Author Archives: pelargonia

Book review of Finn Family Moomintroll

Finn Family Moomintroll
Hats off to the adventures of spring – Tove Jansson
English translation 1958
– January 21, 2014
The Characters

Main characters is Moomintroll, Sniff, Snufkin, Snork Maiden, The Hemulens, Muskrat, Hattifatteners, Moominmamma, Moominpappa, Thingumy and Bob, Groke and Hobgoblin. They all live in Moominhouse, except the Hattifatteners and Groke. Snufkin is the wanderer and goes to the South every winter. The characters in the Moomins-books are fictional but kinda the better variation of real people. Moomins are always same- they don’t grown or change. They are lovely, honestly and lenient. Moominmamma is the stereotypically mom: gentle, solicitous, good chef and she never get angry. Moominpappa is like typically old man; wise but scatterbrained. Snork Maiden is so traditional princess as is possible. She want always be little more beautiful and like a lady.

 

The plot

In the books happens a lot. Moomintroll, Sniff and Snufkin discover the Magician’s Hat and bring it away to the Moominhouse. Moominpappa try to keep it, but it is too big. They decide to use it like a wastebasket. When they trash an egg shell into the hat tem becomes five clouds the children ride and play with. At the next day the clouds are not there and family Moomintroll is so confused. Moomintroll hides inside the hat during a game of hide-and-seek and is temporarily transformed to a tarsier . He didn’t change back, until Moominmamma reconize that the tarsier is Moomintroll. When Moominmamma and Moominpappa understand the magic powers of the Hat, they throw it into the river. But Moomintroll and Snufkin find it and hide it in the cave by the sea.
Muskrat come to the cave and set his denture into the Hat. The denture transformers something, but nobody know what.
The Moomin Family find a boat and name it ”Adventure.” On that boat they travel to the Island of the Hattifatteners. The Hattifatteners bully The Hemulens and by way of vengeance The Hemulens steals The Hattifatteners barometer. The childrens live a moment into Sniff’s cave. When the Moomin Family come back to the Moominhouse it is transformed into a jungle.

The setting is Moominvalley, a fictional place, where the Moomins live. The story involved three times of year: spring, summer and autumn.

Narration
The narrator of the story is know-it-all narrator.
Theme and message
The main theme of this novel was tolerance, like almost all Moomins-books. Tove Jansson wants to creative a world, where everything is good and beautiful. She makes the Moomins dear and pedagocic, them teach to the children sympathetic and kindness.
My opinion

I liked most part of the book when Moomins rides with clouds, because it was my favorite episode of Moomin tv-programme.
Reading an Englis was difficult because my vocabulary was sometimes too concise so that I understood all.

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The Hobbit- The Desolation of Smaug

The Desolation of Smaug is the second part of the Hobbit-trilogy, first is The Hobbit- An Unexpected Journey and the next and the final one will br The Hobbit- There And Back Again.  The Hobbit is the trilogy written by J.R.R Tolkien and movies are directed by Peter Jackson.

 

Plot:  The movie starts when old mage Gandalf and a Dwarf named Thorin Oakenshield meet at the Inn of the Prancing Pony. Gandalf suggests that Thorin should get mystic jewel, the Arkenstone, to himself and take the Lonely Mountain back to the Dwarves control from mean dragon, Smaug.

After year, Thorin, his 13 Dwarves, Gandalf and a snitch Bilbo Bagging start their journey at the Lonely Mountain.

On their trip they notice that the Orcs follow them. Later Bilbo notices that massive black bear is also tracking them. The bear proves to be a skin-changer named Bearn. Bearn saves them from Orcs and company get a permission to sleep in Bearn’s house.

In the morning Gandalf leaves Bilbo and Dwarves and heads his way to Dol Guldur. Before that he ushers Bilbo and Dwarves to Mirkwood.  Gandalf warns them to remain on the path and tells them to wait for him before entering the Lonely Mountain.The  Dwarves lose their way in Mirkwood and giant spiders catch them, but Bilbo uses the One Ring and frees the Dwarves.

Later Elves, who live in Mirkwood, jail them to dungeon. Again Bilbo saves them and manages to escape riding in empty wine barrels. However, Orcs attack and in the battle one of the Dwarves, Kili, wounds bad.

Bilbo and the Dwarves arrive at the Lake Town named Esgaroth. Fisherman Bard gives them bed. Later it is uncovered that Barn is a last ruler of Dale, and he own only one  weapon which can wound the Smaug: Black Arrow.

From the Esgaroth Bilbo and Dwarves reach to the Lonely Mountain. There they must meet dangerous and terrible monster: a huge dragon, Smaug.

 

Summary:

 

The movie happens in the fantasyworld Middle-earth, where lives the Orcs, the Hobbits, the Elves, the wizards and witches, giant spiders, skin-changers, the Dwarves, Nazguls and many else.

The Desolautio of Smaug publiced 2013 in November. Main are Bilbo (Martin Freeman), Gandalf (Ian McKellen), Thorin Oakenshield (Richard Armitage), Smaug (Benedictus Cumberbatch) and Bard (Luke Evans)

 

Evaluation:

When I saw the movie, my first reaction was surprise. The special effects were awesome. If I had to choose one character which I would  identify with, it would be Thorin Oakenshield because he is brave, tough and fundamentally goodhearted.

Maybe my favourite part was the part when the Dwarves and Bilbo escaped from the Elves castle. It’s unexpected and thrilling.  Film evokes an ” I can’t wait the next part”-feeling. The movie ends with an exciting scene.

However, sometimes the movie isn’t easy ro follow.  There are so many character and places and all of them have so difficult names.

Still I loves the movie and I want to see final part of the trilogy.

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Filed under Films / theatre