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rebeccaloosli's review against another edition
challenging
dark
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Beautifully intimate stories that get at the core of human nature. Gorgeous scenes and distinct characters. There is a dark wit behind these stories as Jansson recognizes how absurd it is to be human. This is my second Jansson since reading The Summer Book and I was enamored again with her writing. I look forward to reading more of her work.
mooberryink's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
ceallaighsbooks's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
“…so I ran to Uncle Einar again and shouted, “So what did you do? What did you do the first time you had your own money?” He said, “It was burning a hole in my pocket. I had to get rid of it, as quickly as possible. I had to buy the most important thing I could think of.” And he went out and bought a dreadfully tiny bottle of attar of roses. I think he did exactly the right thing. Some people say Uncle Einar is a snob, and I sincerely hope I can develop along the same lines.” — from “My Beloved Uncles”
TITLE—The Woman Who Borrowed Memories
AUTHOR—Tove Jansson
PUBLISHED—this edition, 2014 (stories & various translations published since 1971)
PUBLISHER—New York Review Books (USA)
GENRE—literary fiction; short stories
SETTING—Finland, Scandinavia, continental Europe, & various other places
MAIN THEMES/SUBJECTS—art, isolation, darkness & light, life, philosophy, storms, neurodivergency, family & friendship, work & worth as an artist, the morbid and the macabre, nuclear apocalypse & the Cold War, Nature, travel
WRITING STYLE—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
CHARACTERS—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
STORY/PLOT—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
BONUS ELEMENT/S—Loved all the really really subtle neurodivergent vibes in a lot of these stories! Great philosophical meanderings too!
PHILOSOPHY—⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
“What is night? Sleeping till the next day; trying to sleep away your tiredness so you can face what you don’t want to face; hiding yourself in a cautious little death for which you’re not to blame—for hours that seem like seconds when you wake up… And dreams, what are they? They dig up your fear and display it, enlarged by cruelty. There is no rest, there is no comfort!” — from “The Storm”
I loved this collection of dark and beautifully written short stories by one of my favorite authors. Each one was so different and yet the same philosophy weaves its way through them all, connecting them in theme and style and feeling.
There were none that fell short for me though a few of them were a bit more upsetting than others. 😅 A few of my favorites were: “Black-White”, “The Storm”, “The Cartoonist”, “White Lady”, “The Doll’s House”, “The Summer Child”, “A Foreign City”, “Traveling Light”, and “Correspondence” (probably my favorite).
I would recommend this book to readers who are fans of Shirley Jackson, Zora Neale Hurston, and other authors who blend a beautiful, literary style of writing with themes exploring the darkness and disturbing inclinations inherent in human nature.
Final thoughts: I read this slowly over the course of a year-plus and will probably reread it that way, many times in the future, as well. 🥰
“P.S. Living honorably, I mean with dignity—Samuli said once that the whole secret is to live with some kind of dignity. I didn’t understand. Now I think he meant something about standing behind your idea, your purpose, leaning on it and believing in it and never yielding. Never abandon your guiding principle, he said, that’s the only thing that’s really dangerous. Never go against your true nature.” — from “Letters to Konikova”
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
TW // animal cruelty, animal death (Please feel free to DM me for more specifics!)
Further Reading—
- everything else by Tove Jansson
- DARK TALES, by Shirley Jackson
- HITTING A STRAIGHT LICK WITH A CROOKED STICK, by Zora Neale Hurston
- Virginia Woolf
- and also, bear with me 😅, I felt a little F. Scott Fitzgerald coming through at times—that sort of dark, self-deprecating whimsy
shawn_brommer's review against another edition
5.0
Black-White: Homage to Edward Gorey - mercy, this is why I love short stories.
deanjean_reads's review against another edition
5.0
All her short stories are more or less actually complete novels. I find it amazing that she packs so much in a few pages. I found it hard to understand initially but the sentence that ultimately endeared me to her work unfolded on page 44 in The Squirrel - "She didn't care about a dog anymore. Dogs are dangerous, they react to everything immediately, they're distinctly sympathetic animals. A squirrel was better." It's difficult to describe the magic but this sentence could explain how and why solitude figures so much in her short stories, and why her characters seem to constantly waver between unbridled sympathy born from genuine understanding, and the desire to distance oneself as a result of that understanding, and also how one distances in order to better understand themselves. Of course she livens everything up with a humour that twists and turns, appearing at places that you don't expect, which is what makes her stories so enjoyable.
oceliastanley's review against another edition
4.5
so good! my favorites were the listener, black-white (edward gorey <3), the squirrel, and the woman who borrowed memories
zahiyyih's review against another edition
It's a beautiful collection by a writer that I loved as a child but it was a painfully boring read so I didn't have the motivation to finish it.
greeniezona's review against another edition
4.0
I couldn't help it. I compared every single story in this collection to the Moomintrolls. Sometimes multiple times per story. "Oh, this is just like the Moomintrolls!" "Hmmm, this is hardly anything like the Moomintrolls." It's a sickness, and it certainly distracted me quite a bit from these beautiful little stories. The upside was that reading these stories helped me to understand and articulate just why I love the Moomintrolls so dearly. Jansson has a talent for simplifying a story to its core, but no further. Others tend to either gloss over or wallow in the cruelties of childhood (and adult!) relationships. Jansson lets us revel in those savage moments, but always with such empathy, both for the one stung and the one hurling the abuse. I have always said that empathy and introspection were the strength of her characters, but reading "The Summer Child," which could so easily be transplanted into Moominvalley, was when I really could put into words my admiration for her way with cruelty. Tom's taunting of poor Elis was so like Little My torturing The Whomper from atop her wardrobe that I just couldn't help make Moomintroll comparisons for that story.)
I feel an intense need to take a trip to Finland. To spend a summer on an island. This book really is a series of open doors to another world and another way of life. I am so glad Jansson's work continues to gain international audience.
I feel an intense need to take a trip to Finland. To spend a summer on an island. This book really is a series of open doors to another world and another way of life. I am so glad Jansson's work continues to gain international audience.
julianship's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Favorite stories: Shopping, The Gulls, The Doll's House
Tove Jansson is known for Moomins, but she really ought to be recognized for psychological horror. I'm still thinking about some of the stories almost a month after reading them; the way she builds a slow sick tension is really masterful.
Tove Jansson is known for Moomins, but she really ought to be recognized for psychological horror. I'm still thinking about some of the stories almost a month after reading them; the way she builds a slow sick tension is really masterful.