Reviews

Pappan och havet by Tove Jansson

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sydsnot71's review against another edition

5.0

First of all, this is an adult book. It might look like a children's book and you could read it as a children's book but it is, I think, a book about change, adjusting to change, and accepting each other and events.

It is beautifully written. Jansson manages to intertwine a lot of different threads and tones without ever letting it escape her. At some points, it is genuinely creepy and at others funny. But there's an air of melancholy about it until virtually the end.

The characters deal with their move from Moomin Valley to Lighthouse Island in their own different ways. Initially, it looks like this is Moominpappa having a mid-life crisis, and perhaps he is. But as they settle down on the island each of them Moominpappa, Moominmamma, and Moomintroll has to adjust to their new home, which doesn't feel like a home. Each of them deals with it in different ways. The only character that never really changes is Little My, and she seems disappointed when things turn out...OK.

There's also the story of the fisherman and The Groke. Both of whom are also changed by the Moomin's coming to the island. The Groke is a fantastic creation and its story here is wonderfully told. She brings cold wherever she goes, but no one knows why she ended up how she did, although Moominmamma has a theory:

"It was probably because no one did anything at all. Nobody bothered about her, I mean." (26)

I can't recommend this book highly enough. If you have kids read it too them, but read it if you don't. This might, just might, have been the book I needed in December 2020 as I contemplate Christmas in my bedroom.