Moominpappa at Sea (Moomins Fiction)

Product Information

In Moominpappa at Sea they arrive at an island that proves as mysterious and wild as even Moominpappa had hoped. The island is no tropical paradise--it actually sounds quite imposing, looming over the Moomins at first sight like a giant shadow--but holds mysteries aplenty for the whole family: Moominpappa and Moominmamma; Moomintroll and Little My. Moominpappa appears to be having a midlife crisis of some sort, not enough control over his home life, family trying to think for themselves, not bow to his superiority in all things - he is being a twat. There have been in picture books and in the graphic novel occasional works of genius where the producer of the text and the producer of the art being the same person fuse the art and the text into a seamless work of genius.

At the end of the book, Moominpappa describes the sea and maybe even himself in a neutral way, speaking of the presence of both contradictory and negative sides and virtues as part of character traits.So much is hidden in that text that it turns into a completely different magic each time you read it.

I loved her style already, her way with characters and nature and always leaving something on the edge. I just finished Midnight's Children a week or two ago, which won the Booker of Bookers, and there is no paragraph in that work that is so assured, so subtle or that sets mood and tone so effectively. When Moominmamma had cleared away, she put the hurricane lamp on the table and said"I remember hearing once that some lighthouses use gas. The Moomins, in case you didn’t know, are kind, philosophical creatures with velvety fur and smooth round snouts, who live in a tall blue house in a beautiful woodland valley beside the sea.

Moominpappa at Sea is just one example of Tove Jansson’s many works that reflect a deep respect for the sea, the seasons and nature. I think what I missed most was the side characters, like Snufkin and Snorkmaiden and Too-Ticky, and all the other little creatures that filled up Moominvalley. The other books in the series are also phenomenal in terms of the range they have in tone and flavour. Pamest jauko Muminieleju, lai dzītos uz kaut kādu pamestu salu ar pamestu bāku un tad sēdētu un filozofētu par jūras dabu, bet visiem pārējiem tikmēr jāpakārto savas dzīves šitai viņai iegribai.