Moominpappa at Sea - Tove Jansson

In this penultimate, rather glum entry to the series, the dithering Moominpappa undergoes another midlife crisis. This time, rather than going off alone, he decides to drag the whole family along with him to a storm battered island out on the ocean, abandoning their established home and all its domestic comforts. The spineless Moominmamma timidly acquiesces, along with their son Moomintroll, and their adopted daughter Little My. The other characters and extended family members are all absent, perhaps to increase the sense of isolation, except for the frightening Groke who stalks them across the sea. Upon arriving at the island, Moominpappa is dismayed to discover that he cannot work the lamp at the top of the lighthouse, thus failing in his duty as patriarch and provider. He throws himself into obsessive fishing instead, desperate to cover up his shortcomings. Moomintroll wanders about on his own, teetering towards despondency as he finally enters adolescence and experiences his first sexual awakening at the sight of some seductive sea horses. Moominmamma undergoes a subtle mental breakdown and eventually gets trapped inside one of her own paintings. It's all very surreal and unsettling stuff as usual with some Freudian imagery thrown in, such as an unfathomable black pool that won't reveal its secrets and an inscrutable, mysterious fisherman who is terrified of entering the lighthouse.

Rating: 4/5