I started this book in the middle of August as a buddy read with an acquaintance. I had no idea that the author of this book also wrote The Neverending Story. Although I'd never seen the film I'd heard of it since my parents grew up watching it. It is very strange to think about how far CGI and special effects have come since the 1980s. But we're not talking about movies today we are talking about Momo by Michael Ende. We could all learn a thing or two from Momo the protagonist, as you might have already guessed.
In the beginning, the characters are mostly content with the current life that they are living. Whether it’s adults going to work day in and day out or kids gathering with the local children to play games. But we come across a character who feels as if he is wasting his life and then we are introduced to our antagonists the gray men. Think of the gray men as the little voice in the back of your head saying "you're wasting your life away, you're wasting time, work faster, work harder, go, go, go".
Mr. Figaro, our helpless man, ends up making a deal with one of these gray men. He plans to use his time efficiently by reducing what the gray man refers to as mundane or unimportant tasks. These include taking care of his mother and pursuing a love interest. Mr. Figaro was known for the quality of his work as a barber since he would spend time talking with his customers while cutting their hair. However, after he signs a contract with the gray man he shortens each person's haircut by 10 minutes by focusing on the job and not on the individual themselves.
"But time is life itself, and life resides in the human heart. And the more people saved, the less they had."
For adults this may seem like an understandable compromise, but the issue worsens when the gray men extend these time contracts to children. The neighborhood children are no longer allowed to simply be children. Instead of playing at the park, playing with their toys, or making up new games, they are forced to go to gray buildings where they play games mimicking time efficiency. While all this is happening Momo's closest friends are even subdued by the gray men and end up leading a life in which they no longer have time to enjoy the simplicities they once did, they even stopped visiting Momo herself. I’ll end my summary there to refrain from any spoilers if you’d like to read this book for yourself, but just know that Momo eventually stands toe-to-toe with the gray men. She has to decide whether or not she wants to sign a contract with them.
Even before I started reading this book I could definitely relate to the adults in this novel. I think we're often torn between enjoying the simplicities of life and making sure that we’re using our time wisely. Society often raves about being productive and mistakenly equates productivity with purpose although they are not the same. While you may be productive it doesn't mean that you are acting within your purpose. I believe what Ende was trying to portray in his novel is society's obsession with time: how we acquire it, how much we have of it, and how we spend it, and why we spend it the way we do. You'll notice that the adults in the novel spend their time completing basic necessities such as work ... really, just work. While the children are more concerned about enjoying their time and filling it with socializing, entertainment, laughter, and childlike activities {as children should}. But the gray man and other adults soon frown on children being children and force them to grow up faster than they should. Adults have forgotten what it is like to be a child because they’ve suffocated their inner child. They don't believe that you should spend your time doing what you enjoy but rather what you must do. It’s only all work and no play. Yes, we live in a society where one must work to live but you do not have to deny yourself the simple pleasures you desire and deserve.
Do me a favor: think about how you spent today. Think about what you did, who you spoke with, what you talked about, how you enjoyed your free time if you had any, what you wanted to do but haven't done yet. Just for today. Now imagine today was your last day. Would you change anything? Think about last week and imagine the same thing. Would you change how you’ve spent your time over the last seven days?