affiknittyreads's review against another edition
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
holly_astle's review against another edition
3.0
Everything is very subtle in this book, it creates tension and anxiety without anything of much importance happening.
foggy_rosamund's review against another edition
3.0
A strange, spare narrative set over one winter in a tiny Swedish hamlet. Cut off from the wider world, the neighbours spy on one another, as they fish, build boots, crochet, and keep house. Katri, the central character, is described as having "yellow eyes" and is followed everywhere she goes by her silent, yellow-eyed dog. She only cares about her brother, Mats, and wishes to create a more comfortable life for him. Anna Aemelin is an artist, living alone in a the village's only large house, maintaining a shrine to her dead parents, and drawing beautiful pictures of the forest floor. Katri decides that she and Mats will move in with Anna, to become her caretakers. A story unfolds, in which Katri forces Anna to face the lies she has been telling herself, and the lies she has been told by others. As they spend time with one another, Katri's own fiercely-held beliefs about the world begin to crumble too. A book infused with anxiety, capturing the small fears that can hold us back, and how deeply limited we can become when we refuse to see beyond our own small horizons. Like much of Jansson's later work, it is bleak but infused with spiky humour. I enjoyed this, but it didn't capture my attention in the way some of her novels do.
flyingfox02's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
redroofcolleen's review against another edition
4.0
Entirely unsettling and full of unsympathetic characters, yet difficult to put down. Brazen!
storeybooks's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
loloreid's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Tove Jansson creates worlds for a reader to inhabit that one can jump into quite easily, whether it is in her Moomin work or her novel writing. In this book Jansson takes us to a small coastal village in the midst of snowy winter, with three main characters of Katri Kling, her brother Mats, and a wealthy older woman Anna, a children's book illustrator. Katri is known in the town as an intelligent but brusque woman, while Mats is a kind and curious presence who enjoys odd jobs and all things boats. We witness Katri's mind at work in devising a plan to build a relationship with Anna through story and deed with the unfolding driving the plot. Jansson populates her work with unique characters whose specificity is part of their charm, and these characters are just that - delightfully odd. The approach to the writing is similar, with voices shifting from first to third person and the pacing varying from poetic description to faster paced dialogue. It is always enjoyable to spend some time in Jansson's writing, but this book feels more like a sketch than some of her other writing.
lokster71's review against another edition
5.0
This is the first non-Moomin novel of Tove Jansson I've read and my tenth Jansson book. I found I could barely bring myself to put it down.
The writing - translated by Thomas Teal - is superb. Cold, straightforward, and sharp. The question the book asks us is who is the True Deceiver, Katri or Anna? And is the person they're deceiving themselves?
It almost feels like a psychological thriller. Indeed, perhaps if I want to pigeon-hole it as anything that is what it is. A battle of wits between two people. One of whom doesn't realise - at least consciously - that she's in a battle at all but still might end up winning.
I want to say there's an biographical element in this story. That Anna, the illustrator of children's books about flower covered rabbits, is Jansson herself. And perhaps Katri is too? That this is a book about two sides of Jansson. Or of a relationship she once had. Or it is about the creative process. The separation of art and commerce. Perhaps it is all of these things or none of them.
Whatever the case I enjoyed reading it. I found the characters interesting, including Mats (Katri's simple brother.) And I'm still thinking about how the book ended. This is the very opposite of a sentimental book.
Oh, this edition has an introduction by Ali Smith which is well-worth reading.
The writing - translated by Thomas Teal - is superb. Cold, straightforward, and sharp. The question the book asks us is who is the True Deceiver, Katri or Anna? And is the person they're deceiving themselves?
It almost feels like a psychological thriller. Indeed, perhaps if I want to pigeon-hole it as anything that is what it is. A battle of wits between two people. One of whom doesn't realise - at least consciously - that she's in a battle at all but still might end up winning.
I want to say there's an biographical element in this story. That Anna, the illustrator of children's books about flower covered rabbits, is Jansson herself. And perhaps Katri is too? That this is a book about two sides of Jansson. Or of a relationship she once had. Or it is about the creative process. The separation of art and commerce. Perhaps it is all of these things or none of them.
Whatever the case I enjoyed reading it. I found the characters interesting, including Mats (Katri's simple brother.) And I'm still thinking about how the book ended. This is the very opposite of a sentimental book.
Oh, this edition has an introduction by Ali Smith which is well-worth reading.
birth_mark's review against another edition
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0