Moominvalley in November
Encyclopedia
Moominvalley in November (Finnish
: Muumilaakson marraskuu, Swedish
: Sent i November, ‘Late in November’) is the ninth and final book in the Moomin
series by Finnish
author Tove Jansson
, and was first published in both her native Swedish
and English in 1971. Set contemporously with her previous novel Moominpappa at Sea
(1965), it is the only installment in the series where the titular Moomin family are actually absent. Instead it focuses on a set of other characters, including Snufkin
, who come to live at Moominhouse during the onset of winter whilst its inhabitants are away, and the various interactions which they have with each other.
Like Moominpappa at Sea, the work is more somber in tone than previous books in the series, and it has been suggested that this is a direct result of the death of Jansson's mother, Signe Hammarsten-Jansson
, during the year that it was written. Because of this, it has been described as being a "textbook on letting go, being a mature orphan, existing spiritually alone" and features a young orphan looking for a mother as one of its primary characters. Following this work, Jansson later stated that she "couldn't go back and find that happy Moominvalley again" and so decided to stop writing the Moomin books.
and the approach of winter
, various characters begin to experience a change within themselves and decide to travel to Moominvalley where they can visit the Moomins. First amongst them is Toft, a small orphan who lives alone in a docked boat under the tarpaulin, and who has often dreamed about the Moomins despite the fact that he has never met them. Secondly is Fillyjonk, a woman who is usually obsessed with everything being neat and tidy, but who has an epiphany
after suffering an accident and decides to "see people. People who talked and were pleasant and went in and out and filled the whole day so that there was no time for terrible thoughts". The Hemulen similarly begins to question his lifestyle, realising that his life as a collector and organiser of things simply isn't necessary, whilst a senile old man who cannot remember his own name but who calls himself Grandpa-Grumble decides to go to the "Happy Valley" that he remembers from the past.
Moominvalley in November (Finnish
: Muumilaakson marraskuu, Swedish
: Sent i November, ‘Late in November’) is the ninth and final book in the Moomin
series by Finnish
author Tove Jansson
, and was first published in both her native Swedish
and English in 1971. Set contemporously with her previous novel Moominpappa at Sea
(1965), it is the only installment in the series where the titular Moomin family are actually absent. Instead it focuses on a set of other characters, including Snufkin
, who come to live at Moominhouse during the onset of winter whilst its inhabitants are away, and the various interactions which they have with each other.
Like Moominpappa at Sea, the work is more somber in tone than previous books in the series, and it has been suggested that this is a direct result of the death of Jansson's mother, Signe Hammarsten-Jansson
, during the year that it was written. Because of this, it has been described as being a "textbook on letting go, being a mature orphan, existing spiritually alone"Ahola, Suvi. "Jansson, Tove (1914 - 2001)" at Biografiakeskus Suomalaisan. Can be viewed at http://www.kansallisbiografia.fi/english/?id=1395. Retrieved on 07 December 2009. and features a young orphan looking for a mother as one of its primary characters. Following this work, Jansson later stated that she "couldn't go back and find that happy Moominvalley again" and so decided to stop writing the Moomin books.Burr, Ty. (2001). "Moomin Struck" at EW.com. Can be viewed at http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,255555,00.html. Retrieved in 07 December 2009.
and the approach of winter
, various characters begin to experience a change within themselves and decide to travel to Moominvalley where they can visit the Moomins. First amongst them is Toft, a small orphan who lives alone in a docked boat under the tarpaulin, and who has often dreamed about the Moomins despite the fact that he has never met them.Jansson, Tove. (1974). Moominvalley in November. London: Penguin Books. Chapter Two. Secondly is Fillyjonk, a woman who is usually obsessed with everything being neat and tidy, but who has an epiphany
after suffering an accident and decides to "see people. People who talked and were pleasant and went in and out and filled the whole day so that there was no time for terrible thoughts".Jansson, Tove. (1974). Moominvalley in November. London: Penguin Books. Chapter Three. The Hemulen similarly begins to question his lifestyle, realising that his life as a collector and organiser of things simply isn't necessary,Jansson, Tove. (1974). Moominvalley in November. London: Penguin Books. Chapter Five. whilst a senile old man who cannot remember his own name but who calls himself Grandpa-Grumble decides to go to the "Happy Valley" that he remembers from the past.
Moominvalley in November (Finnish
: Muumilaakson marraskuu, Swedish
: Sent i November, ‘Late in November’) is the ninth and final book in the Moomin
series by Finnish
author Tove Jansson
, and was first published in both her native Swedish
and English in 1971. Set contemporously with her previous novel Moominpappa at Sea
(1965), it is the only installment in the series where the titular Moomin family are actually absent. Instead it focuses on a set of other characters, including Snufkin
, who come to live at Moominhouse during the onset of winter whilst its inhabitants are away, and the various interactions which they have with each other.
Like Moominpappa at Sea, the work is more somber in tone than previous books in the series, and it has been suggested that this is a direct result of the death of Jansson's mother, Signe Hammarsten-Jansson
, during the year that it was written. Because of this, it has been described as being a "textbook on letting go, being a mature orphan, existing spiritually alone"Ahola, Suvi. "Jansson, Tove (1914 - 2001)" at Biografiakeskus Suomalaisan. Can be viewed at http://www.kansallisbiografia.fi/english/?id=1395. Retrieved on 07 December 2009. and features a young orphan looking for a mother as one of its primary characters. Following this work, Jansson later stated that she "couldn't go back and find that happy Moominvalley again" and so decided to stop writing the Moomin books.Burr, Ty. (2001). "Moomin Struck" at EW.com. Can be viewed at http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,255555,00.html. Retrieved in 07 December 2009.
and the approach of winter
, various characters begin to experience a change within themselves and decide to travel to Moominvalley where they can visit the Moomins. First amongst them is Toft, a small orphan who lives alone in a docked boat under the tarpaulin, and who has often dreamed about the Moomins despite the fact that he has never met them.Jansson, Tove. (1974). Moominvalley in November. London: Penguin Books. Chapter Two. Secondly is Fillyjonk, a woman who is usually obsessed with everything being neat and tidy, but who has an epiphany
after suffering an accident and decides to "see people. People who talked and were pleasant and went in and out and filled the whole day so that there was no time for terrible thoughts".Jansson, Tove. (1974). Moominvalley in November. London: Penguin Books. Chapter Three. The Hemulen similarly begins to question his lifestyle, realising that his life as a collector and organiser of things simply isn't necessary,Jansson, Tove. (1974). Moominvalley in November. London: Penguin Books. Chapter Five. whilst a senile old man who cannot remember his own name but who calls himself Grandpa-Grumble decides to go to the "Happy Valley" that he remembers from the past.Jansson, Tove. (1974). Moominvalley in November. London: Penguin Books. Chapter Seven Alongside these figures, Mymble also decides to visit the Moomins in order to see her younger sister Little My
whom they have adopted, and Snufkin
also returns, realising that the valley is the place where he can gain inspiration to write a song.
When they all arrive, they discover that the Moomin family have left their house, and so they all settle in to wait for their return. Soon, their conflicting personalities begin to cause friction, with the Fillyjonk trying to tell the others what they should do:
Toft finds an old microbiology
textbook, and misinterpreting it as a story, creates a monster in his imagination known as the Creature, which appears to develop a life of its own. Meanwhile Grandpa-Grumble becomes obsessed with both fishing in a nearby stream that he insists is actually a brook as well as with meeting the Ancestor, a three hundred year old Moomin who he is told by Mymble hibernates in the stove. After becoming terrified that there are insects in the house, Fillyjonk locks herself in the kitchen and, in an attempt to be more like Moominmamma
and therefore liked by the others, cooks for them and tries to look after the motherless Toft,Jansson, Tove. (1974). Moominvalley in November. London: Penguin Books. Chapter Fourteen and Fifteen. who is enlisted by the Hemulen into helping build a treehouse
for Moominpappa, whom he is increasingly admiring.
Grandpa-Grumble gets a stomach ache and refuses to take his medicines till the others throw him and the Ancestor a party. At the party, each of the characters performs an act of entertainment; the Hemulen recites a poem that he has written, Toft reads from his book, Mymble dances accompanied by Snufkin's music, and Fillyjonk cooks Welsh rarebit and performs a shadow puppet show about the Moomin family returning home. However, the Ancestor does not appear, annoying Grandpa-Grumble, until he mistakes his own reflection in a mirror upstairs for the Ancestor, to whom he makes everyone give a toast.Jansson, Tove. (1974). Moominvalley in November. London: Penguin Books. Chapter Eighteen.
The morning after the party, Fillyjonk organises the cleaning of the house, though it soon begins to snow, and she decides to leave, finally on good terms with the Hemulen. Meanwhile, Grandpa-Grumble comes to the conclusion that the winter ages people and so decides to go into hibernation in the clothes cupboard like the Ancestor.Jansson, Tove. (1974). Moominvalley in November. London: Penguin Books. Chapter Nineteen. The treehouse that the Hemulen was building collapses, and so instead Snufkin takes him sailing in his boat, though the Hemulen realises that he gets sea-sick, and after the trip leaves to go home.Jansson, Tove. (1974). Moominvalley in November. London: Penguin Books. Chapter Twenty.
After discovering the last five bars he needed to write his song, and finding them to be "more beautiful and even simpler than he ever hoped they would be", Snufkin packs up his tent and leaves the valley. Toft, left alone to wait for the return of the Moomins, finally realises how the view of the family which he had developed in his imagination is too perfect to be real, and comes to accept that even Moominmamma, who he hoped will be his mother, has problems and times of anger just like everybody else. Seeing that "the boat [upon which the Moomins are returning] was a very long way away", he walks down to the jetty to wait for them.Jansson, Tove. (1974). Moominvalley in November. London: Penguin Books. Chapter Twenty-One.
described the book as "possibly the cleverest of the Moomin books", whilst Philip Ardagh, writing for The Guardian
in 2003, similarly praised it, describing the work as "melancholy" and comparing the character of Toft with that of Toffle, another lonely child, from Jansson's picture book Who Will Comfort Toffle?
.Ardagh, Philip. (1 November 2003). "A friend in need" in The Guardian. Available online at http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2003/nov/01/featuresreviews.guardianreview30. Retrieved on 07 December 09. Another reviewer, the avowed fan of the Moomin series Leona Wisoker, described the work as being "a terrific mixture of keen psychological insight and Jansson's trademark humor" that left her "aching, wishing Jansson had written more in the series; but all good things must come to an end, and I wouldn't be pleased at all if anyone else dared to pick up the series in her wake."Wisoker, Leona. (2003). Review at Green Man Review. Available online at http://www.greenmanreview.com/book/book_jansson_moominvalleyinnovember.html. Retrieved on 07 December 2009.
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Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
: Muumilaakson marraskuu, Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
: Sent i November, ‘Late in November’) is the ninth and final book in the Moomin
Moomin
The Moomins are the central characters in a series of books and a comic strip by Swedish-Finn illustrator and writer Tove Jansson, originally published in Swedish by Schildts in Finland. They are a family of trolls who are white and roundish, with large snouts that make them resemble hippopotamuses...
series by Finnish
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
author Tove Jansson
Tove Jansson
Tove Marika Jansson was a Swedish-Finnish novelist, painter, illustrator and comic strip author. She is best known as the author of the Moomin books.- Biography :...
, and was first published in both her native Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
and English in 1971. Set contemporously with her previous novel Moominpappa at Sea
Moominpappa at Sea
Moominpappa at Sea is the seventh book in the Moomin books by Finnish author Tove Jansson. It is based primarily around the character of Moominpappa. It was first published in 1965...
(1965), it is the only installment in the series where the titular Moomin family are actually absent. Instead it focuses on a set of other characters, including Snufkin
Snufkin
Snufkin is a character in the Moomin series of books authored by Swedish-speaking Finn Tove Jansson, appearing in six of the nine books...
, who come to live at Moominhouse during the onset of winter whilst its inhabitants are away, and the various interactions which they have with each other.
Like Moominpappa at Sea, the work is more somber in tone than previous books in the series, and it has been suggested that this is a direct result of the death of Jansson's mother, Signe Hammarsten-Jansson
Signe Hammarsten-Jansson
Signe "Ham" Hammarsten-Jansson was a Swedish graphic artist who designed, among other things, around 220 Finnish postage stamps during the course of three decades...
, during the year that it was written. Because of this, it has been described as being a "textbook on letting go, being a mature orphan, existing spiritually alone" and features a young orphan looking for a mother as one of its primary characters. Following this work, Jansson later stated that she "couldn't go back and find that happy Moominvalley again" and so decided to stop writing the Moomin books.
Plot
Set in the final days of autumnAutumn
Autumn is one of the four temperate seasons. Autumn marks the transition from summer into winter usually in September or March when the arrival of night becomes noticeably earlier....
and the approach of winter
Winter
Winter is the coldest season of the year in temperate climates, between autumn and spring. At the winter solstice, the days are shortest and the nights are longest, with days lengthening as the season progresses after the solstice.-Meteorology:...
, various characters begin to experience a change within themselves and decide to travel to Moominvalley where they can visit the Moomins. First amongst them is Toft, a small orphan who lives alone in a docked boat under the tarpaulin, and who has often dreamed about the Moomins despite the fact that he has never met them. Secondly is Fillyjonk, a woman who is usually obsessed with everything being neat and tidy, but who has an epiphany
Epiphany (feeling)
An epiphany is the sudden realization or comprehension of the essence or meaning of something...
after suffering an accident and decides to "see people. People who talked and were pleasant and went in and out and filled the whole day so that there was no time for terrible thoughts". The Hemulen similarly begins to question his lifestyle, realising that his life as a collector and organiser of things simply isn't necessary, whilst a senile old man who cannot remember his own name but who calls himself Grandpa-Grumble decides to go to the "Happy Valley" that he remembers from the past.
Moominvalley in November (Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
: Muumilaakson marraskuu, Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
: Sent i November, ‘Late in November’) is the ninth and final book in the Moomin
Moomin
The Moomins are the central characters in a series of books and a comic strip by Swedish-Finn illustrator and writer Tove Jansson, originally published in Swedish by Schildts in Finland. They are a family of trolls who are white and roundish, with large snouts that make them resemble hippopotamuses...
series by Finnish
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
author Tove Jansson
Tove Jansson
Tove Marika Jansson was a Swedish-Finnish novelist, painter, illustrator and comic strip author. She is best known as the author of the Moomin books.- Biography :...
, and was first published in both her native Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
and English in 1971. Set contemporously with her previous novel Moominpappa at Sea
Moominpappa at Sea
Moominpappa at Sea is the seventh book in the Moomin books by Finnish author Tove Jansson. It is based primarily around the character of Moominpappa. It was first published in 1965...
(1965), it is the only installment in the series where the titular Moomin family are actually absent. Instead it focuses on a set of other characters, including Snufkin
Snufkin
Snufkin is a character in the Moomin series of books authored by Swedish-speaking Finn Tove Jansson, appearing in six of the nine books...
, who come to live at Moominhouse during the onset of winter whilst its inhabitants are away, and the various interactions which they have with each other.
Like Moominpappa at Sea, the work is more somber in tone than previous books in the series, and it has been suggested that this is a direct result of the death of Jansson's mother, Signe Hammarsten-Jansson
Signe Hammarsten-Jansson
Signe "Ham" Hammarsten-Jansson was a Swedish graphic artist who designed, among other things, around 220 Finnish postage stamps during the course of three decades...
, during the year that it was written. Because of this, it has been described as being a "textbook on letting go, being a mature orphan, existing spiritually alone"Ahola, Suvi. "Jansson, Tove (1914 - 2001)" at Biografiakeskus Suomalaisan. Can be viewed at http://www.kansallisbiografia.fi/english/?id=1395. Retrieved on 07 December 2009. and features a young orphan looking for a mother as one of its primary characters. Following this work, Jansson later stated that she "couldn't go back and find that happy Moominvalley again" and so decided to stop writing the Moomin books.Burr, Ty. (2001). "Moomin Struck" at EW.com. Can be viewed at http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,255555,00.html. Retrieved in 07 December 2009.
Plot
Set in the final days of autumnAutumn
Autumn is one of the four temperate seasons. Autumn marks the transition from summer into winter usually in September or March when the arrival of night becomes noticeably earlier....
and the approach of winter
Winter
Winter is the coldest season of the year in temperate climates, between autumn and spring. At the winter solstice, the days are shortest and the nights are longest, with days lengthening as the season progresses after the solstice.-Meteorology:...
, various characters begin to experience a change within themselves and decide to travel to Moominvalley where they can visit the Moomins. First amongst them is Toft, a small orphan who lives alone in a docked boat under the tarpaulin, and who has often dreamed about the Moomins despite the fact that he has never met them.Jansson, Tove. (1974). Moominvalley in November. London: Penguin Books. Chapter Two. Secondly is Fillyjonk, a woman who is usually obsessed with everything being neat and tidy, but who has an epiphany
Epiphany (feeling)
An epiphany is the sudden realization or comprehension of the essence or meaning of something...
after suffering an accident and decides to "see people. People who talked and were pleasant and went in and out and filled the whole day so that there was no time for terrible thoughts".Jansson, Tove. (1974). Moominvalley in November. London: Penguin Books. Chapter Three. The Hemulen similarly begins to question his lifestyle, realising that his life as a collector and organiser of things simply isn't necessary,Jansson, Tove. (1974). Moominvalley in November. London: Penguin Books. Chapter Five. whilst a senile old man who cannot remember his own name but who calls himself Grandpa-Grumble decides to go to the "Happy Valley" that he remembers from the past.
Moominvalley in November (Finnish
Finnish language
Finnish is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland Primarily for use by restaurant menus and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the two official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a...
: Muumilaakson marraskuu, Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
: Sent i November, ‘Late in November’) is the ninth and final book in the Moomin
Moomin
The Moomins are the central characters in a series of books and a comic strip by Swedish-Finn illustrator and writer Tove Jansson, originally published in Swedish by Schildts in Finland. They are a family of trolls who are white and roundish, with large snouts that make them resemble hippopotamuses...
series by Finnish
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
author Tove Jansson
Tove Jansson
Tove Marika Jansson was a Swedish-Finnish novelist, painter, illustrator and comic strip author. She is best known as the author of the Moomin books.- Biography :...
, and was first published in both her native Swedish
Swedish language
Swedish is a North Germanic language, spoken by approximately 10 million people, predominantly in Sweden and parts of Finland, especially along its coast and on the Åland islands. It is largely mutually intelligible with Norwegian and Danish...
and English in 1971. Set contemporously with her previous novel Moominpappa at Sea
Moominpappa at Sea
Moominpappa at Sea is the seventh book in the Moomin books by Finnish author Tove Jansson. It is based primarily around the character of Moominpappa. It was first published in 1965...
(1965), it is the only installment in the series where the titular Moomin family are actually absent. Instead it focuses on a set of other characters, including Snufkin
Snufkin
Snufkin is a character in the Moomin series of books authored by Swedish-speaking Finn Tove Jansson, appearing in six of the nine books...
, who come to live at Moominhouse during the onset of winter whilst its inhabitants are away, and the various interactions which they have with each other.
Like Moominpappa at Sea, the work is more somber in tone than previous books in the series, and it has been suggested that this is a direct result of the death of Jansson's mother, Signe Hammarsten-Jansson
Signe Hammarsten-Jansson
Signe "Ham" Hammarsten-Jansson was a Swedish graphic artist who designed, among other things, around 220 Finnish postage stamps during the course of three decades...
, during the year that it was written. Because of this, it has been described as being a "textbook on letting go, being a mature orphan, existing spiritually alone"Ahola, Suvi. "Jansson, Tove (1914 - 2001)" at Biografiakeskus Suomalaisan. Can be viewed at http://www.kansallisbiografia.fi/english/?id=1395. Retrieved on 07 December 2009. and features a young orphan looking for a mother as one of its primary characters. Following this work, Jansson later stated that she "couldn't go back and find that happy Moominvalley again" and so decided to stop writing the Moomin books.Burr, Ty. (2001). "Moomin Struck" at EW.com. Can be viewed at http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,255555,00.html. Retrieved in 07 December 2009.
Plot
Set in the final days of autumnAutumn
Autumn is one of the four temperate seasons. Autumn marks the transition from summer into winter usually in September or March when the arrival of night becomes noticeably earlier....
and the approach of winter
Winter
Winter is the coldest season of the year in temperate climates, between autumn and spring. At the winter solstice, the days are shortest and the nights are longest, with days lengthening as the season progresses after the solstice.-Meteorology:...
, various characters begin to experience a change within themselves and decide to travel to Moominvalley where they can visit the Moomins. First amongst them is Toft, a small orphan who lives alone in a docked boat under the tarpaulin, and who has often dreamed about the Moomins despite the fact that he has never met them.Jansson, Tove. (1974). Moominvalley in November. London: Penguin Books. Chapter Two. Secondly is Fillyjonk, a woman who is usually obsessed with everything being neat and tidy, but who has an epiphany
Epiphany (feeling)
An epiphany is the sudden realization or comprehension of the essence or meaning of something...
after suffering an accident and decides to "see people. People who talked and were pleasant and went in and out and filled the whole day so that there was no time for terrible thoughts".Jansson, Tove. (1974). Moominvalley in November. London: Penguin Books. Chapter Three. The Hemulen similarly begins to question his lifestyle, realising that his life as a collector and organiser of things simply isn't necessary,Jansson, Tove. (1974). Moominvalley in November. London: Penguin Books. Chapter Five. whilst a senile old man who cannot remember his own name but who calls himself Grandpa-Grumble decides to go to the "Happy Valley" that he remembers from the past.Jansson, Tove. (1974). Moominvalley in November. London: Penguin Books. Chapter Seven Alongside these figures, Mymble also decides to visit the Moomins in order to see her younger sister Little My
Little My
Little My is a character in the Moomin series of books by Tove Jansson. She first appears in the fourth book, The Exploits of Moominpappa . She is a small, determined and fiercely independent Mymble. When she wants something done, she does it straight away...
whom they have adopted, and Snufkin
Snufkin
Snufkin is a character in the Moomin series of books authored by Swedish-speaking Finn Tove Jansson, appearing in six of the nine books...
also returns, realising that the valley is the place where he can gain inspiration to write a song.
When they all arrive, they discover that the Moomin family have left their house, and so they all settle in to wait for their return. Soon, their conflicting personalities begin to cause friction, with the Fillyjonk trying to tell the others what they should do:
- Suddenly Fillyjonk shouted: 'You musn't touch old leaves! They're dangerous! They're full of putrefaction!' She dashed to the front of the veranda with the blankets trailing behind her. 'Bacteria!' she screamed. 'Worms! Maggots! Creepy-crawlies! Don't touch them!' The Hemulen went on raking. He screwed up his stubborn, innocent face and repeated loudly: 'I'm making the place look nice, for MoominpappaMoominpappaMoominpappa - is a character in the Moomin series of books by Finnish author Tove Jansson.Orphaned in his youth, Moominpappa is a somewhat restless soul who left the orphanage to venture out into the world but has now settled down, determined to be a responsible father to his family: his wife...
.'Jansson, Tove. (1974). Moominvalley in November. London: Penguin Books. Page 54.
Toft finds an old microbiology
Microbiology
Microbiology is the study of microorganisms, which are defined as any microscopic organism that comprises either a single cell , cell clusters or no cell at all . This includes eukaryotes, such as fungi and protists, and prokaryotes...
textbook, and misinterpreting it as a story, creates a monster in his imagination known as the Creature, which appears to develop a life of its own. Meanwhile Grandpa-Grumble becomes obsessed with both fishing in a nearby stream that he insists is actually a brook as well as with meeting the Ancestor, a three hundred year old Moomin who he is told by Mymble hibernates in the stove. After becoming terrified that there are insects in the house, Fillyjonk locks herself in the kitchen and, in an attempt to be more like Moominmamma
Moominmamma
Moominmamma is a character in the Moomin series of books by Finnish author Tove Jansson.Moominmamma is married to Moominpappa and is the mother of Moomintroll. She very rarely gets cross and takes even the most distressing circumstances in her stride...
and therefore liked by the others, cooks for them and tries to look after the motherless Toft,Jansson, Tove. (1974). Moominvalley in November. London: Penguin Books. Chapter Fourteen and Fifteen. who is enlisted by the Hemulen into helping build a treehouse
Treehouse
A treehouse, tree house, or treefort is a habitable structure built in trees. "Treehouse" may also refer to:*Tree House, Crawley, a listed 14th-century building in Crawley, West Sussex, United Kingdom; originally the manor house....
for Moominpappa, whom he is increasingly admiring.
Grandpa-Grumble gets a stomach ache and refuses to take his medicines till the others throw him and the Ancestor a party. At the party, each of the characters performs an act of entertainment; the Hemulen recites a poem that he has written, Toft reads from his book, Mymble dances accompanied by Snufkin's music, and Fillyjonk cooks Welsh rarebit and performs a shadow puppet show about the Moomin family returning home. However, the Ancestor does not appear, annoying Grandpa-Grumble, until he mistakes his own reflection in a mirror upstairs for the Ancestor, to whom he makes everyone give a toast.Jansson, Tove. (1974). Moominvalley in November. London: Penguin Books. Chapter Eighteen.
The morning after the party, Fillyjonk organises the cleaning of the house, though it soon begins to snow, and she decides to leave, finally on good terms with the Hemulen. Meanwhile, Grandpa-Grumble comes to the conclusion that the winter ages people and so decides to go into hibernation in the clothes cupboard like the Ancestor.Jansson, Tove. (1974). Moominvalley in November. London: Penguin Books. Chapter Nineteen. The treehouse that the Hemulen was building collapses, and so instead Snufkin takes him sailing in his boat, though the Hemulen realises that he gets sea-sick, and after the trip leaves to go home.Jansson, Tove. (1974). Moominvalley in November. London: Penguin Books. Chapter Twenty.
After discovering the last five bars he needed to write his song, and finding them to be "more beautiful and even simpler than he ever hoped they would be", Snufkin packs up his tent and leaves the valley. Toft, left alone to wait for the return of the Moomins, finally realises how the view of the family which he had developed in his imagination is too perfect to be real, and comes to accept that even Moominmamma, who he hoped will be his mother, has problems and times of anger just like everybody else. Seeing that "the boat [upon which the Moomins are returning] was a very long way away", he walks down to the jetty to wait for them.Jansson, Tove. (1974). Moominvalley in November. London: Penguin Books. Chapter Twenty-One.
Reception
The Times Literary SupplementThe Times Literary Supplement
The Times Literary Supplement is a weekly literary review published in London by News International, a subsidiary of News Corporation.-History:...
described the book as "possibly the cleverest of the Moomin books", whilst Philip Ardagh, writing for The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
in 2003, similarly praised it, describing the work as "melancholy" and comparing the character of Toft with that of Toffle, another lonely child, from Jansson's picture book Who Will Comfort Toffle?
Who Will Comfort Toffle?
Who Will Comfort Toffle? is the second picture book in the Moomin series by Tove Jansson. It was first published in 1960. It was first translated into English by Kingsley Hart....
.Ardagh, Philip. (1 November 2003). "A friend in need" in The Guardian. Available online at http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2003/nov/01/featuresreviews.guardianreview30. Retrieved on 07 December 09. Another reviewer, the avowed fan of the Moomin series Leona Wisoker, described the work as being "a terrific mixture of keen psychological insight and Jansson's trademark humor" that left her "aching, wishing Jansson had written more in the series; but all good things must come to an end, and I wouldn't be pleased at all if anyone else dared to pick up the series in her wake."Wisoker, Leona. (2003). Review at Green Man Review. Available online at http://www.greenmanreview.com/book/book_jansson_moominvalleyinnovember.html. Retrieved on 07 December 2009.
External links
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