The Summer Book by Tove Jansson is one of the most magical books I have ever read. With a title like its own, it seems that the author is imploring us to read it during summer. So, when I picked up this book, I was not going to do her the disservice of reading it in the winter. I, of course, read this in the sun, and it seemed to magnify all the summer sounds. But now, even while I write this in pouring rain (I know, welcome to London!), I am still transported - even though this is the summer book, you can read it anywhere because her writing is so powerful.
“It is still summer, but the summer is no longer alive. It has come to a standstill; nothing withers, and fall is not ready to begin. There are no stars yet, just darkness.”.
This is a summer book in many ways beyond its name. Read it, and you will instantly see what I mean. It is strung with beatific descriptions, luring you into those summer sensations. Littered with sensual awareness, Jansson draws our attention to the presence of summer, and all that it entails.
Accompanied by her six-year-old granddaughter, Sophia, an elderly artist takes to a placid and serene island on the gulf of Finland. Freed from the capricious nature of city life, Sophia and her grandmother embark on adventures that are fit only, and exclusively, for summer time. If I tell you these include Sophia’s querulous friend coming to stay and the adoption of a kitten, you would likely ask why this book is so renowned. Well, in my opinion, this is the entire point of the book. She makes something out of nothing purely by the beauty of her writing. This is why it is the embodiment of summer; Jansson’s nonchalant approach to the plot of The Summer Book establishes a relaxed atmosphere, allowing the story to saunter on. Thus, the author delicately captures the summer air within the novel, rendering it synonymous with serenity.
The relationship between Sophia and her grandmother further emphasises this impervious pattern. The bond between the two generations is what drives the novel. We take such pleasure in this familial relationship, as it is something familiar to many of us. While providing an escape from the hustle and bustle of year-round relationships, this provides a path to summertime, playing on our association between summer holidays and family. Meanwhile, the juxtaposition between the age of the two central characters draws attention to the abyss of what is missing. Tove Jansson gives us all we want in summertime within a single novel: it is an escape from the fast-pace of teenage romance, the burden of mid-life and so forth. This book is, in its elemental form, the summer book.
Perhaps the most profound aspect of this book is the lack of name given to the grandma, despite her being a central force to the novel. As a result, part of her identity is stripped. However, it feels as though Tove Jansson has done this for our benefit. This renders the grandma somewhat of a figure of imagination, adding a sensation of child-like wander to the novel; thus guiding us back to that guileless familiarity of our summers spent as children. It seems, too, that Tovnsson is tailoring the novel to us; we can appoint whoever we want to this position, inviting the image of our very own summers to navigate themselves to the front of our imagination as we read this novel.
NOTE: I WOULD RECOMMEND READING THIS IN THE SUMMER TO GIVE THE NOVEL IT THE JUSTICE IT DESERVES.