The Great Soccer Event Has Arrived
If you have gone anywhere near social media, a television, or the internet in general, you are aware that it is time for FIFA. I dabbled in watching hockey, but I’ve never really been a fan of soccer. That being said, I know that many, many people are, and I am happy to see so much excitement around the tournament. There’s a magic in the air that only happens when people come together over events like this.
So yeah, my TV schedule is haywire and soccer is everywhere, but I can’t truly complain too much. Happy FIFA, everyone!
Beyond Moomin
When you hear the name Tove Jansson, you probably automatically think of Moomin, but Jansson was much more than the exploits of everyone in Moomin Valley. Fair Play is a slim volume of what amounts to several vignettes about the lives of Mari and Jonna, two artists that share an attic passageway between their apartments. Mari and Jonna are clearly stand-ins for Jansson herself and her partner, Tuulikki Pietilä. The book follows them from every day working in tandem all the way to holidays on an island cottage and back to sharing movie nights and dinners.
A Careful Folding
Fair Play is not quite a novel, but more of a collection of stories that details two lives folded together in quiet and intimate ways. However, it is not a narrative that explores the ins and outs of their relationship, especially the romantic aspects, in great detail. In fact, Mari’s and Jonna’s lives are quite separate in a lot of ways. There’s a certain sadness there as it becomes palpable that how private their lives are is partially due to forces that beyond their control, and between the lines there is the conflict between safety and expression.
However, that is far from the focus on the book. Instead Jansson lingers on small details and small moments of joy and intimacy.
A Word on Quiet Narratives
I do tend to gravitate towards quiet, character-driven narratives a lot. I find them especially calming when life has been busy or stressful. Also, constructing a quiet narrative takes a high degree of skill and technique. Writers must layer in enough detail and movement to make it compelling and cannot rely on big events and their aftermath to propel characters backwards or forwards.
Not enough skill on the writer’s part can translate to a narrative that is so quiet that in fact it dies. Dead narratives are never fun to read.
But What Will Traffic Be Like?
We’re going to the city soon in the middle of sporting event chaos and we’ve been wondering just how onerous the traffic will be. We won’t be driving, but there’s always that image in my mind of the kind of general foolishness you can expect after a hockey game. Only this is a much bigger deal that lasts much longer and, wow, I am sure the crowds cannot be remotely compared.
