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Title: Tales from Moominvalley (Moomintrolls)
ISBN: 0374474133
Author:
Publicate Date: 1995-11-06
Publish: 1995-11-06
List Price: $6.95
Average Customer Rating: 5.0
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $3.11
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $1.74
Amazon Merchant Price: $6.95
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| Customer Review: |
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1: The warmest book series ever.
This is not exacly a book for kids and much as I liked some of the other Moomin books, I used to hate this one. Only after my visit to Finland this year and seeing the museum of Moomins did I re-read all the books.
I fell in love with them. Totally and permanently.
If not for anything else, get this book for the story of the Hemulen who loved silence. I actually had tears in my eyes when reading it.
Beautiful, warm, mature and full of hope, like all the other Moomin books.
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2: the Books about the Moomins
Over 50 years ago I read these books in Swedish (original language)and now I read them in English. I just love them, to me they are the best fairy tales ever written for children and for adults. Jan
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3: for the invisible children everywhere
Tove Jansson's tales from the Moominvalley are fascinating reading for adults and children alike. Although I read my first copy in Finnish, the English translation is equally enjoyable. I am surprised that Disney has not yet bought rights to the series that would make wonderful animated movies.
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4: Tales worth telling
As many readers have noted, Tove Jansson's Moomin books may be appreciated by adults as well as children (particularly children who are of a quirky, thoughtful bent, in grades 4 and up.) The "Tales" is a late collection of short stories and not a complete novel like most of the other ones (beginners should start with "Comet in Moominland" instead), but it contains all the characters we know and love from the series. As usual, Jansson deftly captures the exact mood of the time of year portrayed in each tale, as well as the complicated inner workings of the misfit characters, with a few deft words. Two of these stories are absolute masterpieces. The first is "A Spring Tune," in which the fiercely independent Snufkin is prevented from writing a melody by a lonely, talkative squirrel. The other is "The Fir Tree," which comes at the end of the book and is perhaps the finest Christmas short story I have ever read, which is praise indeed. (Were ever layers of irony so superb? All writers take note of this one.) In between we get an offbeat collection of curious tales, not as memorable perhaps as the novels but jolly good fun, and emotionally pure like all of Jansson's amazing body of work. How else to describe it? Read for yourself.
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5: A real surprise
I picked up this book because I thought I hadn't read it before, wanting to see the Moominvalley books through adult eyes - not to have my childhood memories of favourite books tarnished. As it turns out, I had read "Tales from Moominvalley" before (the fungus-covered granny was the trigger for my recollection), but I was really relieved to find that Tove Jansson's books are just as good as I remember - and there is, I think, even more for the adult to appreciate and enjoy than there is for the child.
I generally dislike the short story genre, but not when it's done like this. Every short story is simply that, a short story; not a contrived literary exercise with the obligatory "twist in the tail". Jansson's stories are charming little gems, full of wonderful moments and images, thought-provoking and touching. Her characters are often the lonely, the lost, and the troubled, and she makes you feel for them and understand them, without ever becoming ridiculous or sentimental. The tales about Snufkin and his tune and the Fillyjonk who believed in disasters are shining examples of this. But Jansson can write humour and happiness just as well, as the tales of the invisible child and the fir tree show.
I really can't speak highly enough of this book. Jansson's wonderful insight into people, her spare, deft prose, and her brilliant imagination make a great combination. Buy it for your children or for yourself.
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