On Monday this week the weather forecasters seemed fixated on the fact that it was the start of something they called ‘meteorological summer’. If you live in the UK & looked out of the window at that point, there was only one sane reaction to such news:
Because frankly, even by British standards, the weather’s been a total washout. (btw, this week’s GIFs are dedicated to fellow book blogger Lady Fancifull 🙂 ) However, it has brightened up considerably throughout the week and as I write this I can smell my neighbour’s barbeque, so it looks like maybe the weather forecasters’ optimism wasn’t so misplaced after all. I like to imagine the meteorologists are now running round the studio thusly:
So here is a post to celebrate the start of the meteorological summer. Which in the UK should be good for at least, ooh, another 5 days or so 😉
I won The Summer Book by Tove Jansson (1972, my edition 2003 Sort Of books trans.Thomas Teal) from a giveaway hosted by the lovely bookarino at Dawn of Books. Apparently this was Jansson’s favourite of her novels for adults (she is best known for the Moomin series) and it’s a wonderful read. The premise is simple: a series of vignettes detailing how a grandmother and her granddaughter Sophia spend a summer together on an island in the gulf of Finland.
“When the southwest wind was blowing, the days seemed to follow one another without any kind of change or occurrence; day and night, there was the same even, peaceful rush of wind.. .. It was just the same long summer, always, and everything lived and grew at its own pace.”
Nothing hugely dramatic happens, but Jansson evokes real meaning through the layering of small moments to create fully realised portraits of two complex, stubborn, loving, life-embracing women.
““Listen,” Sophia said. “I don’t have time to stay here with you – I’ve only been swimming twice today. You won’t be sad now, will you?”
“I want to go too,” Grandmother said.
…They helped each other climb out of the canyon, and then they circled around the hill…off to one side of the channel marker, there was a large, deep pool.“
There is a wonderful gentle humour running through the book, and also sadness – Sophia’s mother has died, the elderly grandmother is aware her time is short.
““What are you doing?” asked little Sophia.
“Nothing,” her grandmother answered. “That is to say,” she added angrily, “I’m looking for my false teeth.”
The child came down from the veranda. […]
“Let me,” Sophia said. “You can hardly walk, Move over.””
Bookarino’s enthusiasm for Jansson is infectious, as is Kaggsy’s, and I definitely plan on reading all her books for adults (and maybe a Moomin or two too…)
I’m glad you enjoyed The Summer Book! It really is a lovely read. I grew up on Moomin books, I hope you enjoy them:)
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The Summer Book is absolutely lovely! I’m sure I will enjoy The Moomins. The illustrations alone are beautiful.
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Right! They are easy, fun reads. My library also has them in comic form so I’ll have to embarrassingly head down to the kid’s library to borrow them:)
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Ah thank you so much for those dedicated gifs Madame Bibi. I was particularly enamoured of the fact that David Tennant was able to gif in time with Bill Withers. That is truly advanced giffery of a very high order indeed.
My only disappointment was with the stillness of those ever marvellous Moomins. I can only suppose that the Snork, who is absent, has run away with the gif gun.
Is your new summer haircut as lovely as the Snork Maiden’s?
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I’m afraid I can’t claim the David Tennant/Bill Withers timing is anything other than a happy accident,but its good to know my giffery is reaching new heights 🙂
My brother calls me Mr Ed Head due to the length of my face, so he would definitely say that the hair/face ratio of myself and The Snork Maiden is remarkably similar….
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The nickname Moomin does sort of suit you.
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Don’t start.
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The ‘meteorological summer’ made me laugh out loud. I have an Aussie friend who lives in London (and has done for past 10 years) and she’s always moaning about ‘summer’ or lack thereof. That said, her tolerance to heat is vastly diminished and now when she comes home during the Australian summer she’s constantly saying “It’s sooooooo hot.”
The Moomin books totally passed me by in childhood and I still wonder how it happened. They were about in Australia, maybe not as much as in Europe, but I have absolutely no memory of them.
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I don’t think I could handle an Australian summer at all! I’m definitely a wimpy Brit & collapse in a heap for anything over 35C.
Weirdly, I remember the Moomins from when I was small, but I remember things like the cartoon & my friend’s lunch box, I don’t remember reading the books. Time to recapture my lost youth 🙂
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Thanks for the link! And yes, read more Tove – everyone should! I’m a recent convert but a very fervent one…. 🙂
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You’re welcome! I’m definitely a fellow convert & looking forward to reading more.
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I think 24C is the perfect summer temperature. We are nearly there today in London!
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I totally agree! If its 24C in the city then its sunny but still a temperature you can get around & do stuff in.
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‘The Summer Books’ is still on my TBR pile, I’m refusing to read it until I know I’m going to get more than two consecutive days of good weather … it’s great to hear that it’s going to be completely worth the wait!
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Hope you enjoy it!
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