The Summer Book

I've added one of my favorite, favorite books EVER, The Summer Book by Tove Jansson, to the sidebar of recommended books. It seems appropriate for the season, and a new edition (featuring the same lovely translation as the original English edition) has just been released by New York Review Books Classics. After the break, some praise for this unique, beautiful piece of fiction. I read this while in Finland, on our bittersweet last couple of days, looking out over the sea, and it was one of the great reading experiences of my life.“Tove Jansson was a genius. This is a marvelous, beautiful, wise novel, which is also very funny.” –Philip Pullman“A wise, joyous book...it unfolds the knowledge and the beauty of the two lives it embraces–old wisdom and young discover, intertwining like vines.” –Rex Reed“The Summer Book manages to make you feel good as well as wise, without having to make too much effort...[it] says so much that we want to hear in such an accessible form, without ever really saying anything at all.” –The Independent (London)"Few books since Robinson Crusoe have evoked the joys of island living so powerfully as this Finnish novella." –The Observer, PAPERBACK OF THE WEEK"The Summer Book is a marvellously uplifting read, full of gentle humour and wisdom." –Daily Telegraph (London)"A marvellous book...The prose is sublime: plain, but not oppressively so." –Independent on Sunday (London)"A...beautiful novel which blends humour and poetry with detailed observation of tiny things." –Daily Mail (London)"It's hard to describe the astonishing achievement of Jansson's artistry...a perfection of the small, quiet read." –The Guardian, (London) BOOK OF THE WEEK"A wonderful novel to devour in the sunshine...full of charm and character." –The Independent, 50 BEST BOOKS FOR SUMMER"Every so often, a book is published that captures something in us...The Summer Book is one of those." –Daily Telegraph