Review
I've got to say, I know genius when I see it, and this is it. Jansson put her quietly strange imagination to work in the service of invoking kindly emotions amazingly effectively. These stories are really touching, and I say that as someone who hates sentimentality -- sentimental they aren't. They combine the pleasures of home and family with an acceptance of nature.
One thing that struck me is that these stories are built around contrasts: inside the home vs. outside in "The Fillyjonk Who Believed in Disasters", for example; constant tension between the natural and the constructed worlds, between company and solitude, between independence and interdependence, leaving home and returning, the spoken and the inexpressible.
One thing that struck me is that these stories are built around contrasts: inside the home vs. outside in "The Fillyjonk Who Believed in Disasters", for example; constant tension between the natural and the constructed worlds, between company and solitude, between independence and interdependence, leaving home and returning, the spoken and the inexpressible.
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