Moominvalley in November (The Moomins, #9) in Around the World in 80 Books

Jun 25, 2022 Nina ( picturetalk321 ) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: z-read-gelesen-2022, author-woman, 4-star, europe-finland, genre-childrens, a-reviewed, re-read, author-white, publdate-1970s, transl-swedish

It's been decades since I last read this, the last of the moomin novels, written by Tove Jansson in 1970, the year of her mother's death and 25 years after the first moomin book of 1945. It is perhaps the most melancholy and philosophical of all the moomin books, and suffused with a subtle sadness that comes from the moomins having left their house and the valley (to live on a remote island, as told in the penultimate moomin book, Moominpappa at Sea) and from the group of non-moomin characters h It's been decades since I last read this, the last of the moomin novels, written by Tove Jansson in 1970, the year of her mother's death and 25 years after the first moomin book of 1945. It is perhaps the most melancholy and philosophical of all the moomin books, and suffused with a subtle sadness that comes from the moomins having left their house and the valley (to live on a remote island, as told in the penultimate moomin book, Moominpappa at Sea) and from the group of non-moomin characters having to fend for themselves, while all the while yearning for the moomins' return. Even after so many years, I instantly remembered the six characters, a motley crew of individuals, etched on my memory. Why are they so etched? They are barely described. But they live so vividly. Each one is allowed to be wholly themselves, grouchy or sad or anxious or fussy or rude or introvert. Loneliness is accepted. Snufkin makes his usual cryptic remarks but also, incredibly movingly, searches for his friend moomintroll's farewell letter. The hemulen and the filifyonka (called fillyjonk in this translation into English) gain insight into and embrace their natures. The mymla (translated as mymble) combs her beautiful hair and is allowed to be vain about it, without censure (here's side-eyeing you, C.S. Lewis, and your shameful treatment of Susan and her nylon stockings and lipstick in The Last Battle). And the odd little homsa Toft (the child Toft, in this English translation) haunts the story with his visions, fears and longings for a mamma (echoing Tove Jansson's grief at loss of her mother).

My heart swells, just thinking of these creatures and their world. The filifyonka inspired me to run around dusting and sweeping today. Here's why:

'It was wonderful to be cleaning again. She knew exactly where the dust had hidden itself; soft and grey and self-satisfied it had made itself comfortable in the corners; she searched out every single bit of fluff which had rolled itself into big fat balls full of hairs and thought it was safe, ha ha! moth larvae, spiders, centipeds, all kinds of creepy-crawlies were routed out by Fillyjonk's big broom, and lovely streams of hot water and soapy lather washed everything away, and it was by no means an inconsiderable amount of mess that went out of the door, bucketful after bucketful; it was really fun to be alive!' (p.167)

I have never read a better anthropomorphising of dust.

The translation: The translation by Kingsley Hart is serviceable, although I may somewhat prefer the German (German is linguistically closer to Swedish and able to pick up some of Jansson's idiosyncrasies better). Grandpa-Grumble does nothing for me, for example, while Onkel-Schrompel is evocative and closer to the Swedish Onkelskruttet).

Format: I read the no-nonsense classic Puffin paperback. The Puffin paperbacks have improved in quality since the 1970s. The illustrations no longer bleed, and the typeface has lost that xeroxed quality. The illustrations by Tove Jansson are their wonderful self. It is so delightful to be reading books with illustrations! The font size is nice and big; the font is credited as Sabon LT Std. Wikipedia tells me that "Sabon is an old-style serif typeface designed by ... typographer and designer Jan Tschichold in ... 1964–1967" and that it was "commissioned by a coalition of German printers to create a typeface that could be printed identically on Linotype, Monotype or letterpress equipment, simplifying the process of planning lines and pagination when printing a book." It certainly reads like a classic typeface, with little interference from flourishes or spikes. Full stops are fat and round. The tail of the g is a stupy horizontal line. The tail of the y sweeps down and ends in a little blob.

And now I want to read up on Linotype, Monotype and letterpresses. ETA: The rabbit hole brought me to the German wikipedia of Sabon which informs me that the Sabon typefaces are a variaton of the Garamond typefaces, with a clearer and more legible type. Sabon is a French Renaissance-Antiqua typeface. (Who knew, huh.) I shall look out for this font in other print books.
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Nov 03, 2012 Nikoleta rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Беше ми много странно да чета тази книга, защото ми бе дадена от човек, който много я харесва, и това пренесе известна доза очаквания и на мен. Затова четях внимателно, на места даже препрочитах, постоянно забравяйки кой герой кой беше и връщайки се назад. Най-много харесах Филифьонката, още в третата глава ме спечели с манията си по чистенето и с дългия си нос, който й пречеше да стигне до прозореца. :) Въобще много неща ми се видяха смешни, а после общото чувство някак стана по-скоро тъжно. Съ ...more

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