Tove Jansson
Tove Jansson
Tove Marika Jansson; 9 August 1914 – 27 June 2001) was a Swedish-speaking Finnish novelist, painter, illustrator and comic strip author. For her contribution as a children's writer she received the Hans Christian Andersen Medal in 1966...
NationalityFinnish
ProfessionChildren's Author
Date of Birth9 August 1914
CityHelsinki, Finland
CountryFinland
christmas forgiven normal
Nothing is as peaceful as when Christmas is over, when one has been forgiven for everything and can be normal again.
apart chamber far horrors nursery people wonder
I wonder if the nursery and the chamber of horrors are as far apart as people think?
bought branch buying christmas daddy harbour hours looking morning setting six spend trees walk
On the morning, Daddy and I get up at six o'clock because Christmas trees must be bought in the dark. We walk to the other end of town, as the big harbour is just the right setting for buying a Christmas tree. We spend hours choosing, looking at every branch suspiciously. It's always cold.
begin create felt pointless suddenly time urge war
It was the winter of war, in 1939. It felt completely pointless to try to create pictures... I suddenly felt an urge to write down something that was to begin with 'Once upon a time.'
dared people shown
A theatre is the most important sort of house in the world because that's where people are shown what they could be if they wanted and what they'd like to be if they dared to and what they really are.
bags lots means
Sometimes it's better to look at things than own them... owning means anxiety and lots of bags to carry around.
absolutely christmas exactly measured mummy nuts sweets time weighed
Mummy weighed sweets and nuts so that everyone would get exactly the same amount. During the year, everything is measured roughly, but at Christmas, it has to be absolutely fair. That's why it's such a strenuous time.
again barking biting burying dig empty life natural overlook people rant rave rolling rot secret stuff time tree
People idealise their animals, and at the same time they patronisingly overlook a dog's natural life - biting fleas, burying bones, rolling in garbage, barking up an empty tree all night... But what do they do themselves? Bury stuff that will rot in secret and then dig it up and bury it again and rant and rave under empty trees!
Those damn Moomins. I don't want to hear about them any more. I could vomit on the Moomintrolls.
earth grow later sad squirrel squirrels time
When one's dead, one's dead... This squirrel will become earth all in his time. And still later on, there'll grow new trees from him, with new squirrels skipping about in them. Do you think that's so very sad?
bigs
Everything's much too big here,' thought Moominmamma. 'Or perhaps I'm too small.
forgets forgive forgiven leave men women
All men are chums who will never leave each other in the lurch. A chum doesn't forgive, he just forgets - women forgive everything but never forget. Being forgiven is very unpleasant.