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You Should Read This: The Moomintroll Books by Tove Jansson

Illustration from Moominland Midwinter
This illustration comes from one of my favorites, Moominland Midwinter, showing Moomintroll and Tooticky around the snow lantern Tooticky has built.
I found these books as part of the reading list in the back of Jacqueline Jackson’s Turn Not Pale, Beloved Snail. They are why I’ve always wanted to go to Finland.

What: Moomintroll and the other Moomins are odd creatures living among a cast of equally odd characters: the Snork Maiden, the Fillyjonk, the Hemulen. The books need not be read in consecutive order. There’s quite a few of them, including Comet in Moominland, Finn Family Moomintroll, Moominpappa at Sea, Moominsummer Madness, Moominvalley in November, Moominland Midwinter and Tales from Moominvalley, some of which are available in cartoon form as well.

Who: Again kids as well as those who love literature written for kids will love these. There is a quiet charm and gentle oddness to the Moomin books that is enthralling.

Why: Read these for enjoyment, or to take apart and see how Jansson has rendered our world in charmingly fractured form. Read them to see an example of children’s books that knock your socks off with charm.

When and where and how: Read Moominland Midwinter when it’s snowy and solitary outside and you want to imagine the lonesome Groke wandering in search of warmth. Really it’s not so much a question of when to read them as when they’ll return to you, at odd moments on the ferry or seeing a wave crest.

#sfwapro

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You Should Read This: Watership Down by Richard Adams

Cover for animal fantasy Watership Down by Richard Adams, reviewed for You Should Read This by Cat Rambo.
Watership Down was always notable to me for the section on Silverweed and his brethren. It's a section where the wild rabbits are bewildered by what has happened due to human encourachement, but in some ways, it sets up the horror of General Woundwort that will follow.
Watership Down was the first of a wave of animal books that included Duncton Wood, The Book of the Dun Cow, and Tailchaser’s Song. It’s inspired an animated movie that is not terrible (bear in mind that I dislike most movies) and which has weathered the years well.

What: A group of rabbits whose warren is destroyed by the bulldozers of a housing development try to find a new place to live, despite various pitfalls and traps along the way.

Who: Anyone who loves animals will love this book, and any writer interested in writing epic journeys as well as non human protagonists will find an analysis of the rabbits’ trek an instructive one.

When: Read this for immersion or when you want to share a saga with your children.

Why: Read it to see how well Adams has worked out rabbit soceity, including a vocabulary full of rabbity concepts like tharn and fabulous phoneticisms like hrududu. Read it to see the rabbit mythology and listen to the folktales told among the rabbits, very much in the same tradition as Kij Johnson’s The evolution of trickster stories among the dogs of North park after the change.

Where/how: Read it on a summer afternoon, preferably one when you can see a young rabbit or two frisking on the lawn, flicking their long ears back as they eye you whenever you flip a page.

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You Should Read This: The Complete Drive-In by Joe R. Lansdale

Cover of The Complete Drive-In by Joe R. Lansdale, accompanies blog post reviewing the book by speculative fiction writer Cat Rambo.
I find the book's free-wheeling nature inspirational, although it's a gloomy message at the heart of it all.
Joe R. Lansdale is a favorite writer; this was my entrance into his work and it hooked me thoroughly.

What: The Drive-In by Joe R. Lansdale has two sequels, The Drive-In 2: Not Just One of Them Sequels and The Drive-In 3: The Bus Tour. Underland Press did a collected edition a few years back that is terrific, but it looks as though it’s out of print now. The story begins when a few friends go to the All Night Horror Show at a drive-in theater and find themselves transported to an alternate dimension, forcing the theatergoers to live on popcorn, fountain drinks, and eventually each other. Then it gets weird.

Who: Those willing to abandon themselves to the book, to strap themselves into the funhouse ride Lansdale has prepared will have the time of their life.

Why: Read this for dialogue that flows over you. For a gradual creep into weirdness that disorients and amazes all at once.

When: Read this when you want to be reminded that a good writer can take us wherever he or she likes. WHen you need to be shown that you can be as weird and surreal and downright odd in your writing as you like, as long as you do it with panache.

Where and how: Lansdale is a terrific reader – if you get a chance to hear him in person, do it! If not, try an audio book, in order to appreciate the way it flows. And don’t read it in scraps. Sit down and stay a spell.

#sfwapro

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