Moominvalley in November (Moomins Fiction)

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The characters are all making an effort to try new things or be better versions of themselves, they try to identify the ruts they have become stuck in and do something to change.

dziecięca wersja "Czekając na Godota" - tylko czekając na Muminki - albo "Sześciu postaci w poszukiwaniu autora" - tylko cztery postaci poboczne szukają Muminków. Moominvalley in November has a unique touch of sweet meloncholy, when you read it, you feel like missing a place you've never been. Hemulis net pradeda meistrauti namelį medyje muminukų Tėčiui, kurį, kaip ir Mamą, vis prisimena ir mini gražiuoju.Some of the more sad and wistful passages seem particularly meant for older readers, though there is no reason why children cannot identify with them as well.

I do think that the absence of the center family, Moomins, creates a brilliant atmosphere and I love how lonely the whole book is. Visa šeimyna kažkur iškeliavo, bet prisiminimai apie ją atvilioja į slėnį homsiuką Toftą, Filifjonką, Hemulį, mažosios Miu seserį Miumlą, dėdžių Skrutą ir Snusmumriką, kuris planavo iškeliauti (visada iškeliauja artėjant žiemai), bet lieka dar kelioms dienoms, savaitėms. Perhaps the most fun aspect of the book is Jansson’s original black and white line drawings of her peculiarly loveable creations. Ir dabar jau galiu pasakyti (nors anksčiau irgi sakydavau, bet šįkart dar tvirčiau), kad ir kodėl Tove Jansson yra mano mėgstamiausia rašytoja, kūrusi vaikams. At the centre of Jansson’s Moomin books stands the Moominhouse, the bustling hub of a loose-knit community of strange creatures: adopted family members, fleeting visitors, wandering philosophers and troublesome hangers-on.Moominvalley in November has been described as being closer to Waiting to Godot than the sunny fantasy world of Moominsummer Madness.

So indeed, if you as a reader (and like I most definitely do) already think that the penultimate of Tove Jansson’s Moomin novels, that you consider Moominpappa at Sea to be rather annoyingly depressing, then the final novel of the series, then Jansson’s 1970 Sent i november ( Moominvalley in November) where the Moomins friends and acquaintances all travel to Moominvalley for a visit only to find the house deserted and Moomintroll and his parents gone, could easily and likely feel even more so. Following this work, Jansson later stated that she "couldn't go back and find that happy Moominvalley again" and so decided to stop writing the Moomin books. In this one, the Moomins are gone (away at the lighthouse), and everyone who shows up at their door for help instead has to figure out what to do about their own problems. I am glad I read this final book eventually but will probably not revisit and prefer to think of the Moomins continuing their lives happily in Moominvalley.

Since Farrar, Straus and Giroux began reissuing the books in 1989, grateful readers old and new have been thrilled to have the stories available again.

I worried the book would end with rather nihilistic pessimism – Toft staring out at a bleak sea – but in fact there is a glimmer of hope: Toft spies the Moomins’ boat approaching and runs to meet them. After becoming terrified that there are insects in the house, Fillyjonk locks herself in the kitchen and, in an attempt to be more like Moominmamma and therefore liked by the others, cooks for them and tries to look after the motherless Toft, [8] who is enlisted by the Hemulen into helping build a treehouse for Moominpappa, whom he is increasingly admiring.

The tone of this is not unlike WAITING FOR GODOT or ROSENCRANTZ AND GUILDERSTREN ARE DEAD -- it's about the people who aren't part of the mian story, about an adventure that's not quite there. Apsurdne situacije i egzistencijalističke teme (gubitak, besmisao, irealni strahovi, zaborav, starost, stvaralaštvo, samoća, izolovanost) i motiv čekanja navode negde da se „Novembar u Dolini Mumijevih” posmatra kao neka vrsta „Čekajući Godoa” za decu. Grandpa-Grumble gets a stomach ache and refuses to take his medicines till the others throw him and the Ancestor a party. However, the Ancestor does not appear, as Grandpa-Grumble had mistaken his own reflection in a mirror upstairs for the Ancestor, to whom he makes everyone give a toast. In the previous book, the patriarch has a midlife crisis and moves the family out to a deserted island to allow himself to feel useful again.