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This is just one book by Tove Jansson that, when I first read it as a child, I didn't enjoy. It was far too melancholy for my young taste. The story concerns a group of people who come together unexpectedly one November at a small house in a valley beside the sea. They come with fond memories of summer days spent on the shore, sitting quietly amid blooming flowers and, most especially, they remember the kindness of those who lived there. They come seeking comfort and solace from the family whose house this is. But the family has gone away and now the house is abandoned, dark and musty. Now in November the valley is filled with rain, chilled air and the scent of decay.
These people are thrown off by the family's absence. They are puzzled, upset and sometimes angry. They quarrel and they sulk. But, hopeful the family will soon return, they decide to remain and, slowly but with difficulty, they come to terms with the fall, with each other and with themselves.
As I read this book now many years later, I realize this is a fascinating character study and quite a subject to tackle in a children's book. There is no adventure here - only feeling and reflection. Now I can marvel at how well Ms Jansson tells her tale. I suppose that now I have the experience to appreciate her story, these characters and their feelings...
For decades November depressed me. As the year died away, I too longed for warm green grass, long summer evenings spent with friends outdoors and the sight of fireflies twinkling in the woods. the days became shorter and colder and i would become more and more gloomy. This feeling would never really leave me until the first snow fell. Sometimes that was a long wait...
But i have learned to embrace November and find comfort in the beauty of decay. I have come to realize the warmth I long for is still there - but it has taken other forms and it has changed just as I have. Change is inevitable and although I am still sometimes sad as the fall deepens, I know there is much to look forward to. The coming snow will being the warmth of family and friends.
So now on rain chilled November afternoons, I am content to sit quietly and wait... |
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Pumpkin Pie, Fallen Apples, Bonfire, Wood Smoke, Dried Grass, Fallen Leaves, Wet Branches, Damp Moss, Chanterelle Mushrooms and a hint of Pine Forest |
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| Here's what some people think about November... |
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a comment>> |
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Hmmmm . . . This is really a moody, almost troubled scent. I get mushrooms, dead leaves, damp earth, smoke, some subtle spices. This fragrance reminds me so much of Chris Brosius fragrance for Allan Cumming - Cumming. Less peat and whiskey but all the smoke and greyness are there. I like it.
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| Rating:
****
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anonymous - from
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Reminds me of Demeters snow,but not nearly as good,smells very synthetic.
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| Rating:
*
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Anonymous -perfume lover from cincinnati
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This was listed fro men as well but after smelling it I think men will probably stay away from smelling like pumpkins and apples.
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| Rating:
*****
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Anonymous - from
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This Tove Jansson's book was written in Finland, and November in Finland is pretty much all that: death, decay, grayness and darknesss. It gets really cold, really dark, the leaves have already fallen from the trees but you still have to wait for the snow to bring some light and the actualy "winter". It really is a time for some soul searching, if I might say, as it's the time most people in here get their "autumnal depression", if ever. In this sense I love the book and I love the scent review written. I'd love to try it out, too bad there isn't any samples for this time.
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| Rating:
*****
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Maria - from Tampere
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Wow, I NEVER thought of November that way and that review would never make me want to try a scent. Decay?? Seriously, I was born in November and you wouldn't have to say much to get me to want to try a fragrance named for my favorite month. Fall makes me think of football, cozy fires and fuzzy sweaters. Decay and death....not for me, I see amazing, fiery colors as all of the natural world yawns before a well earned nap. I won't be trying the scent inspired by decay!!
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*
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Girl from the Blue Ridge Mtns. - from
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well, hey, tove janson's "moomin valley in november" is just about my most favorite book.
of all.
ever.
i wonder how i will like the scent?
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| Rating:
*****
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harper - from
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November by CB I Hate Perfume smells to me like a pumpkin pie scented candle with a touch of dead leaves (it kind of smells cheap). I guess it's worth a sniff but I don't particularly want to smell like this.
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***
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Daniel -Psychology Student from Montreal
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That's the worst review I've ever read. It's trying way to hard to be Burr-like, and it fails.
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| Rating:
*****
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Joseph G -Man about town, of course from Chicago
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What an interesting perspective... For me, it is the opposite; nothing filled me with such primal exhilaration as the scents and colors of Fall. It is my favorite time of the year.
Perhaps individual biorhythms have something to do with it, but then, like Baudelaire, I have a romance with the decadence of decay and it's gothicism.
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| Rating:
*****
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Anonymous - from
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