Book Review: "Finn Family Moomintroll" by Tove Jansson (1948)
Finn Family Moomintroll by Tove Jansson (1948)
“He had slept a hundred nights and a hundred days, and his dreams still thronged about his head trying to coax him back to sleep.” - Chapter 1
Overall: 9/10 Whimsy & Charm
Summary: The Moomintroll family finds a magical hat one spring day which leads to mischief and adventure.
Non-Spoiler Review: If ‘Comet in Moominland’ was analogous to ‘The Hobbit’ then ‘Finn Family Moomintroll’ comfortably rubs shoulders with E. Nesbit’s ‘Five Children & It’ or ‘The Enchanted Castle.’ While ‘Comet’ banked on a strong journey narrative coupled with mounting dread, ‘Finn Family’ is much more a low-key series of connected misadventures with magic. They’re both great books, but very different. FFM continues with Jansson’s trademark wry wisdom, but injects more whimsy than wonder in this outing. Ofttimes Jansson will build up a scene and then purposely defuse it in an interesting scene. It’s this sort of push-pull tension that keeps the book from being too twee.
Characters: The old favorites are back and while they haven’t really changed in essentials they’re still quite delightful. Snufkin the Wanderer and the fastidious Snork are my favorites, but no one but the Hemulen is genuinely irritating which is fine because the Hemulen is used wonderfully as a satiric foil. The newest additions to the cast are Thingumy and Bob, childish twins who could double as muppets, the fabled Hobgoblin who is talked about but not shown until the end chapter, and then there’s the Groke who appears exactly twice and is terrifying despite her goofy illustration.
Then - they saw the Groke. Everybody saw her. She sat motionless on the sandy path t the bottom of the steps and stared at them with round, expressionless eyes.
She was not particularly big and didn’t look dangerous either, but you felt that she was terribly evil and would wait for ever. And that was awful.
Queer Quotient: Snufkin is a wandering bi angel and Snork is a snobby library gay, but that’s probably just me. The Hemulen wears a dress that belonged to his aunt because all Hemulens wear dresses (though he does come off as one’s persnickety confirmed bachelor neighbor so take that as you will). ETA:
scripsi reminded me Thingumy and Bob are not twins, but were named based on Jansson and one of her girlfriends in the original Swedish. The book does indeed refer to them as a 'couple' so we have a canon queer couple!
Good For: Fans of magical slice of life stories, fans of Nesbit, Baum, and other children’s magical realism stories.
Not Good For: Folks who prefer a linear plot.
Availability: In-print and in e-book form in English translation from Kindle, B&N, and other retailers.
Adaptations: Everything from an audio book to a ballet.
Other Notes: The more I read of Jansson the more I feel she was a snarky badass that would've been a hoot to have known in person.
“He had slept a hundred nights and a hundred days, and his dreams still thronged about his head trying to coax him back to sleep.” - Chapter 1
Overall: 9/10 Whimsy & Charm
Summary: The Moomintroll family finds a magical hat one spring day which leads to mischief and adventure.
Non-Spoiler Review: If ‘Comet in Moominland’ was analogous to ‘The Hobbit’ then ‘Finn Family Moomintroll’ comfortably rubs shoulders with E. Nesbit’s ‘Five Children & It’ or ‘The Enchanted Castle.’ While ‘Comet’ banked on a strong journey narrative coupled with mounting dread, ‘Finn Family’ is much more a low-key series of connected misadventures with magic. They’re both great books, but very different. FFM continues with Jansson’s trademark wry wisdom, but injects more whimsy than wonder in this outing. Ofttimes Jansson will build up a scene and then purposely defuse it in an interesting scene. It’s this sort of push-pull tension that keeps the book from being too twee.
Characters: The old favorites are back and while they haven’t really changed in essentials they’re still quite delightful. Snufkin the Wanderer and the fastidious Snork are my favorites, but no one but the Hemulen is genuinely irritating which is fine because the Hemulen is used wonderfully as a satiric foil. The newest additions to the cast are Thingumy and Bob, childish twins who could double as muppets, the fabled Hobgoblin who is talked about but not shown until the end chapter, and then there’s the Groke who appears exactly twice and is terrifying despite her goofy illustration.
Then - they saw the Groke. Everybody saw her. She sat motionless on the sandy path t the bottom of the steps and stared at them with round, expressionless eyes.
She was not particularly big and didn’t look dangerous either, but you felt that she was terribly evil and would wait for ever. And that was awful.
Queer Quotient: Snufkin is a wandering bi angel and Snork is a snobby library gay, but that’s probably just me. The Hemulen wears a dress that belonged to his aunt because all Hemulens wear dresses (though he does come off as one’s persnickety confirmed bachelor neighbor so take that as you will). ETA:
scripsi reminded me Thingumy and Bob are not twins, but were named based on Jansson and one of her girlfriends in the original Swedish. The book does indeed refer to them as a 'couple' so we have a canon queer couple!
Good For: Fans of magical slice of life stories, fans of Nesbit, Baum, and other children’s magical realism stories.
Not Good For: Folks who prefer a linear plot.
Availability: In-print and in e-book form in English translation from Kindle, B&N, and other retailers.
Adaptations: Everything from an audio book to a ballet.
Other Notes: The more I read of Jansson the more I feel she was a snarky badass that would've been a hoot to have known in person.