July 27, 2001

12:01 PM

rest in peace, tove jansson...creator of the moomins. thanks for making childhood a fantastic place to be.
posted by patricking (9 comments total)

Never heard of it. This could explain my less then fantastic childhood. Thanks.
posted by stbalbach at 12:15 PM on July 27, 2001

oh poop, so much for little my
posted by cheesebot at 12:32 PM on July 27, 2001

I am so bummed. Tove Jansson was the first author I ever wrote to, which was part of a fourth grade book report project. I had to turn in my book report and author biography with out a return letter from the author. I did get kudos as my letter arrived back from the publisher two days later with an enclosed note from Tove Jansson, which contained some words in Finnish.

The Exploits of the Moominpappa was my first real book (more than 20 pages and more words than pictures). It was a wonderful read and a great book to be passed down.
posted by vanderwal at 12:50 PM on July 27, 2001

I loved these! They were hallucinatory literature for the pre-teen set. Unforgettable fantasy imagery.

(Maybe you have to be Scandinavian to get it.)
posted by dhartung at 1:28 PM on July 27, 2001

not at all! this stuff, along with medeleine l'engle kept me going all the way through elementary school. no wonder i was a moody little shit.
posted by patricking at 1:54 PM on July 27, 2001

The Moomin books were astonishing works of children's fiction. As a child growing up in Scotland and Canada, they resonated deeply for me as whimsical, gentle, funny and exciting. When I heard last week that Tove had passed away, I forwarded the obituary to my dad, who was as disappointed as me.

The Joxter is crying with Snufkin.

I would highly encourage any MeFites with an interest in excellent fantasy fiction for child and adult alike, to pick up a Moomin book. It puts Harry Potter to shame.
posted by Marquis at 1:54 PM on July 27, 2001

My favorite part of the the series was when the MoominTrolls put eggshells into a magic hat (the Hobgoblin's, if I remember right). Then the eggshells turned into little bitty clouds that the Moomins could use to float around on above the treetops! Ahhh! How wonderful. :-) Such imagination and creativity by Tove Jansson. :-)
posted by rlef98 at 2:19 PM on July 27, 2001

Jansson designed my idea of a perfect book - an insane party - and I remember sitting up in the summer reading Exploits... and giggling my head off when I was a child.

The really extraordinary thing about the Moomin books is how dark they get towards the end - Moominpappa at Sea shows the nuclear Moomin family going quietly mad on an island in the Gulf of Finland, Moominpappa becomes obsessed with the lighthouse, Moominmamma merges into the wallpaper, Moomintroll falls in love with the Groke, Little My is... well... Little My.

I'd love to be able too read the first book (no English translation, which is why the beginning of Comet is dfifficult too understand, since it makes a lot of references to the first book).

Guardian obit here. I never realised she was gay (why should I?). Too-ticky was based on her partner. I suppose like most of us she was a Moomintroll who wanted to be Snufkin.

Or perhaps she was Little My.


And read The Summer Book, if you can find it. A wonderful, very Finnish, short novel about a small girl and her grandmother.
posted by Grangousier at 2:56 PM on July 27, 2001

I have just read another article in the Guardian which covers the same ground as the obit, but still, have determined to read all the books again.
posted by Grangousier at 3:04 PM on July 27, 2001