Momo (novel) facts for kids
First edition (German)
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| Author | Michael Ende |
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| Country | Germany |
| Language | German |
| Genre | Fantasy novel |
| Publisher | Thienemann Verlag (German), Puffin Books (English) |
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Publication date
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January 1973 |
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Published in English
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1974 / 1984 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| ISBN | 0-14-031753-8 |
| OCLC | 12805336 |
Momo, also called The Grey Gentlemen or The Men in Grey, is a fantasy novel written by Michael Ende. It was first published in 1973. The story is all about time and how people use it in today's world. The full German title means Momo, or the strange story of the time-thieves and the child who brought the stolen time back to the people. This book won a big award in Germany, the Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis, in 1974.
Contents
Story of Momo
In the old ruins of an amphitheatre near a city, lives a mysterious little girl named Momo. She arrived there with no parents and wore a long, old coat. Momo cannot read or count, and she doesn't know how old she is. When asked, she simply says, "As far as I remember, I've always been around."
Momo is special because she has an amazing ability to listen. She truly listens to people. By just being with them and listening, she helps them solve their problems. She can also help friends make up after a fight or think of fun games. People in the neighborhood often say, "Go and see Momo!" She makes many friends, especially Beppo, an honest and quiet street-cleaner, and Gigi, a lively tour guide who loves to tell stories.
The Men in Grey
This happy life changes when the Men in Grey arrive. These strange people are actually paranormal creatures who steal time from humans. They look like bald men dressed in grey clothes, with grey skin. They pretend to work for a "Timesavings Bank." They tell people that time can be saved in their bank and returned later with extra interest.
After meeting the Men in Grey, people forget about them. But they remember the idea to save as much time as possible. Slowly, the Men in Grey's bad influence spreads across the city. Life becomes boring and empty. People stop doing things they think waste time, like playing, making art, or even sleeping. Buildings and clothes all look the same. Everyone starts rushing all the time.
What Happens to Time?
The more time people try to save, the less they actually have. The time they "save" is really lost to them. The Men in Grey secretly use this stolen time. They smoke cigars made from the dried petals of hour-lilies, which represent time. Without these special cigars, the Men in Grey cannot exist.
Momo's unique personality makes her a problem for the Men in Grey. They try many ways to stop her from ruining their plan, but they all fail. Even her closest friends start to fall under the Men in Grey's spell. Momo's only hope to save human time is to get help from Master Secundus Minutus Hora, who controls time, and Cassiopeia, a tortoise. Cassiopeia can write messages on her shell and see thirty minutes into the future.
Momo's adventure takes her deep into her own heart, where her time flows out as beautiful hour-lilies. She then goes to the secret hiding place of the Men in Grey. This is where all the time people think they are saving is actually kept.
Momo's Final Battle
Master Hora stops time, but he gives Momo one hour-lily to carry. This means she has exactly one hour to defeat the Men in Grey. The world is frozen, and only Momo and the Men in Grey can still move. She secretly follows them to their underground lair. She watches as they destroy some of their own kind to make their time supply last longer.
With Cassiopeia's help and by using her hour-lily, Momo manages to shut the door to their time vault. The Men in Grey face disappearing forever as their cigars run out. The few remaining Men in Grey chase Momo, but they vanish one by one. The very last Man in Grey begs Momo for her hour-lily. When she refuses, he also disappears, saying, "it is good it is over."
With only a minute left before her hour-lily crumbles, Momo opens the vault again. Millions of hour-lilies rush out. The stolen time returns to its rightful owners and goes back into their hearts. Time starts moving again, and people don't even realize it had stopped. Momo is reunited with her friends, and Master Hora and Cassiopeia celebrate their victory.
Main Ideas in Momo
The main message of Momo is a criticism of consumerism and stress. It shows how always wanting more things and rushing through life can make people lose important personal and social connections. The book warns about hidden groups that can trick people into living this way. Michael Ende also thought about the idea of money losing value over time when he wrote Momo.
Childhood and Time
Childhood is a very important topic in many of Ende's books. In Momo, children are shown as different from adults. Children have "all the time in the world," so the Men in Grey find it hard to trick them. Kids cannot be convinced that their games are a waste of time. The author uses toys like Barbie dolls to show how people, even indirectly, can be pushed into buying more and more things.
Why Momo is Important
Philosopher David Loy and literature professor Linda Goodhew called Momo "one of the most remarkable novels of the late twentieth century." They also said that it's amazing the book was published in 1973. They felt that the "temporal nightmare" (the bad way time is used) described in the book has become real life today.
Ende himself said that Momo is a "tribute of gratitude to Italy and also a declaration of love." This means he admired the Italian way of life. Loy and Goodhew thought that Ende's ideas about time were similar to his interest in Buddhism. For example, the slow character Beppo might be seen as a Zen master, even though Ende wrote the book before he visited Japan.
When the book was published in the U.S. in 1985, Natalie Babbit from the Washington Post wondered: "Is it a children's book? Not here in America." Momo was re-released by Puffin Press on January 19, 2009.
In 1997, the Prime Minister of Norway, Thorbjørn Jagland, talked about Momo in his New Year speech. He said, "People are persuaded to save time by eliminating everything not useful." He gave an example of someone who cuts out his girlfriend, sells his pet, and stops singing, reading, and visiting friends. This person thinks he will become efficient. But he ends up rushing more than ever, and his "saved-up time" disappears. Prime Minister Jagland said that for many people, time has become the most valuable thing, even though they try to save it.
Momo in Other Forms
- Momo was made into a film in 1986. It was an Italian and German movie. Michael Ende himself had a small role as the narrator. The famous actor John Huston played Professor Hora. A German actress named Radost Bokel played Momo.
- An Italian animated film called Momo was released in 2001. It was directed by Enzo D'Alò and had music by Gianna Nannini, a popular Italian singer. In 2003, a 26-episode animated TV series based on this film was released. It told the story in more detail.
- The book has also been turned into radio programs.
- A German audiobook called Momo was released in 1984. It had a narrator and music.
- There have been many plays based on the book. Michael Ende even wrote an opera version himself.
- In 2015, the Royal Danish Opera asked composer Svitlana Azarova to write an opera called Momo and the Time Thieves. It was first performed in October 2017 at the Copenhagen Opera House.
Translations of Momo
The book was first published in Germany in 1973 as Momo.
Momo has been translated into many languages around the world. These include Arabic, Bulgarian, Chinese, Danish, Dutch, English, French, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, and many more.
The first English translation, The Grey Gentlemen, was published in 1974 by Frances Lobb. A newer English translation, simply titled Momo, came out in 1984. A new U.S. edition with new illustrations was released by McSweeney's in August 2013 to celebrate the book's fortieth birthday.
The Spanish translation, "Momo, o la extraña historia de los ladrones del tiempo y la niña que devolvió el tiempo a los hombres," was done by Susana Constante in 1978. It became very popular in Spain and Latin America and has been reprinted many times since.
See also
In Spanish: Momo (novela) para niños
