Why Tove Jansson's books on Moomin trolls are needed by every adult

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The writer became a classic of children's literature, although she never wrote for kids.

Why is the Moomin saga not for little ones?

The adventures of cute hippo-like creatures are strongly associated with young age. Jansson's books are included in school summer reading lists and do not leave the first lines of ratings for the best books for children of all time.

But let's be honest: not every child will master the rather monotonous story of Moomin. Modern kids are used to more dynamic plots. In addition, many unprepared parents, reading Tove Jansson to kids, are surprised to learn that the inhabitants of the fairy valley smoke, drink, do not go to work, let gas, have children out of wedlock, carelessly leave their family for adventure - and all this without the slightest remorse. …

Tove herself saw herself primarily as an artist, and treated literature as a side phenomenon. And she certainly did not consider children as a target audience. Jansson openly stated that she never wanted to become a mother. Creating the universe of the Moomin trolls, she fled to her lost paradise - the serene and disorderly world of her own childhood.

How can Jansson's books be interesting and useful for adults?

In fact, in her books, the writer embodies the dream of many adults: to find a comfort zone with loved ones who unconditionally accept you for who you are. In this ideal world, there is no politics and no need to make money.

The saga of the Moomins can become a kind of psychotherapy: it teaches tolerance, adjusts to a peaceful mood and gives a feeling that everything will be fine.

And Moomin trolls are wise in everyday life and can tell you how to see the good in the negative. For example, when Moomin-papa breaks a plate, Moomin-mother is not angry, but rejoices: "This bowl has always seemed ugly to me."

What do Moomin trolls teach?

The Moomins' sayings are useful to print and re-read every day - as a way to relieve anxiety, learn optimism and develop a benevolent attitude towards the world.

• "Whoever eats pancakes with jam cannot be so terribly dangerous."
• "Sometimes all you have to do to calm someone down is to remind them that you are there."
• "You will never be truly free if you admire someone overly."
• "At night it can be either scary or magical, depending on the company."
• "Everyone must make their own mistakes."
• “Sometimes you have to change something. We take too much for granted, including each other."
• “Winters are always pretty hard. But nevertheless, snow is magic."
• "It takes space and silence to shape a big dream."
• "Even the weirdest people might come in handy someday."
• “It's awful how you think that all great people have died! Alexander the Great, Napoleon and all the others … Yes, and something is not well for me."
• “Don't worry. There is nothing more terrible in the world than ourselves."

This is just a small part of what can be gleaned from Tove Jansson's stories about her favorite characters. Therefore, books must be read, especially if you are already out of your tender age.

How did Moomin-dol appear and who were its inhabitants really?

The valley of the Moomins was copied by Jansson from the island of Bolshoy Pellinki in the Gulf of Finland, where her family rented a summer cottage every summer. Tove considered her holidays in the company of her parents, two younger brothers and numerous friends to be the happiest time in her life.

The inhabitants of the fabulous country inherited the way of life of the Jansson family, as well as the character traits and habits of Tove herself, her family and friends.

Moomin is a self-portrait of the writer, her kind, slightly fearful and always sympathetic alter ego.

Baby Mu is another, more truthful incarnation of Tove, who was famous for her malice, often behaving harshly and selfishly.

Moominmama absorbed the wisdom of Jansson's mother, the Swedish artist Signe Hammarsten, who managed to successfully combine a career and a large family.

Moominpapa sometimes gets depressed from well-being - just like Tove's father, sculptor Victor Jansson.

Snusmumrik - the brother of Baby Mu and the best friend of the Moomin troll - symbolizes absolute freedom. The prototype of the lone vagabond in the green hat was the Finnish politician and journalist Athos Kazimir Virtanen, to whom Jansson was engaged. But shortly before the wedding, the couple broke up.

Tofsla and Vifsla are again Tove Jansson and her lover, actress Vivica Bandler. After 30 years, the writer realized that she prefers women. But until 1971, homosexual relationships in Finland were considered a criminal offense, so Tove hid her relationship. When talking on the phone, close friends used code words. Tofsla and Vifsla do the same.

Tuu-tikki, a mysterious sorceress who plays the barrel organ every spring, is copied from the artist Tuulikki Pietilä. She remained Tuva's companion for 45 years, until the writer's death in 2001, at the age of 86.

What does it mean "to live like a moomin troll"?

Moomin trolls lead a bohemian lifestyle and indulge in all available pleasures. They drink aromatic coffee and eat delicious pancakes, enjoy socializing with their family and adore receiving guests for whom they are always ready to "put new beds and expand the dining table."

Like all true Scandinavians, sometimes Moomins need to be alone and reflect on life. Those close to you treat this need with understanding.

In the summer, the Moomins are not averse to going on a journey, and in the cold winter they hibernate. But even this gloomy time, they consider magical.

What was the first Moomin troll?

Tove invented the first Moomin troll as a child, arguing with her brother Per-Olof, a future photographer, about the philosopher Immanuel Kant. The girl painted a portrait of the thinker on the door of a street toilet, saying that this is the ugliest creature on earth. She subsequently christened the character Snork and began using his image instead of a signature.

Autographs with a nosed troll can be seen on anti-Hitler cartoons that Tove created during World War II for Garm magazine.

How did the Moomin trolls change over time?

The first book about Moomins, Little Trolls and the Big Flood, was published in 1945 in Swedish. The characters that the writer painted with ink were dull and rather skinny. Their appearance was influenced by the fact that during the war, Finland experienced a famine.

In times of peace, the characters gradually rounded out, reaching their peak weights by the mid-1950s, in illustrations for the novel Dangerous Summer. Then, according to the observations of the researchers, the Moomin trolls again lost a little weight.

The mood of the story itself also changed. The first five books, right up to The Dangerous Summer, are filled with adventure. And starting with the sixth, "Magic Winter", the text becomes more philosophical and lyrical, the themes of growing up, relationships and loneliness come to the fore.

These changes happened after Tuve's meeting with the artist Tuulikki Pietilä. Before meeting her, the writer had already managed to get tired of her too energetic characters. But love breathed a new, more conscious life into the Moomins.

Sketch for the book "Little trolls and the big flood" / e-reading.club

In what order to read books about Moomin trolls?

Chronologically, the works were published in the following order:

• 1945 - "Little trolls and a big flood" (the book went unnoticed, and it was translated into English only in 2005 - the last of the entire cycle);
• 1946 - "The comet flies" (the first work that brought Tuva success in Finland, it indirectly conveys the feeling of catastrophe associated with the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki);
• 1948 - "The Magician's Hat" (this book marks the start of Tove Jansson's worldwide popularity, the novel was translated into 34 languages);
• 1950 - "Memoirs of Moomin's dad";
• 1954 - "Dangerous Summer";
• 1957 - "Magic Winter";
• 1962 - collection of stories "The Invisible Child";
• 1965 - "Pope and the Sea";
• 1971 - "At the end of November".

Each volume is a separate fairy tale or collection of stories, and you can read them in any order, since they are not connected with a cross-cutting plot. But if you adhere to the chronology, you will be able to track the process of growing up of the Moomin. His views are gradually changing, the problems are becoming more complex, and the world around him is sadder.

In the last book "At the end of November" the moomin family leaves the valley and without these characters it becomes rather dreary. But in the finale, like a ray of hope, a small dot appears on the horizon. Moomin trolls are returning home.

What else can you read and see about Moomins?

Comics

In 1954, Tove signed a contract with the English publishing house The Evening News to publish Moomin comics. The writer was helped to draw stories in pictures by her brother, artist Lars Jansson. Since 1960, he has been working on new issues alone. In 1975, the contract ended and the Jansson family refused to renew it.

Cartoons

Long animated series and full-length animated films about the Moomins were filmed in Japan and Poland. Six cartoons - based on the novellas "The Comet Arrives" and "The Magician's Hat" - were released in the USSR.

On February 25, 2019, the Finnish-British animated series "Moomin" was launched on the Finnish TV channel Yle. The Moomintroll is voiced by Taron Egerton, Moominmama is voiced by Rosamund Pike, and Kate Winslet gave her voice to Fillyjonka.

Books by other authors

Tove Jansson was not greedy and during her lifetime shared the right to compose new stories about Moomin trolls with other authors. The most famous of them - Harald Saunesson - himself illustrates his books in the spirit of Jansson.