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| Illustrator | Tove Jannson |
| First Written | 1962 |
| Genre | Fiction |
| Origin | Finland |
| Publisher | Square Fish |
| ISBN-10 | 0312625421 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0312625429 |
| My Copy | library paperback |
| First Read | August 29, 2013 |
Tales from Moominvalley
More Moomin stories. I am completely charmed by these.
Some of these stories have such a tight domestic drama to it, like some kind of Finnish Flannery O'Connor. And the internal logic of the names is just so perfect. Don't you already know what a 'Fillyjonk' is like, and a 'Hemulen?
Noted on August 30, 2013
Once upon a time there was a Hemulen who worked at an amusement park, which doesn't necessarily mean having a lot of fun. The Hemulen's job was to punch holes in tickets, so that people wouldn't have fun more than once, and such a job is quite enough to make anyone sad if you have to do it all your life. The Hemulen punched and punched, and while punching he used to dream of the things he would do when he got his pension at last. In case someone doesn't know what a pension is, it means that you can do what you like in all the peace you wish for, when you're old enough.
Quoted on August 30, 2013
The Fillyjonk lived in a large and not very pretty house. Someone who had wanted to get rid of old paint had painted it dark green on the outside and brown all over the inside. The Fillyjonk had rented it unfurnished from a Hemulen.
Quoted on August 30, 2013
Why can't they ever let my wanderings alone! Can't they understand that I'll talk it all to pieces if I have to tell about it? Then it's gone, and when I try to remember what it really was like, I remember only my own story.
Quoted on August 30, 2013