лодката.
...
-има нещо в теб, което не е както трябва- каза си татко мумин.- ти не си никакъв човек, ти си като някакво растение или сянка. сякаш никога не си се раждал."
"страхът е опасен, може изведнъж да изригне, да се хвърли на земята или да заудря около себе си. а кой ще опази малките същества, които се случат наблизо?"
Jan 22, 2012
Judith Lewis
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Everyone, but especially where some sort of mid-life crisis in involved!
Shelves:
favorites
Have read this several times. Sensitive, poignant account of what it is like to have a mid-life crisis, or to live with someone going through one. Each of the characters discovers more about him or herself, the strength of long-standing relationships is affirmed and it all comes good in the end. The best of all the Moomin books. Both slightly disquieting and oddly reassuring.
Tove Jansson went from the childish and amusing poetry to a dark, mysterious world. Suspense, thrill, almost anxiety. Moomintroll and his family behave oddly but Little My is incrediblely clever, and the Groke is not the stranger she always was...
Finally, this book has left me fascinated by the emotions it creates, as if Tove Jansson was able to show parts of ourselves that we have never been exploring before.
A fantastic experience, far, far away in the sea...
Finally, this book has left me fascinated by the emotions it creates, as if Tove Jansson was able to show parts of ourselves that we have never been exploring before.
A fantastic experience, far, far away in the sea...
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 m...more
While this was not my favorite of the Moomin books I've read so far, it did have some wonderful elements, particularly some magical realism. Of course, the books are always a bit imaginative and full of magical and inventive characters, yet this one takes it to a new level. In this volume Moominpappa goes through a bit of a mid-life crisis and is determined to regain some control in his household by moving his family from Moominvalley in order to become a lighthouse keeper on a small island in t...more
A surreal, very much older story about a mid-life crisis for Moominpappa -- and how his family copes and helps him with it. Very atmospheric and so adult. It's easy to see that this one was written later; the whimsy has been replaced with a philosophical bent and a true sympathy for the outcast and the unhappy.
Haunting. I read this in Swedish and the translator did a fantastic job. If you read the Moomin series from the first to the last, you sense the books growing from just being childrens books to journeys into the soul, rather like The Little Prince. I get very melancholy when I read these books.
Прекрасна книга с изящен език- от една страна, много съкровен, от друга- режещ и точен. Прочетена за един час в близост до морето- чудесно преживяване!
What a strangely melancholy book. While it still contained many of the things I love in a moomin book (sweet illustrations, tasty sounding descriptions of food, fun use of language, general quirk), it was just a little too sad/down for me.
This one definitely had a feel more similar to the Midwinter book -- protracted periods in which the plot moves little and the characters stew in various states of restlessness or unhappiness, while various character actions make little sense whatsoever. Even so, though, the writing really does transport you on this little ocean adventure--you can practically smell the sea--to live in the lighthouse and my son still loved it.
So, finally Moominpappa got to reminisce his younger days! Full-throttle fantasy that we rarely get.
And we got to know the parents of Snufkin, Little My, and Sniff. SURPRISING! (Insert laughter)
And we got to know the parents of Snufkin, Little My, and Sniff. SURPRISING! (Insert laughter)
I love this book. It's quite dark, and examines some very adult ideas - mid-life crisis, solitude vs community, depression - but is never less than charming and engrossing.
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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...more
More about Tove Jansson...
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...more
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“Making a journey by night is more wonderful than anything in the world.”
—
19 people liked it
“Everything's much too big here,' thought Moominmamma. 'Or perhaps I'm too small.”
—
9 people liked it
More quotes…
Oct 25, 2007 09:34am