Scan barcode
dostojevskijs's review against another edition
3.0
Det var en spännande, lite märklig läsning som gav mig en helt ny syn på Tove.. möjligtvis för att det är en bok som erbjuder en helt ny insyn till att börja med.
kikiandarrowsfishshelf's review
4.0
This collection of letters from Tove Jansson covers the years when she studied in Sweden to the late 1980s. It includes letters to her family, friends, and lovers. If you like the Moomins there are some wonderful tidbits about the books in here, in particular when she is writing about crafting them. (Also Little My was put on feminine sanitary items).
What is perhaps more heartening is reading how a person becomes a person, and Janson's discovery of what her sexuality is. Feminists will also find the letter where Janson struggles to think over her relationship with a fellow artist during the Second World War - in particular why he thinks he is allowed the excuse of urges and women are not, to be particularly insightful.
The collection is sectioned off by correspondent, which makes sense in part, but also, if one reads it straight though, leave a very disjointed feeling. For instance, early in the collection, one reads about Jansson's brother Lars' getting a divorced and he and Sophia moving in with Ham (Janson's mother). At that point, it was unclear that Lars was married and who exactly Sophia was. It is only over 100 pages letter that there is a note about Lars' wife Nita and daughter Sophia. This note should have come earlier, and it was distracting to line that letter up in the time sequence with the letter about the divorce. Quite frankly, while a good amount of information is given on the correspondents and Jansson's parents, there is little about her brothers in the notes and introductory sections. Including more information about the brothers would have helped.
What is perhaps more heartening is reading how a person becomes a person, and Janson's discovery of what her sexuality is. Feminists will also find the letter where Janson struggles to think over her relationship with a fellow artist during the Second World War - in particular why he thinks he is allowed the excuse of urges and women are not, to be particularly insightful.
The collection is sectioned off by correspondent, which makes sense in part, but also, if one reads it straight though, leave a very disjointed feeling. For instance, early in the collection, one reads about Jansson's brother Lars' getting a divorced and he and Sophia moving in with Ham (Janson's mother). At that point, it was unclear that Lars was married and who exactly Sophia was. It is only over 100 pages letter that there is a note about Lars' wife Nita and daughter Sophia. This note should have come earlier, and it was distracting to line that letter up in the time sequence with the letter about the divorce. Quite frankly, while a good amount of information is given on the correspondents and Jansson's parents, there is little about her brothers in the notes and introductory sections. Including more information about the brothers would have helped.
ggcube1012's review
5.0
Thank you to this book for letting me feel so close to my idol
Interestingly, this collection of letters is not only filled with Tove’s beautiful adventures and thoughts, fully transforming her from author to fully fleshed out person and filling in the details that her novels left absent, but it also allows you to get to know the people at the other end of her pen, as if they are really there listening and speaking back to her. I feel bereft upon finishing it and wish I could stay inside her world and mind forever.
Interestingly, this collection of letters is not only filled with Tove’s beautiful adventures and thoughts, fully transforming her from author to fully fleshed out person and filling in the details that her novels left absent, but it also allows you to get to know the people at the other end of her pen, as if they are really there listening and speaking back to her. I feel bereft upon finishing it and wish I could stay inside her world and mind forever.
lotustoo's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
lighthearted
slow-paced
4.25
So happy to have been enabled to read this collection of letters by Finnish artist Tove Jansson - famed artist and creator of the Moomins. Translated from the Swedish by Sarah Death, and Edited by Boel Westin and Helen Svensson, these letters give a fascinating insight into Jansson's life and loves and make enjoyable lockdown reading. However I did feel that using the letters as the basis of a biography might have given more insight to things that were happening beyond the immediate concerns of the artist's studio and Tove's friendships. Two world wars barely seem to intervene. I don't suppose people wanted to write about them much (!) but the context is important from the point of view of history.
More...