Momo is a very unusual fantasy novel. Yes, there are funny and whimsical side characters (like a turtle named Cassiopeia who can see 30 minutes into the future), yes we do stumble upon an unseen realm, and yes, the main character Momo is a special orphan who tries to save the world. It contains a lot of expected fantasy tropes. But it is different because of its main character. Momo isn't special because she can use magic, or kick ass, or even because she is very clever. If Momo has a power at all, it's that she is a very good listener:

"She listened in a way that made slow-witted people have flashes of inspiration. It wasn't that she actually said anything or asked questions that put such ideas into their heads. She simply sat there and listened with the utmost attention and sympathy, fixing them with her big, dark eyes, and they suddenly became aware of ideas whose existence they had never suspected.

Momo could listen in such a way that worried and indecisive people knew their own minds from one moment to the next, or shy people felt suddenly confident and at ease, or downhearted people felt happy and hopeful. And if someone felt that his life had been an utter failure, and that he himself was only one among millions of wholly unimportant people who could be replaced as easily as broken windowpanes, he would go and pour out his heart to Momo. And, even as he spoke, he would come to realize by some mysterious means that he was absolutely wrong: that there was only one person like himself in the whole world, and that, consequently, he mattered to the world in his own particular way.

Such was Momo's talent for listening."

So, she's a really good listener. How does she save the world with a talent like that? Well in order to explain how she is a hero, I have to explain who the antagonists are. In Momo's town, these mysterious "grey gentleman" start to appear. They represent "The Time Saving Bank". These time bankers begin approaching townsfolk, to convince them to open an account with them. They tell you that you are wasting your precious time, and that if you would only be more "practical" and "save your time" with their bank, you would be happier. This seems to make sense to a lot of people, and so they begin rushing through their day, cutting out time for family, leisure, reflection, etc., and trying to get all of their work done as quickly as possible.

What the townsfolk didn't realize was that "by saving time, they were losing something else...time is life itself, and life resides in the human heart. And the more people saved, the less they had." Pretty soon, the whole town is miserable and stressed and rushing from task to task, and yet somehow they have less time than ever before. There isn't even time to raise children anymore. All the neglected kids end up getting dumped in "child depots", a place where children are forced to play educational games like "data retrieval" ("is it fun?" Momo asks. "That's not the point," another child replies. "Anyway, you shouldn't talk like that.").

The creepiest thing about the grey gentleman, is that even while you know they're not real, part of you feels like they might actually exist. Momo's ability to listen and intuitively understand what's truly important in life, naturally represents a threat to these chilling men. So the poor little waif with the power of listening is thrust into the role of hero, as the men in grey attempt to "neutralize her, by any means possible".

Anyway, I won't tell you the whole plot, but suffice it to say this is a great adventure novel with a very important message. It's funny how the social criticism of so many "experts" and "thinkers" becomes irrelevant almost the instant it oozes out of their mouths, and yet the subtext in a children's book entitled "Momo", has been appreciating in value since its publication in 1973. I highly recommend you find out why!

Also if you are behind on your 2016 reading goal, Momo's central theme will make you feel less guilty.